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Food cooperatives for strengthening regional organic value chains
Project
Project code: 2822OE095
Contract period: 01.06.2023
- 31.05.2026
Budget: 324,771 Euro
Purpose of research: Applied research
Keywords: organic farming, sustainability, market, marketing, consumer behaviour
As a result of a high degree of concentration and strong competition in food retailing, there is a market power that leads to various problems in the entire value chain: high price pressure on upstream stages, market-determining quality expectations as well as evolved logistics and procurement structures have the consequence that small and local producers and processors of organic food hardly gain access to the market. Even in leading organic supermarket chains, professionalized and large-scale procurement structures, among other things, endanger small-scale farming and artisanal structures, which are, however, elementary for functioning regional value chains and the development of organic agriculture at regional level. Inspired by international success stories, the first cooperative food supermarkets (referred to as SuperCoops or FoodHubs, among others) have been founded in Germany, successfully testing new ways to help shape regional value chains. As a counter-design to existing approaches, they rely on fair and livelihood-securing pricing for suppliers and develop a special closeness to regionally produced organic food due to their community-supported store and participatory concept. Against this background, the aim of the project is to identify potentials and challenges for the further development and dissemination of the concept, to identify solutions for the implementation of the concept and to promote knowledge transfer and networking between the actors. The assumption of the project is that the cooperative store concept can increase the appreciation for or the identity with organic and regional products. Furthermore, it is assumed that through the visibility of organic and regional products or producers, multiplier effects in the market and an expansion of consumption beyond the existing organic market can be achieved and the sales of regionally produced organic food can be increased.
Section overview
Subjects
- Agricultural Sociology
- Agroeconomics
Framework programme
Federal Organic Farming Scheme and other forms of sustainable agriculture (BÖLN)
