Cliffs of Moher/Galway:  Give us your observations on what stood out to you during your tour of the Cliffs of Moher and the City of Galway.

The sheer size of the cliffs blew me away.  I never realized how large they were until we walked up to them in person.  Pictures don’t do them justice.  As Brad said, it’s something you need to experience to be able to describe.

FoodCloud: In preparation for your site visit to FoodCloud, this organization has a deep commitment to supporting the local food system in Ireland.  Just from reading the article, it resembles an organization in Pittsburgh, 412 Food Rescue, which supports the local food system in Pittsburgh through an emphasis on reducing food waste through food recovery and distributing excess food to local food banks.  Based on your quick review of the article on FoodCloud, identify one commercial opportunity and one commercial challenge they are addressing in their efforts to support local food systems.

FoodCloud’s biggest challenge is raising money to supply food.  As mentioned in the article, FoodCloud partnered with Tesco in 2015 and in 2018, sealed a three-year deal with AIB that will provide 1.5 million euros to FoodCloud.  It seems that FoodCloud has done a good job with creating partnerships and securing funding, but it is still the most critical part of their operation.  An opportunity for FoodCloud is expanding into other countries in the EU.  Already in Ireland, FoodCloud expanded to the UK with the partnership with Tesco.  By moving into new countries, they create more opportunities for partnerships.

Questions For The Site Visit:  Finally, acting as members of consulting teams that might choose to write a group paper about the commercial opportunities and challenges connected to FoodCloud, what specific questions do you have about the business model for FoodCloud that relate to our course material (Triple Bottom Line and sustainability, market segmentation, maximization versus shared value, etc.)?  Give us a specific question for tomorrow’s visit.

I would ask them how and where they get the money to continue their operation.  Obviously, their organization benefits people and the planet, but since it is a nonprofit, I am curious as to how they raise funds.  I would also like to know what their market target segment is, both from a donating perspective and a fundraising perspective.