Arcadia Biosciences is an agricultural enterprise California biotech companies seeking to obtain carbon credits by changing cash crops for use in China and India. Eric Ray, CEO of Arcadia, was faced with a strategic inflection point in the beginning of September 2008. The company had a plan to share the carbon credits allocated to net United Nations Development Mechanism Executive Board in China, for Arcadia rice varieties, as they allowed farmers to reduce the use of nitrogen fertilizers, in turn, reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But the company's own features for nitrogen use efficiency, salt tolerance and water use efficiency were also more common ways to market through licensing agreements with major companies seeds. In addition, Arcadia could buy seed companies to develop and sell their seeds directly. Different next growth area involves the commercialization of enriched safflower oil, which have undergone several tests and proof of concept for which Rey foresaw clearly the market of food supplements and functional foods. Case provides the context of the company; describe advances in genetics of crops focused on climate change and related issues of resource use of fertilizers, water use and soil salinity, and is a strategic choice for a start-up company working in the intersection of business, agriculture, and climate change. "Hide
by Arthur A. Daemmrich, Forest Reinhardt, Mary Shelman Source: Harvard Business School 19 pages. Publication Date: December 1, 2008. Prod. #: 709019-PDF-ENG
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