Upscaling Liquid Phonska Fertilizer Sales through Direct Selling: A Qualitative Study of Building Farmer Interest in Gresik, East Java

Abstract

Purpose: This study explores how direct selling can be used to upscale the sales of liquid Phonska fertilizer and, in doing so, to build farmer interest in adopting a relatively new agricultural input in Gresik Regency, East Java.

Design/methodology/approach: An exploratory qualitative design was adopted. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight informants selected through purposive sampling fertilizer sales agents, a sub-distributor, a company field-marketing officer, farmer-group leaders, an extension facilitator, and farmers with different adoption profiles. Data were examined through iterative thematic analysis, supported by field observation, triangulation, and member checking.

Findings: Direct selling upscales liquid Phonska sales primarily by converting a transaction into a relationship. Face-to-face credibility, on-farm demonstration, and the embedding of selling within existing farmer-group (kelompok tani) networks reduce perceived risk and generate trust, which in turn precedes interest, trial, and adoption. Digital tools such as WhatsApp groups sustain the relationship after the first purchase. Counterfeit competition, rural logistics, and uneven agent competence constrain scaling.

Practical implications: Fertilizer principals and distributors can upscale sales by recruiting locally respected agents, investing in demonstration plots, offering flexible payment terms, and combining offline relationships with lightweight digital follow-up rather than competing on price alone.

Originality/value: The paper extends direct-selling research dominated by analytical channel modelling and studies of multi-level marketing in developed markets to the under-examined case of agricultural inputs in a developing-country smallholder setting, and proposes a relational upscaling pathway.

Paper type: empirical