Rural and agri-entrepreneurial networks: A qualitative case study

Abstract

The Queijo Serra da Estrela, DOP is the oldest Portuguese cheese recognized internationally. The objective of this paper is to analyse a rural, agri-entrepreneurial network created by a young, female, craft cheese producer located in an area of low population density in the inland central region of Portugal. For data collection, several qualitative semi-structured phone and face-to-face interviews were held with the partners of the network. This paper contributes by helping to understand how a rural agricultural network in the specific sector of a Protected Denomination of Origin (PDO) product works and what its motives, success factors and benefits are. The results indicate that trust, confidence and regular payments are essential to make this network viable and create added value for business in a traditional sector threatened by climate changes, the age of shepherds and importation of exotic breeds of sheep. Some theoretical and practice contributions will be also presented.