It is a term I heard recently to describe what is occurring in agriculture. Commodities are priced based on these standards. Commodities are transportable in bulk and can be sold in central markets that are described as being transparent .
Central markets allow easy price discovery, by open bidding, and market information reporting.
Anyone can get current price and market information by listening to or obtaining daily market reports. These chains will consist of input supply, production, processing and marketing of products to consumers or retailers. Farmers may become subcontractors in this production chain or they may organize added value businesses to participate in part or all of the product chain. This could lead to entirely different methods of marketing production. Already many grain and livestock producers are involved in added value marketing.