The Campagna Amica Network

The Fondazione Campagna Amica is open to consumers, farmers and citizens to respond to today’s pertinent issues: food, tourism and ecology.Campagna Amica is the main large Italian network of points of direct sales from the producer to the consumer. Farmer’s market, farms shops, agricultural cooperatives, agricultural associations, companies in the km 0 circuit (Food Miles), Agritourisms, member of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA): Campagna Amica collects and promotes the Points where agricultural products supply is done directly from producer to consumer.

In Campagna Amica Points of Sale you are sure to find seasonal products, freshness, quality, taste and the guarantee of 100% Italian origin. Consumers can experience an informed shopping. Campagna Amica believes that the quality of what you eat is deeply linked with its origin.

Short Food chain, price trends, purchasing patterns, source of agricultural products, seasonality, km 0, no GMO: you come across a world of good products, safe and controlled, directly from the countryside to your table.

Campagna Amica also aims to improve the culture of countryside: it supports farm holidays, product sales, hospitality, traditional cousine, food and wine routes, educational farms, traditional celebrations…

How does it work?
Campagna Amica is a distribution channel different from wholesalers and traditional retailers. It is a network of farmers who want to sell their products direct to the consumer through farm shops, farmers markets, home delivery, on-farm catering or pick-your-own farms. It offers the opportunity to improve and develop retailing skills and help your businesses thrive. It also promotes the highest standards for farmers markets and farm shops.

It is a Network of producers who have:

• the same distinctive brand
• the same regulations governing use of the brand
• the same rules of conduct
• the same code of environmental ethics
• the same system of control from a third party

Campagna Amica is first of all a Brand. The Brand marks all the Campagna Amica points of sales: Farms, Farmers Markets, Agrarian Consortium, Cooperatives, Agritourisms, Bottega Italiana Shops, corners in Wholesalers.

The NETWORK

FARMERS MARKETS: markets in which farmers are members of Campagna Amica and they can sell exclusively their agricultural, Italian and zero km products. In the Campagna Amica Market you can do your shopping in a sustainable and responsible way, buying seasonal agricultural products, selected with care, always fresh and of Italian origin controlled and guaranteed.
Campagna Amica FARMS are farms where the farmer sells its products directly. Also in this case products are strictly agricultural and Italian, their origin being monitored and guaranteed by Campagna Amica.
Campagna Amica AGRITOURISM are the agritourism farms, which sell their products directly and / or offering them in their restaurant, the Campagna Amica menu, made up mainly of the farm's products and those of Campagna Amica Network (strictly agricultural and of Italian origin).
LA BOTTEGA ITALIANA is a shop in town where you can buy the products of Italian Agricultural Production, traced and controlled by a third body certification. Here you always find the values of Campagna Amica: Italian spirit, freshness, sustainability and agricultural leadership.
RESTAURANTS “CAMPAGNA AMICA IN YOUR PLATES" are restaurants where meals, foods and beverage come from Italian farms
URBAN GARDENS: gardens in the city complying with the principles of Campagna Amica, in order to enhance social gathering, respect for seasonality and biodiversity protection.
SOLIDARITY BASED PURCHASING GROUPS consumers who cooperate in order to buy food directly from the Campagna Amica producers.

Campagna Amica in figures

Test your market before making a full commitment

This is not always easy, but it is essential!
This represents the “try-out” period of your new activity to be engaged with minimum investment. Choose the best time of year to run this test, the period when your future clients and you will be available. Determine the duration of your test: this should be between one week and one month, depending on your activity (make and sell a small number of cheeses, provide seasonal work for several of your neighbors, realize the maintenance of drive-ways of a nearby community, etc.)
By completing this experiment, you test your work organization, your internal resources, and the compatibility of your new activity with your regular work on the farm.

An important reflection: you are a farmer, and you were, until now, supposed to be particularly good at interacting with other people. What can you do to improve your professionalism, so that the try-out period is a success?
Here are a few suggestions:

1. if you are not so young, then make space for young generations! Your daughter, your son, your youngest employees can comply with this task better than you: young people are more used with getting in touch with people ...
2. try to walk (figuratively) in your client’s shoes. For example, families are coming from the town to relax and do something nice. Prepare nice spaces to stay, and a few, simple activities for them (e.g. on Sundays between 8 and 10 a.m. children can feed the hens (hens will be eating a little too much on Sundays, but it’s ok ...; or it is possible to take a picture with the pig/cow/horse and receive it by e-mail, which is a good way to collect a mailing list, to keep people informed about new products ... ; or, else, you can summon a dog trainer and ask him to give a lesson on dogs, but also a space with sand to play with, well covered so that cats do not ... use it, could do ...)
3. prepare posters, it is a thing you can do in your spare time: each poster explains a part of your farm: what it is, what is done there, etc. A few posters can also illustrate life on the farm: at what time do you wake up? What do you regularly do? Take pictures of yourself and insert them. If you make the posters with a computer, then you can also show them on your Facebook page (because you do have a Facebook page, don’t you? It’s a MUST! You could even make a video, like this one... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBf4IekhV_I. The poster and video can help people understand that farmers’ work is important, and adds a lot of added value to products, a value that has to be appreciated and remunerated ...)

At the end of this phase you will be able to show

• Who do you sell to? - Your commercial targets
• What are you selling? - Range of products or services on offer
• How do you sell? - Negotiating, tariffs
• When do you sell? - Seasonally, trimesters, monthly, weekly, daily
• Where do you sell? - Methods of contact

Case study: Watch the video and answer the question