Adding value to traditional rural products: Spanish almond processing business benefits from EAFRD assistance
Rural businesses are often aware that they receive a much smaller portion of their products’ final retail price than those further up the supply chain. Capturing more of this farm-to-retail price spread, is a goal of many producers and ‘value-added’ products offer a mechanism to increase rural incomes. Value-added means adding value to a raw product by taking it to, at least, the next stage of production. Incremental value can be created by focusing on the benefits associated with the product or service that arise from improved: quality (can the product provide better customer experiences or exceed their expectations?); functionality (could the product or service provide additional or enhanced functions); form (is the product in its most useful form?); place (is the product in the right place?); time (is the product in the right place at the right time?) and ease of possession (is the product easy for the customer to obtain?). By adding these types of incremental values, rural products and services can often realise higher prices or expanded market positions.