Back to: Plan for Growth

If you can’t or don’t want to grow more kelp, your other options to increase revenue are to either (a) upgrade your existing product portfolio’s perceived or actual product quality, or (b) change your product mix in favor of selling more of the products with a higher contribution margin. 

If you plan to keep your product mix as-is, you will have to figure out a way to justify an increase in price. This can be done by increasing the actual product quality — perhaps via more frequent farm visits to correct line depth issues or identify bio-fouling early — or by increasing perceived product quality, by investing in better marketing. The better you can tell your story, and make a case for why your product helps your customers meet their goals, the higher a price you will be able to charge. 

Develop a Product Mix

If you are open to changing your product mix, start by referring back to your contribution margin and blended margin calculations. Identify which of your products nets you the most profit per lb of wet seaweed — in an ideal world, you’d want to put more of your time, energy, and resources into selling this product vs. all of the other formats. Play around with different scenarios — what happens if you shift some sales into your higher-margin products? If all of your products have roughly the same contribution margin, you may want to consider piloting a new product in the coming season.

At the end of your analysis, write your goals down on paper. 

The answer to these questions will be the basis of all of your farm and operational planning from here on out.