In the context of small-scale agriculture, farmers do not have enough capacity to negotiate individually with com- mercial chain suppliers, and have difficulties in selling their products directly to consumers too. The challenge of this original form of cooperation is to allow direct selling, identifying a list of clients interested buying local products directly from farmers. Concretely the innovation of this system is based on a special accountability software. When the client purchases the products, he receives an invoice from the food producers/farmer. Thanks to this system the consumers have clear information about the products produced on the farm, with a guarantee on their traceability, and each farmer is identifiable on the label of the product. The store is directly managed by the Association “La Spesa in Campagna Siena”. The costs of management (staff employed in the store, rent and consumption costs) are paid by farmers, with on average 24% of the sale price allocated to these costs. . However, the rate is not fixed but is dependent on the monthly turnover. This can vary (22-30%) from month to month. Logistical support is also provided by farmers too. They bring their products directly to the shop. The turnover of shop is increasing overtime. The shop had a turnover of € 480.000,00) in 2017, which was an increase of in excess of , 10% from 2016. The products are sourced locally with the exception of oranges and lemons). These are sourced directly from farmers in other regions of Italy. The shop has established without receiving any private or public external funding . The shop has become very successful and gained a loyal customer base. Since it was established, the number of associated farmers involved in the shop has increased significantly, from 16 to 43 farmers. In the same period the shop had acquired 2,200 clients, while its Facebook page had reached 1,400 followers.

The main knowledge requirements for this type of activity include:

• Cooperation system in agriculture
• Legal and financial administration
• Principles of direct selling and short chain supply

Further to this first successful initiative , the association “La Spesa in Campagna Siena”, has recently promoted the creation of a legal entrepreneurs’ network, with the ambition to realize in another area of the Province of Siena, a new shop for farms’ products. The network participated as lead partner in a RDP program call (2017) for Integrated Chain Projects. The network includes 2O associated members, with 13 members participating in the chain project as beneficiaries. The project foresees an investment of almost €2,000,000.

The main benefit for farmers participating in this cooperation experience is the opportunity to use a common sales platform, thereby reducing the steps from the producer to the consumer within the food supply chain and thus, eliminating intermediary costs.

The critical point is that the shop, in terms of asset management cannot absorb and sell large quantities of products due to logistical factors and space requirements for storage. The network is one of the first examples of cooperation in direct selling within the region with its main function being to valorize local products and support the development of the short chain economy.

Advantages and disadvantages associated with this initiative include:

Advantages:

• Low management costs for farmers
• Good quality and Guarantee of products’ traceability, building trust among consumers, and encouraging them to focus on quality instead of quantity in their purchases.
• Supporting business growth and sustainability of small farmers.

Disadvantages:

• The small scale of management has a high product unit costs, therefore the prices for consumers are a little bit higher than in the ordinary market.
• The management is headed by the association, therefore a good level of cohesion is necessary.