Title:	Sarvodaya Samiti
Author(s):	Debasis Pradhan
University:	Institute of Rural Management, Anand
Abstract:	Sarvodaya Samiti, Koraput, is a state-level not-for-profit organisation. Of late, it is realising the growing benefits of keeping the organisation alive by making it a profitable entity. The Samiti has good experience in marketing rural produce in general and honey in specific. The honey marketed by the Samiti is getting very good response from the consumers for its quality, with a quality certification from 'Agmark'. The Samiti wants to establish its product as a quality branded honey (Sarvodaya Samiti honey) in the market. Four factors which decide the importance of honey for the Samiti are ease of procurement, availability of processing facilities, marketing experience, and financial support. The case portrays a situation where the Coordinator, Sarvodaya Samiti, is in a dilemma. Should Sarvodaya Samiti be a part of a proposed consortium? The case presents various alternatives considered by the Samiti. Case participants are expected to contemplate the issues of growth of the enterprise and the overall interest of the stakeholders. For example, there is an apprehension that with the acceptance of the proposal, the Samiti's growing marketing operations might suffer as most of the Samiti's resources would be devoted to procurement and processing. This may hinder the efforts of the Samiti to grow as an independent marketing entity and hence the future of the brand Sarvodaya Samiti may be in peril. The case is valuable because it depicts a situation where a small enterprise involved in all the stages of value addition process, starting from procurement to marketing is facing a decision-making situation, which has the potential to redefine its purpose and the next course of action. The case presents several policy/regulatory, strategic and marketing issues and aims at sensitising the discussants to various issues in rural marketing.
Publication Details:	Source: Vikalpa; The Journal for Decision Makers Volume-29, April-June 2004, Number 2
Pub/Rev Date:	April/June 2004
Case Length:	7 pgs
Teaching Note:	No
Pages (TN):	–
Subjects:	Marketing
Issues:	Procurement, Processing, Branding, Allocation of Resources, Tie-ups, Rural Marketing
Country:	India
Period Covered:	1968-2001
Industry:	Food, Beverages & Tobacco
Level:	Undergraduate / Postgraduate
Links of Interest:	–