Focus Groups iAgroCert

September 2022

The first focus group in the SustAgri 4.0 project took place at the KOSMOS agricultural cooperative near Veroia. Veroia is a small but beautiful town in the northern part of Greece, whose inhabitants are mainly active in the agricultural sector. The focus group was conducted by iAgroCert staff. The invited participants were 5 people, all from the agricultural sector and aged between 38 and 55 years. All participants indicated that their field is highly responsible for sustainability. They indicated that they are trying to implement innovative technological methods to reduce the use of chemicals and waste in their production. Three of the participants have already used apps for agricultural production or updated their equipment with new technological methods. The president of the cooperative also told us that he is trying to take some steps in digital marketing and doing it through digital channels such as Facebook. Although he does not have a specific strategic plan, he creates material himself through his smartphone, which he posts on the cooperative’s profile. The other guests, who work in the agri-food sector, largely follow the same pattern, but want to evolve and take more advantage of the opportunities offered by new tools without being left behind by the tech-savvy new generation. Only one participant knows about some digital tools but does not use them, and he limits his customer acquisition to word of mouth. Participants were very enthusiastic about the work carried out in the SustAgri 4.0 project and look forward to the project results with great pleasure so that they can apply them in their work.