 |
 |
| Before its recent merger with Cenex to form Cenex Harvest States, Harvest States was a $7.1 billion agri/foods cooperative involved in grain marketing, food processing, farm supplies and business services. Working with a large network of local, producer-owned cooperatives in the Upper Midwest, Plains States and Pacific Northwest, the company has customers throughout the nation and around the world. |
|
Challenge A 1998 merger joined two financially strong cooperatives — Cenex, Inc. and Harvest States — in a single agri/foods company known as Cenex Harvest States. As a result of the merger, the company wanted to develop a positioning statement that would send an appropriate and positive message to all the company's stakeholders, including its member-cooperatives and -producers, customers of its various value-added products, and employees. |
Solutions Wehrman & Company considered the unique aspects of this farm-to-consumer agri/foods operation and recommended the statement "We grow value." Due to the cooperative's diverse operations and its agricultural foundation, Wehrman & Company viewed the statement as one that would convey a descriptive message and be relevant to all stakeholders. The positioning statement was incorporated in the new company's logo and used in applications throughout the organization. |