Perceptions on differentiation strategies for horticultural products marketing in North America: a qualitative analysis of managerial lessons

Abstract

Conducting an empirical research through in-depth qualitative interviews during a practitioner agribusiness congress in Irapuato, Mexico, the authors have identified strategies of product differentiation from different members of the Mexican export horticultural industry and discuss the continuous and proactive use of private agrifood standards as a mean to create innovative and sustainable competitive advantages from the lower levels of the supply chain, despite the idea that it is difficult to introduce strategies of differentiation when the members of the chain are far from the consumers.