Fenn Valley Vineyards
On September 9th, a group of friends (Charlotte Fung, Renee Swartz, and Anthony Dilernia), and I travelled to Fennville, MI to tour Fenn Valley Vineyards. For the tour, our guide was Todd, who is a graduate from Michigan State University with a degree in horticulture. Besides being a tour guide at Fenn Valley, Todd is also the Vineyard Manager, his job responsibilities are trying to get the highest quality grape, obtain the highest grape yield given the limitation during the growing season and try to improve the leaf to grape ratio.
About Fenn Valley
Fenn Valley is a 43-year-old vineyard that operates on a 240-acre farm. Even though it has 240 acres only 83 acres are currently cultivated. The manager mention that the vineyard could possibly expand another 5 acres if needed, but after that, all the land has been used. Because Fenn valley has reached capacity on their farm, they are receiving grapes from three other farms in South West Michigan through contracts. Contract are agreements between wineries and grape growers. Everything in these contracts are laid out: the number of years they will be doing business together, the price & quantity of fruit produced each year, the manner in which the grapes are grown, and who will be doing actual work. (the farmer, the winery, a vineyard management firm) An interesting fact given on the tour about these contacts is that each party involved is require either to give a three-year notice before ending the
A contract is defined as, “a legally enforceable exchange of promises or an exchange of a promise for an act that assures that parties to the agreement that their promises will be enforceable (Kubasek 2015).” Contracts are essential for businesses to conduct business with one another. Before delving too far into the Muscadine grape case, it is also important to note that a sale is the, “passing of title to goods from buyer to seller for a price (Kubasek 2015)” and that a good is considered, “tangible personal property (Kubasek 2015).” Muscadine grapes and their by-products are the goods in question. When considering any legal case it is important to first consider the facts and the issues that are being considered.
In order to advise Billy in whether he is entitled to the extra $20,000 and a share in the farm, the key facts and relevant issues must be examined to determine if the elements of a legally binding contract exists. Whether there was an agreement and intention to create legal relations between the two will be used to determine whether Choy has breached a contract between the two. If a contract is found to
Key success factors in the winery industry include competitive pricing, high grape quality, label and blend differentiation, and diverse distribution channels.
This discussion board post will respond to various questions regarding the Contracts Analysis Case Study involving Marshall Petersen and his local health food business from a
They say things like, “There are too many drunks running around Eaton as it is now.” I think differently. With a winery right here in the town of Eaton, people won’t have the urgency to go to Richmond or Dayton, just to find a pleasure in drinking. Instead it will become more of a natural thing. Nothing will be special of traveling to a big city to drink. Why? When you have a new wine source in your own small town. There are many benefits to the opening of this winery. I believe that since Eaton is a fairly small town, buyers will take their liquor home and drink safely at a house. This will limit the death rate from drunk driving accidents. Zdobinski and Meeks plan to have 14 different tastes, so the selection is a fair amount. With some grapes coming from California, this may take years to get a full up and running estate grown
However, Bonny Doon is vulnerable and reliant on its suppliers, as 80% of the firm’s grapes are bought from external growers. Bonny Doon requires unpopular grape varieties and grapes that meet high quality specifications (which decreases agricultural yields and creates a trade-off for growers). They need to develop long-term relationships with the growers to ensure uniformity and high production quality with respect to the firm’s key product input: grapes. On the other side of the value chain, the firm has preferred small-medium sized distributors for their product. This has enabled them to retain higher profits, despite selling wine in smaller quantities.
The frame narrative in Charles W. Chesnutt's The Goophered Grapevine creates a hidden tension between the viewpoints of the internal narrator's voice and the voice of the external narrator. Uncle Julius McAdoo is Chesnutt's internal narrator, and serves a storyteller in the story. He exemplifies the characteristics of a former slave such as being uneducated and unable to speak Standard English. Julius is old, poor, and uneducated. These characteristics set him up as being a person that lacks credibility. However, early on in the story Julius claims his credibility as a storyteller by saying "Day ain' na'er a man in dis settlement w' at won' tell you ole Julius McAdoo' uz bawn en raise on dis yer
Welcome to the wine cellar business. As Production Manager of the Fine Wine Rack Co., you
Ms. Quintana CEO of Northern Napa Valley Winery Inc. was considering conducting business with Trans Continental stores to sell excess grapes from the 2008 harvest. Prior to making a decision Quintana must determine how much of the harvest should be retained for the production of Northern Napa’s own red table wine. Quintana realized that the quantity of red table wine produced is closely associated to the sales.
This case captures the problems concerning cash flow and working-capital management typical of small, growing businesses. At the end of 2005, Bob and Maggie Brown have completed their third year of operating Horniman Horticulture, a $1-million-revenue woody-shrub nursery in central Virginia. While experiencing booming demand and improving margins, the Browns are puzzled by their plummeting cash balance. The case highlights the difference between cash flow and accounting profits, as well as the common negative effects of growth on cash flow. It also provides a forum for instilling appreciation for the relevance of free cash flow to business owners and managers, introducing
In 2001 there were over 1 million wine producers worldwide, and no firm accounted for more than 1% of global retail sales. Because of this, it would be nearly impossible for the Robert Mondavi winery to dominate sales in any region. Due to Mondavi’s efforts, the winery became one of America’s most innovative,
Smaller firms such as the family run operations in Europe may not be able to realize these same cost efficiencies. Furthermore, grapes represent 50 to 70% of a winemakers COGS, thus the competition for sourcing high quality grape growers is quite high. Just as Mondavi does for 75% of its purchases, most premium wine makers enter into long-term contracts with growers to not only ensure that their demand is met but also to make sure that they receive grapes that are consistent in quality.
The Mondavi Corporation has over 8,000 acres of vineyards in its portfolio. This company is constantly searching for new vineyards and ways to grow the finest grapes to harvest. Even though Napa Valley, California is where most of their vineyards are located, Mondavi has vineyards worldwide.
Society has become a shallow place. If an individual does not fit into societies form of the normal person then they are treated differently. But does society treat those who are different in a negative or positive way? In the novel Flowers for Algernon, the author Daniel Keyes shows an in depth look at the treatment of individuals in today's society. Firstly society tends to discriminate against those whose IQ does not fit into the norms of our society. The physically handicapped in today's world are not considered to be "equal" as those who fit into the normal physical appearance, Keyes portrays this through Charlie's thoughts while in the café. Although animals are not technically humans society treats them in ways which no human would
The short story “Greenleaf” by Flannery O’Connor tells of Mrs. May, an old, bitter, and selfish woman. She thinks badly of everyone around her, including her own two sons. It also compares her family to that of the Greenleaf family, who Mrs. May sees as inferior to her. O’Connor unveils the story of Mrs. May and her demise through the use of point of view, character, and symbolism. She uses the third person omniscient view to give the reader a sense of Mrs. May’s character, and the symbols of the bull, and the conflict between the bull and Mrs. May to show Mrs. May’s destruction as well as give the story a deeper meaning of God’s grace.