Today's food consumers want taste, nutrition, freshness, variety, and convenience. Ethnic populations are growing and niche markets are becoming available. By engaging in value added agriculture farmers are expecting to increase their net farm profits that would otherwise go to the middlemen in the food chain. The value added concept transforms growers from 'price takers' to 'price makers'. Value added coop's control processing steps and achieve greater product reliability, quality control, and volume.
Members receive a greater return for their products.
Co-op's reduce risks associated with new business enterprises, keep jobs in the rural communities, and strengthen the local tax base. Value added means different things to different customers. To a food customer, value added may indicate a high protein or pesticide free product. It requires sound marketing savvy. Getting a new product into the highly competitive retail market is very difficult.