SBIR-STTR Award

There is a growing demand for organic Berkshire pork products by United States consumers. These consumers demand that the pork come from farmers who supply hogs that are organically grown, under humane production systems and are environmental stewards. Heritage Acres Foods, LLC, a company owned 100y small swine farmers, will examine the feasibility of producing, processing, and marketing organic Berkshire pork. The ultimate customer for this product and the market price will also be determined. OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this project are to determine the feasibility of producing, processing, and marketing heritage organic pork. The study will verify the economic viability of converting a closed system production network of small scale producers to organic Berkshire swine production. The study will determine if there are increased production costs associated with organic production and thoroughly analyze the marketplace for organic Berkshire pork. Organic pork processing and conversion costs will also be investigated. APPROACH: Budget costs will be determined for organic pork production. Feed required and the price of that feed is the main cost component. The amount of feed required is dependent on genetics, management and pig health and the ideal management strategy will be determined Market analysis will focus on the understanding of existing foodservice markets for organic pork and the current trends in this food category. Costs associated with pork processing such as producer premiums, transportation charges, slaughtering, tracking, humane handling, labeling, product development and marketing will be examined. Using inputs on production cost, marketing and processing cost, and sales and marketing costs, a detailed model will be developed. This financial model will serve as a basis for making procurement and sales decisions..

This project evaluates the feasibility of developing an integrated production and marketing system for heritage organic pork. Hogs supplied into this system will be sourced from small organic farms that utilize heritage breeding stock, including Berkshire and Tamworth genetics, and will be marketed through specialty retail, foodservice, and international markets. In Phase I we verified the economic feasibility of an integrated production and marketing system, at the farm, processor, and market level. Further, we developed an economic model of the integrated system. In Phase II, we intend to further refine the economic model with the goal of reducing risk to our producer-owners, potential project investors, and market partners. We do this by developing thorough economic analysis of farm production expenses and developing a producer based risk management program. At the processor level, we develop a complete set of product specifications and product costs for an array of fresh and further processed pork items. At the market level, we execute a pilot launch of prototype products. Then, we further refine our financial projections using information from the results of our pilot launch. By doing this, we minimize risk to our producers, as well as financial and market partners. In Phase III, we will commercialize the project concept and go through capitalization and business formation. This project develops a new market for small scale livestock producers, ultimately resulting in greater on-farm income, and incremental returns from processing and marketing product. The project will improve the viability of small farm production systems.