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White Hutchinson Leisure & Learning Group, Kansas City, MO, USA

People are Looking for Transformative Events

People are increasingly looking for transformative experiences (also known as transformational experiences), especially bachelor+ adults who account for almost three-quarters of all out-of-home entertainment spending. Research by Eventbrite found that more than half of event attendees are looking for transformative experiences:

• 79% of event attendees would pay more for entertaining or informative events that are also meaningful or transformative experiences.
• 72% of consumers feel positively toward events that offer a meaningful, transformative experience.

In agriculture, transformative experiences are the highest level of value-added, the 5 ^th level.

What happens with most value-added agriculture is it moves up what is known as the progression of economic value. The progression of economic value starts with raw commodities that are transformed into goods, which are then wrapped in services and finally transformed into experiences. Each level increases the total value to the customer and, accordingly, the total price the customer is willing to pay. Generally, price sensitivity decreases, profit margins increase, and competition decreases as you move up the progression of economic value.

We'll use apples as an example. At the first level of economic value, the apples are sold in a farm market. At the 2nd level of economic value, they're turned into goods, such as apple sauce, apple pies, cider, cider donuts, and maybe even hard cider. Based on the added value, these goods sell for a much higher price and have a higher profit than raw apples.

The 3 ^rd level of economic value is to offer them as a service. This can include serving customers a slice of apple pie a la mode in a farm market restaurant or a glass of hard cider in a cidery. The prices for these services are higher.

Now comes the next level of economic value, the 4 ^th level, where farms turn apples into an experience. Crazy as it is, people will pay a farm to do the labor of picking the apples (the experience) with pick-your-own, also called U-pick. Most customers for U-pick, especially families with young children, don't come to farms to save money by harvesting apples as a commodity. They come for the experience of both picking the produce and consuming produce that is local and fresh. People perceive the experience of U-pick as worth more than just the value of the apples they get.

Apples can be elevated to the 5 ^th level at a cooking class for an apple dessert. The attendees might even first pick the apples they're going to use. In a farm market, apple tastings where staff explain the heritage and differences of the apples are a transformational experience. It will also raise the perceived value of the apples for sale and introduce customers to buying new varieties. Other transformational experiences include farmer-led farm tours, tours of a farm's cidery, and beer and cheese tastings from local producers. Having a hay wagon ride guide explain the farm's history and what people see on the ride elevates the ride to a transformational level.

In addition to the economic value and profitability at the different levels of the progression of economic value, there's another dimension on how people value each level - the progression of time. With only 24 hours a day and seven days a week, with 40+ hours a week for work and 8 hours a day for sleep, time is an immenselylimited currency. Time wasted is to be avoided at all costs. Goods and services are about \time well saved, so a person frees up their time for other things. Instead of spending time making an apple pie, you buy it at the farm market and save time. Experiences are about time well spent. At the 5^th level, transformational experiences, the progression of time takes on a greater value to time well invested; as transformational experiences, the improvement to either body or mind lasts. Learning to cook a recipe that includes apples means you have the knowledge to enjoy the recipe for the rest of your life, a great return on the time you spent in the cooking class.

For many people, leaving home and visiting a particular leisure venue is more about using discretionary leisure time than spending discretionary money. In our time-pressed culture, the last thing people want to do is waste their leisure time. For that reason, to ensure it is worth their time, we see a trend of people choosing premium, higher fidelity, meaningful, and transformative experiences when they go out, even if they cost a premium.

Agritourism farms can grow their businesses and profitability by making a paradigm shift by adding offerings with the highest economic and time value to their current offerings of goods, services, and experiences - transformational experiences.

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