Agribusiness is the economic sector dedicated to the production, transformation and marketing of agricultural products.
The notion of agroindustry refers to the group formed by the different industries that are linked to agriculture . To understand what agribusiness is, therefore, we must first be clear about what the concepts of industry and agriculture refer to.
The industry is made up of the infrastructure and the different material and human resources that allow natural raw materials to be transformed and processed . Agriculture, for its part, consists of the activities carried out to till and cultivate the land with the aim of obtaining these raw materials .
What is agribusiness
Agribusiness, therefore, is an economic sector that includes activities related to preparing, transforming and marketing agricultural products . In the broadest sense, agribusiness can be divided into food industry (it transforms raw materials into food with different formats and properties) and non-food industry (raw materials are used for different industrial processes that are not linked to food).
In addition to everything indicated, we cannot ignore the fact that agribusiness can be classified into other groups. Thus, for example, if we start from what the raw materials themselves are, we come across the agroindustries that are suppliers of these and those that are directly consumers of them.
The production and sale of pasteurized milk is part of the agribusiness.
Export or oriented to domestic consumption
In the same way, if we use the destination of the products they are responsible for offering as a criterion or parameter, we find two different types:
-Agroindustries that are export-oriented. Within these we must also point out a subdivision, since they can be classified into two: those that export what are traditional products and those that do the same with products that are not traditional.
-Agroindustries that are focused on the domestic market. In this case, we come across those that offer basic products and those that do the same but with products that are not considered basic.
Examples of agribusiness
An example of agribusiness is found in the production of beef for human consumption . The process can include everything from raising cows in a field to producing hamburgers that are sold frozen, through the slaughterhouse, obtaining the meat itself, processing it, packaging and cold storage.
In the same way, we have to emphasize that, in recent years, in certain corners of Spain there has been a considerable increase in the number of agroindustries that are specialized in the manufacture of Iberian sausages from the meat of the pigs that are raised. following the highest quality seal.
The production of preserves and jams, the pasteurization of milk, the production of concentrated fruit juices, the production of fish flour and the production of olive oil are just some of the processes that can be developed within the framework of an agribusiness.
Agroindustry is so important that in some countries, within their governments, there are areas, secretariats or ministries specialized in it. This would be the case, for example, of Argentina .