The potential of bio certification to strengthen the market position of food producers

Yevhen Kononets,Horst Treiblmaier

doi:10.1108/mscra-05-2020-0013

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to critically evaluate the applicability of bio certification in farmers' activity to reduce unfair trading practices in the food supply chain. The secondary purposes are describing the economic reasons of using bio certification and perspectives of using web trading platforms among food producers.Design/methodology/approachData collection included face-to-face interviews with 15 Austrian and German farmers who operate on bio food markets as well as a quantitative survey regarding their assessment of unfair trading practices. This study presents both quantitative and qualitative analyses.FindingsBio certification is more likely unable to eliminate or mitigate unfair trading practices in the food supply chain, however bio certification is able to increase efficiency of farmers together with other web tools.Originality/valueThe study is the first to empirically investigate the applicability of bio certifications, its advantages and impact on unfair trading practices in the food supply chain. It focuses on small and medium-sized food producers and farmers. The research also reveals the perspectives of using web trading platforms in farming activity.

Highlights

A food supply chain comprises all activities which move food items from a primary producer to consumers
Within modern food supply chains, food producers tend to be most vulnerable to the impact of unfair trading practices (UTPs), which have a severe negative impact on business-to-business relationships (Abdollah Dehdashti, 2018; Schebesta et al, 2018)
In our research, we investigate whether certifications or direct sales can eliminate or at least mitigate the problem of UTPs for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and help to increase the efficiency of small producers in the food supply chain

Summary

Introduction

A food supply chain comprises all activities which move food items from a primary producer to consumers. Within modern food supply chains, food producers tend to be most vulnerable to the impact of unfair trading practices (UTPs), which have a severe negative impact on business-to-business relationships (Abdollah Dehdashti, 2018; Schebesta et al, 2018). Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for 43% of the traded value. In terms of trade export value, SMEs’ accounted for 81% in agriculture, forestry and fishing in 2016 (Eurostat, 2020). These enterprises lose on average 2.27% of their annual turnover due to various kinds of UTPs (Kononets and Qineti, 2020)

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