Megafarmers: The strategy that created a new category of farmers in agroindustrial systems

Abstract

In 2011, a major financial institution created in its private banking structure a portfolio made up exclusively of rural producers. With an eye on the opportunities present among rural customers, this institution started offering them typical services in the private market, such as wealth management and specialized investment consultancy, in addition to meeting the usual demand of the category, credit. Such a strategy showed the heterogeneity among Brazilian rural producers, still little explored in the literature. In this sense, the objective of this study was to describe the strategy that originated this new category of producers, identifying the reasons that influenced its implementation. To this end, a case study was carried out on the strategy adopted by the studied institution. The information was collected through document analysis and semi-structured interviews with 6 employees directly involved in the process that gave rise to Megaproducers. According to the results, the structure of the private banking and rural credit markets were the main influencers for the institution to create and implement the analyzed strategy. It was also identified that the strategy contributed for the studied bank to position itself more competitively in the rural market, in addition to influencing the conduct of the other participants. In addition, the research findings show a new profile of rural producers, with needs and capacities different from those usually known. The research findings also point to the presence of a new profile of producers present in the Brazilian agro-industrial systems, revealing a portion of rural producers with needs and capacities different from those usually known.