Entrepreneurial ventures often require the active participation of groups of entrepreneurs or multiple stakeholders to be successful. This is particularly true in the context of nascent agri-food industries. One type of group that is common in agriculture and food industries is that of a cooperative. Cooperatives allow members to pool resources to achieve economies of scale and scope to take advantage of potential market opportunities. However, such cooperatives also face significant barriers, particularly in terms of the coordination of members. One such cooperative that was formed to exploit a market opportunity is CGI (Chestnut Growers Inc.). This cooperative was formed with the goal of raising awareness of chestnut products to help farmers expand their consumer base and realize higher prices for their chestnuts. Many threats to the group's profitability exist including inherent risk factors such as frost and a lack of full cooperation from group members. Despite these existing risk factors, CGI has the potential to succeed based upon the group members' strong attachment value for the cooperative (and therefore willingness to donate human capital to see the group succeed). Therefore the group members' social capital can be seen as an intangible asset and a source of competitive advantage for the cooperative.
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