Second place winner of the WDI 25th Anniversary Case Writing Competition in 2018.
Social entrepreneur Danny Fausto, president of DVF Dairy Farm, wanted to improve farmer incomes in his province of Nueva Ecija, Philippines. He had seen how the current model of farmers making a living from planting rice kept them in a cycle of poverty because of the regulated retail price and high cost of inputs. Fausto saw an opportunity for farmers to earn additional income by selling milk from the Philippine carabao (water buffalo), an animal they currently used to till the soil for rice. To help the farmers, Fausto established DVF Dairy Farm to purchase raw carabao milk, thus creating a daily source of income for them. DVF’s marketing of carabao milk products had been successful and demand grew rapidly. However, farmers were unable to produce the sufficient quantity and quality of milk that DVF’s discerning customers expected. How can Fausto meet DVF customer needs, as well as maintain a positive impact on the Filipino farmers?