7 November 2022
Mercado is the single source of truth for all variety information
Productmanagement Agrico
‘We have already created several variety catalogs and we’ve just completed work on our latest variety book. Managing and cataloging new seedlings is the main activity in our department.’
Visibly in her element as Product Management Support, today we talk to Charon of Agrico. We’re curious to know about her experiences working with Mercado. Agrico and Agri Information Partners have been working together for some time and since she joined the team of product managers, everyone is happy with her refreshing hands-on mentality.
When she recently moved from New Zealand to the Netherlands, she not only switched country, she also changed career direction, from university teaching to working in the agricultural sector. However, she uses her database management expertise which she brought with her from her university background every day. Call it her intuitive tidiness or wanting to use data as efficiently as possible, She agrees that the data in the variety portfolio must always be up-to-date.
Mercado offers the solution
Agrico Research trials seedlings and new varieties over several years. When a seedling appears to be a new variety, the product managers are responsible for finding the right market. These are ongoing processes, which is why they’re constantly updating the variety portfolio. In her product management support role, she sees the power of the Variety File and Trials modules.
For sharing variety information, this is perhaps the most important application within Agrico, which is also used as a single source of truth. And what’s more, it’s essential for all promotional materials: the website, flyers, posters, variety books or foreign publications. Everything Charon does is guided by the motto: up-to-date and accurate data. And when you realize that the variety books are almost considered the ‘holy grail’, you want to be sure they don’t contain any errors.
The Trials module enables all colleagues, at home and abroad, to enter observations into a single app. She has heard stories from her colleagues of the many different Excel files used previously and in which errors easily crept in. Now, results from all over Europe are collected in a single database from which they can be easily and efficiently exported.
As Administrator, Charon has access to the entire Variety File and so contributes to optimal database management. Data is processed directly to provide actual output for the Product Managers and Marketing and Communications Department, the Mercado users.
Via special member licenses, a Portal grants external parties access to the Varieties and Trials modules. This creates a platform where Agrico can share informative data with external parties from a central location. By assigning permissions, selected users can compare and view varieties online.
The power of collaboration
Despite not being involved in the initial implementation of Mercado at Agrico, Charon indicates that working together with Agri Information Partners has been nothing but a pleasant experience. At Agrico, the motto is Good Growth, and that’s reflected in their way of working and willingness to cooperate with AIP. By working together, the two organizations share their knowledge and this leads to even better variety representation!
When we asked Charon what would be nice to have in the future, she responded: “mainly to continue working in the same enjoyable way and … to seeing the Agrico colors in the Mercado Portal and Trials environment!” AIP is also very happy about the cooperation with Agrico. Moving forward together one step at a time, respecting each other’s interests. So far, this has been a very fruitful venture!