Forever niche: Why do organically bred vegetable varieties not diffuse?

Abstract

While organic food increased its market share in conventional food retail, virtually all organic vegetables are still conventionally bred. For decades, organically bred vegetable varieties remained a market niche, despite their socio-ecological benefits. This paper conceptualizes actors and activities around organic breeding as a Technological Innovation System (TIS) and analyzes what prevents these varieties from widely diffusing into conventional supermarkets. Investigated systemic barriers relate to knowledge, market formation, investments, and legitimacy. The study is based on interviews with food retailers and (commons-based) breeding initiatives across Germany. Theoretically, the paper adds an innovation system perspective on the diffusion of organically bred varieties, a blind spot in the emerging seed commons debate. Furthermore, it contributes to sustainability transitions literature by introducing a novel empirical topic and reframing the TIS framework to analyze agri-food innovations. Identifying barriers and vicious cycles might support practitioners and policymakers seeking to diffuse this agri-food niche.