Agri Business Network and FutureFarm today announced the launch of AgRetail on the FutureFarm platform. The AgRetail mission is to lower the cost of inputs for South African farmers.
Using the FutureFarm web and mobile app, AgRetail farmer members enjoy the revolutionary convenience and transparency of comparing prices and buying commodity inputs at the push of a button. A range of Diesel, Crop Protection and Fertilizer inputs are available from launch.
AgRetail is FREE and easy to join and a limited number of memberships are available during the startup phase of the venture.
Gerhard Kriel, CEO of Agri Business Network said: “All farmers agree that high cost and price volatility are a threat to business. The old Co-ops, with their expensive retail model, and various sizes local footprints, cannot keep prices low enough. FutureFarm is the next-level platform that helps us run at the lowest possible cost and provides us with intelligent tools to drive prices down.”
Agri Business Network was founded in 2018 and is based in Bloemfontein. While Kriel was still CEO of a Farmer’s Union he realised that a vehicle was needed to create new income streams. As price takers, farmers pay for everything that happens in agriculture, whether commercial deals or organised agriculture.
Kriel concluded an effective platform is necessary to increase farmers’ bottom lines and the partnership with FutureFarm is the answer. The Agri Business Network of suppliers and customers are growing rapidly and the combined experience of experts in their respective fields will add value where it matters for farmers.
Kriel continues: “A key reason for partnering with FutureFarm is the ‘Collective Deals’ feature, which lets farmers join-up demand for key seasonal commodity inputs to generate group discounts. The model is already producing savings of 5-10% on fertilizer and agchem products in the UK, and these savings are passed back to farmers, and their bottom lines. We are extremely excited to launch our own Collective Deals in South Africa and to rebuild the co-operative movement in the digital sphere.”
Florian Ritzmann, CEO of FutureFarm adds: “We look forward to making our platform deliver results for South African farmers. It is a proud moment to help launch AgRetail, our first venture outside the UK, and we look forward to launching many more country partnerships soon.
FutureFarm was founded in May 2018 and is based in Norwich and London. It develops world-leading software to negotiate and manage transactions for farmers. Input Buying Groups are the first to benefit from the technology, enabling efficient aggregation of core commodity inputs to drive prices down.
FutureFarm is run by an expert team of experts with a background in ag tech and online marketplaces.
