Bright ideas

reap what you sow

These days consumers can adopt an olive tree, a vineyard or even a cow to enjoy their own oil, wine or cheese. Here’s how to part-ownership schemes can help businesses get off to a flying start and create instant brand loyalty

words by Andrew Catchpole

Imagine setting up a business with a ready-made, intensely loyal customer base that pays upfront for start-up and subsequent running costs, and may even volunteer to work for free. This may sound too good to be true, but several schemes are now running in Europe where the investors do just that. Co-creation is the buzzword, and these adoption-based business models have proved especially popular in niche food-and-drink production.

Today, for example, you can adopt a row of vines, own a truffle or olive tree, lease a cow for your own cheese, take shares in an organic farm or become part-owner of a whisky distillery. The essence of such schemes is that the investors are encouraged to become involved in the business, benefiting from a share of the produce and/or the offer of hands-on experience in the production of their own wine, cheese, vegetables, olive oil and so on. In many instances such investment partnerships are born of necessity. A recent case in England saw brother and sister partnership Charlotte (24) and Ben Hollins (21) facing eviction from their Shropshire farm after their father’s death. Needing €1.2 million to save it from commercial development, they launched a community land initiative, offering €75 (£50) no-dividend, nontradable shares. The idea of having a stake in an organic farm snowballed, and funds sailed past the target figure, gaining support from Sting and the Prince of Wales along the way. A café, an education centre and a farm shop are all planned and the farm’s future looks assured.

France, Italy – even England – all host vine-sharing schemes, where the producer’s costs are borne, in part, by shareholders in return for a supply of wine. When Andrew Gordon realised his dream of owning a vineyard in the early 1980s he bought a 420-hectare vineyard in the Côtes de Duras in France. “The property was in a terrible state,” remembers Gordon, who came up with the novel idea of selling stakes in the vines.

“At a cost of €100,000 to secure the property, plus running costs, a form of shareholder option provided the ideal solution,” he says. ”We started inviting our family and friends to come in with us for a share of the wine – becoming members and paying an annual sum for a row of 50 vines.” Today, WineShare charges €112 per row of vines with the option of buying up to 10 cases of wine with personalised labels, as well as offering vineyard visits. The company delivers 25,000 cases a year to 5,500 members from partner estates in Bordeaux, Luberon, Beaujolais, Côtes de Duras and Tuscany. “So many people are committed. We have regulars who turn up to work the vintage every year,” says Gordon, who employs a full-time agent in Sweden because “Scandinavia is a fast-growing market.”

A more recent co-creation scheme is Nudo, in Le Marche, Italy. The sum of €100 secures one of 881 olive trees, for which investors receive beautifully packaged supplies of organic extra-virgin olive oil each spring (pictured above), plus a top-up in the autumn, and encouragement to visit and “hug your olive tree”. The idea was born after ex-TV producer Jason Gibb spotted an adopt-a-sheep scheme in Italy, where adoptees would receive first the wool and cheese then, finally, the mutton. “The scheme was aimed at saving a rare breed of sheep and I thought that it was a great idea, creating a closer link between the production of food and the eventual consumer,” says the man who was once responsible for a TV show called Wife Swap.

Kuhleasing, based in Switzerland, is a novel variation, encouraging people to lease a cow and then share in the bounty of alpine cheeses made from its milk. Similarly, for an adoption price of €219 per tree and an annual maintenance fee of €45, Truffle Tree allows you to adopt a tree in the heart of France’s Gascony region, which may or may not produce black truffles.

What these projects share is a novelty factor, typically coupled with the promise of individual, organic produce, along with a strong personal connection to the source of food or drink and guaranteed provenance in a world of mass production. The novelty factor ensures that the gift market for these schemes is strong. From the owner’s point of view, the investment helps finance not just the set-up and the running costs, but also additional value-adding extras such as accommodation, education centres, websites and other facets which help strengthen consumer loyalty to the scheme.

The most impressive co-creation scheme to date is the boutique Ladybank distillery in Scotland. The brainchild of James Thomson – whose previous business involved selling all the Scottish single malts from one website – the idea for this novel private members’ club was conceived in 2001. “We needed perhaps £4 million (€6 million) for the project, so we decided on a loyalty scheme to finance the business upfront,” says Thomson. “By our calculations we targeted twice the number of members needed to hit our budget.” If successful, Thomson’s scheme will raise £6 million (€9 million), with more income guaranteed each year.

Ladybank, which aims to produce four classic styles of whisky (pictured below) in limited amounts for its members, now has 350 of its target 1,250 members, with 50 paying a lower founders’ fee of €3,950 (£3,250) on top of an annual €275 (£175), and a higher €6,000 (£5,000) fee on its way. It’s enough to begin work on the distillery, install the stills, and distil the first batches, which won’t be ready for several years. Members then have the option to buy exclusive Ladybank whiskies.

“Engagement in businesses, especially those producing food and drink, is a fast-growing and interesting trend,” confirms Thomson. “Like other projects, be it truffles, olive oil or wine, we will be open to our members’ suggestions. Who knows what people will expect from us in 10 or even 50 years?” It’s a flexibility Thomson looks forward to offering – and with the confidence of someone who has been in profit since day one.

For more information see the following sites:
www.whisky.co.uk
www.fordhallfarm.com
www.truffle-tree.com
www.nudo-italia.com
www.kuhleasing.ch
www.wineshare.co.uk