Short Food Supply Chains

Short Food Supply Chains have gained increasing importance over the past decade in many countries of the EU. They are characterized by involving a limited number of operators, that exchange information along the chain. Typical examples are direct sales channels like Farm sales, Farmers Markets, Veg-box-schemes, and initiatives such as Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) or Consumer Cooperatives. They all have in common that they offer consumers access to fresh, local, and often organic food, embedded in information about origin and production methods. Farmers usually receive higher prices for their additional effort. SFSCs promote close social relationships between production and consumption, sustainable farming and resilient farm-based livelihoods. By doing so, they offer an alternative to the industrialized food system, that is characterized by a high number of centralized operators.

While generally consumer awareness of environmental and social problems associated with the conventional agri-food system is growing, SFSCs remain a niche phenomenon. SFSCs present an appealing alternative to some consumers but seem to be unsuitable for a larger public. Although Short Food Supply Chain related topics have been studied extensively, research on the consumer’s perspective remains limited. A closer look at consumers’ behavior shows, that the consumption barriers of SFSCs are related to perceived inconvenience, due to accessibility, product range, and time expenditure.

Based on these observations, the research project attempts to identify determining factors for SFSCs purchases. Therefore, a systematic literature review will be carried out. To better understand hindering factors for SFSC purchases, the study intends to survey potential consumers (who have a positive attitude towards SFSCs, but do not purchase regularly). Answering these questions, target-oriented marketing measures for SFSCs can be identified.