Agrellus, an e-commerce sales company for crop inputs that was founded in 2015, announced on Aug. 9 that its online sales platform – which was launched in the first quarter of 2017 – has now grown to include more than 50 participating ag retailers and over 250 ag retail locations, with grower members located in 25 states.
The company, which is headquartered in Lubbock, Texas, said it has built a “national platform” that now surpasses its e-commerce competitors in product offerings, participating members, and locations. Agrellus currently offers seed, fertilizer, crop chemicals, irrigation parts, and other products from its website and via a free app for Android and Apple. In late July, the company announced that it was adding diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) as a new ag input category on its online marketplace.
“We’re the leading ‘Ag meets Silicon Valley’ ag inputs marketplace,” said James Ferraro, Agrellus marketing director. “Using propriety technology, we now have more products available, more growers and dealer members, and more quotes and sales volume than other ag input marketplaces.”
The company’s largest presence is in the central U.S., with a majority of participating retailers located in Texas. The company is owned by Texas farmers, ag retailers, Silicon Valley technology executives, and independent investors.
Unlike Farmers Business Network (FBN), the much publicized Google-backed startup (GM Sept. 9, 2016) that was launched in 2014 to disrupt the conventional ag retail network by offering discounted crop inputs and farm analytics online to paying members through its own distribution network, Agrellus utilizes existing ag retailers and retail locations on its online and mobile platform, and charges no membership fee for participating retailers or grower members.
“Agrellus is founded and operated by actual growers and former ag retailers with decades of experience to help both groups,” the company said, noting that its grower members report savings of 14-26 percent on ag inputs. “It’s not a technology exercise by a group who wants to get into the ag biz without field knowledge.”
Other new e-commerce competitors are also utilizing existing retailers, including AgVend and CommoditAg. AgVend launched in January as an online marketplace for agriculture inputs that allows farmers to purchase products and services from participating ag retailers in their own community. The company reported this spring (GM April 13, p. 1) that it had 10 ag retail partners in the Pacific Northwest and Midwest.
CommoditAg officially launched in December 2017 (GM Jan. 5, p. 1) as an online platform for existing ag retailers who are partners in the venture. CommoditAg was founded by The Equity in Illinois and Sunrise Cooperative in Ohio, and has since added Landmark Services Cooperative in Wisconsin (GM Feb. 2, p. 1) and MKC in Kansas as partners (GM March 2, p. 1).
Agrellus said it is differentiated by its broader product categories, as well as its functionality and other services. “Growers can also review manufacturer labels, SDS, and EPA info. They can make custom requests and get application services, and also upload soil tests and other info in a single location,” Ferraro told Green Markets. “Now any time or place, growers can use the Agrellus app to check labels, set GPS delivery locations, upload permits, and make brand name or custom requests.”
Agrellus also stressed its value for existing retailers. “Both groups get online reporting dashboards, better price transparency, and product/sales data to help dealers with their suppliers,” the company said. “It’s free for dealers to join and see current growers’ requests. We are a channel-friendly way to expand their markets. We don’t sell anything direct like some others, or try to break existing distribution networks.”