Product differentiation in Agriculture

When I talk about perfect competition in class, I often use agriculture as an example. Here is the counter example - a farmer that has differentiated his product and delivers to a very specific market niche.

McClendon, a longtime pharmacist turned botanist, runs one of metro Phoenix's only U.S. Department of Agriculture-certified organic-produce farms.

Although most farmers with his credentials sell to wholesalers that stock grocery-store shelves, McClendon has carved a niche by custom-growing exotic crops for some of the Southwest's top chef-driven restaurants.

In the summer, he harvests Corno Di Toro sweet peppers - the seeds are imported from Italy - exclusively for famed pizza maker Chris Bianco of Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix...