20A Growing Your Social Capital

Daniel Erneston 

1. Owns a large produce stand, where he sells fresh produce to a large range of individuals and also sells in local grocery stores.
2. Domain Expert
3. I found this person, because they have been a family friend for years, and I was able to email him with questions about selling in this market. 
4. He was able to explain how pricing works per unit and if it would be possible to sell my product at a competitive and reasonable price. 
5. His explanation on pricing benefitted my product a lot. He explained that a lot of bulk buying is done to save money, but when the food ends up wasted, that money is lost anyway. Bulk selling only benefits the seller in that they sell more of the product at once, therefore able to make each unit of the product slightly cheaper. The best way for my business to keep the price reasonable low and still make a profit, relies on marketing it well. My marketing strategy should be rooted in the wasted food = wasted money in the long run.

Elizabeth Moceri

1. Marketing Director at a local grocery store. Deals with the issue of single individuals not being offered smaller packaged food.
2. Market Expert
3. Spoke to this individual in the past, through a partnership we did with the store and my job and was able to email her about this project. 
4. She helped me understand that the need for smaller packaged food goes beyond single college students. The grocery store she works is locally owned and smaller than the big chain stores. Many health conscious families and college students shop there. She explained that at times, even the family desires smaller packaged food. With small children, they may not all eat the same things, so they need a range of products to satisfy everyone, which is not feasible with large packaged products. 
5. This will improve the marketability of my product among a larger range of people. Also, her grocery store connections will allow me to more easily place my product on grocery store shelves. 

James Gray

1. Fresh Produce and meat supplier for the past 20 years, sells to a wide demographic range. Expert on selling food products in bulk as well as small packaging, to fit the needs of the individual or business. Provides the food products to businesses, so they are able to sell them in their stores.
2. Supplier. 
3. I found him and contacted him, because he supplies produce for the Chick-fil-A I work at and I knew he also sold to individuals in smaller quantities, to grow his business. Contacted through work and then by email.
4. Helped me understand the product from both the buyer and seller side. Allowed me to understand how production of this type of product would go. 
5. Production would be easier than I expected. A lot of foods are packaged in one place, and sent to different sellers. For example, strawberries are mass grown on a farm, then they are packaged and labeled for each individual seller and then sent off to sell. All that would need to happen is fill smaller packages and sell through my company.

I was shocked by how willing these individuals were to help and discuss my product. They seemed genuinely interested and excited about this type of products, as sellers, and even as potential buyers. I was impressed by their knowledge and how it would benefit my product in such a large range of unexpected ways.