Sustainable Podcast: AgriThority’s Luke Samuel Discusses Three Actions Biological Companies Often Miss in Bringing Products to Market

Renee Targos By Renee Targos|9 April 2025

Sustainable by AgriBusiness Global talked with Luke Samuel, Manager of Development Services Technology for AgriThority about the industry alignment of stage-to-gate steps and language as exemplified in the Ag PlayBook and what mistakes biological companies do when taking a product to market.

*This is a partial and edited transcript of the podcast interview.

ABG: What are three mistakes you see happening for innovative biological companies wanting to bring products to market? What are three actions that these companies should be taking instead?

Luke Samuel: The ag industry is so dynamic. We’re seeing a lot of pressure from consumers who are wanting more sustainably raised products. Regenerative agriculture is a big part of this. How do you minimize some of those traditional crop inputs that may be less environmentally friendly than some new options?

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As with our Prescriptive Response, the process must be a disciplined development approach. I think a lot of companies try to skip steps, or maybe they try and go too early to have farmers test their product. In my experience, that could work, but it’s long odds.

The other piece is allocation of resources. Where do you spend your time? Where do you spend your resources to ensure that you’re on the right path with that product to reach your end goal?

The last piece would be that it takes time and resources. There’s no way to go from A to Z without addressing steps in between. It’s important to make sure that companies have a foundational planning session to define the solution they are trying to provide. They need to ask the following questions:

  • Where is this product going to fit?
  • Do I know the market?
  • Do I know the competitors?
  • Do I know what margins or other types of type of information that retail and distribution partners may want to know?
  • Have I thought through all scenarios so I can start to crystallize and pull together my performance story along with my business opportunity as I go into the marketplace?

Renee Targos, as Editor of AgriBusiness GlobalTM Direct magazine, leads in content development, event programming, and managing the ABG Board of Advisors and strategic growth of the magazine. Renee’s professional experience covers more than two decades of national and international digital and print content development, editing, and journalism. She received a bachelor’s degree from Southern Illinois University and continued her education with master’s level courses in business administration and behavioral analysis. Renee has served as a board member for several Arizona-based non-profits and government commissions. See all author stories here.

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