Value Chain Coordination

Themes from 9/17/24: Catalyzing Innovation & Impact in Value Chains

Value Chain Coordination

Themes from 9/17/24: Catalyzing Innovation & Impact in Value Chains

Posted by Eric DeLuca on September 28, 2024 at 12:09 PM
Our guest on September 17th was Franco Naccarato. Here’s a link to the recording of Franco’s remarks and discussion at the session: https://youtu.be/oKif1l_-l8A

See below for key themes from Franco’s Remarks.

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What IS value chain coordination?

First and Foremost you are CHANGE agents. Understanding change from a psychological point of view is key.

NOTE: The October 2024 Value Chain Coordination Community of Practice focused on Theory of Change. You can view a deck on the topic here.

Further reference fields for foundational learning :
- Organizational Behavior
- Social Psychology
- Change Management
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What “internal” tools do you need?

First: Patience…

Second: Persistence.
- Change takes time… it isn’t easy and you WILL fail.. Many times… but know that those failures are actually a form of success…
- Every time you try something that doesn’t work, you are actually getting closer to what WILL work. (Not doing anything is the true definition of failure.)
- Case Example – 1.5 years into a project, we still hadn’t had “success”… The Executive Director said he would have quit a long time ago, but then I shared with him all we had learned and all we had accomplished … That’s how I got the ok to continue the project and see it through to the end…
- One thing to keep in mind: The definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over and expecting different results”.
Third: Iteration.
- Change in small steps. If you change everything, how will you know what really influenced the change?
- That is why…the fewer things you change, the more likely you are to succeed!
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VCC Tips

First: Know your GOAL,

And DEFINE SUCCESS.
- Greenbelt Foundation example: Our goal at Greenbelt was to get More Local Food into public institutions.
- Success was the amount of local food that was sold to public institutions. We had 4-5 other successes… but nothing was more important than this.
One question we asked every grantee was:
- How much local food sourcing will your project increase, as a result of your funding? …and what is the proportion of funding in relation to the increase in local foods?
- (SIMPLE ROI—Return on Investment)
Then we looked at everything else…
- Sustainability—both Environmental and Continuation of activity without outside funding such as we were providing.
- Innovation – was this something no one else was doing?
- Leadership – how will this project influence others to change?
Filters:

Through filters we were looking for BALANCE in the funding we gave out, e.g. in terms of
- Geography
- Size of organization
- Type of organization
- We wanted to fund projects from every perspective of the value chain
Target audience

We wanted to ensure we had a balance of projects in hospitals, long-term care, schools and other institutions

Finally, we looked at RISK and REWARD.

How likely were participants to be successful?
If it was a RISKY project – did the REWARD outweigh the RISK?
Can the scope be mitigated and the project minimalized?

At the end of the day we had a funding program over 8 years that had a 26:1 return on investment… that is, for every $1 we realized a $26 increase in local food purchased or sold.

Our biggest success: We saw Gordon Food Service go from about $6-7 million to over $70 million in local food sales, with about a $1million total investment from Greenbelt.

TIP #2: Identify Champions and empower Stars

This model we learned early.. In saying we want to increase local food, EVERYONE agreed… Well, because no one wants to be the “Debbie downer”… but still there were many roadblocks… What we found was…

While everyone wanted to, the level and degree to which they were actually willing to do anything different depended on the organization or individual… and this model applies to both.

First Group – The SAYERS

They SAY that they want more local food
They SAY they know it’s good for farmers, it’s good for the environment…
But in reality… they will only do with what they have available to them today. THEY WILL NOT CHANGE!!!!

Unless they are told to… or really hand-held to get to the next phase…

Second Group – The TESTERS

This is a fragile group. They want to do more, but are really unsure of how, and really afraid that it will negatively influence their day-to-day. This group needs PERMISSION, and they need ASSURANCE.

Third Group – The DOERS

They get it; they do it…

They aren’t innovating
They aren’t making waves, but if you give them an opening, they will find every way to make it work…
This is the first group that really makes change happen.

Fourth Group – The Champions.

These are the innovators, the people breaking rules and shaping the world to achieve what they set out to do.
These are the people you want to enable.
Help give them a voice; help them be recognized; help them support the sayers, testers and doers…

Fifth Group – The Stars / Disruptors

They don’t need your help.
They are standing next to you, doing the work you do.
With or without resources, they will get it done and they will be the ones to influence people outside the realm of their day-to-day.
These are the people you see speaking at conferences, sharing what they do every day…
Everyone in this room [at the September VCC CoP session] …

Once you find your stars/disruptors.. Create fiefdoms [as described by farmer, author, and thought-leader Joel Salatin…

JOEL SALATIN – Fiefdoms

Think of all the parts of your job you hate, and don’t like doing. Chances are there is someone you work with that LOVES that aspect of the job. Find a way to get them to take ownership of that space. Create a FIEFDOM.

E.g. Joel had a staff person who liked to fix things, so Joel gave him access to his shop and got things fixed for cheap.
His Daughter-in-law was interested in CSAs. Theirs weren’t doing well. They exploded under her watch.
Joel Salatin YouTube Channel

TIP #3 – Understand the systems you are trying to change

Instead of totally changing how people act, change as few things as possible.

I first came across Value Chain Coordination during my time at the Greenbelt Foundation and, unbeknownst to me at the time, we were creating value chains.

Example 1 – Our goal was to get more local food into public institutions…The Government identified they needed to be leaders.. The organization I worked for was a catalyst in this space…They were trying to connect farmers with institutions long before it was cool to do so. But they were doing it at a very small scale… they had a website that wanted to connect buyers with farmers… but they had little knowledge of HOW food got to those institutions…

We were missing 2 points.

1- local food is all about LOGISTICS.

2- The more someone has to change, the less likely they will…We had to find ways for it to work in their environment.

Tip #4 – Use existing infrastructure.

The cost of creating new is too high and too risky. This was a direct lesson from a grant we awarded previously.

Example: Meat and Poultry Ontario started the Centre for Meat Innovation and Technology with 2 presentations, 1 meeting and an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding). Now we have access to an $8-million facility and, in the first year, launched 4 companies.

When you seem like you are lost and off track…

Tip #5 – walk in their shoes.

If you aren’t getting the traction you need with a partner or organization, walk a mile in their shoes to really understand what motivates them and what will enable them to do their job.

Ask them how they make decisions and what are their priorities. Look for opportunities of alignment.

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Franco Naccarato

@Localfoodfranco (Twitter and Instagram)

LinkedIn: Franco Naccarato | LinkedIn

Visit greenbeltfund.ca to learn more about Greenbelt Fund grants.