Vertical Integration in Produce Markets: A Colorado Cooperative’s Strategic Response to Change

An evolving produce industry has placed vegetable growers in northern Colorado at a competitive disadvantage. The Colorado producers’ strategic response is to form a value-added, cold storage processing cooperative in the hopes of establishing a better position for marketing their vegetables on a year-round basis. This case study discusses the results of both a market demand and processing feasibility study conducted for these vegetable growers.