Project relevant issues
Invitation to panel discussion "Healthy growth of values-based organic food chains" at Biofach Conference 11thFebruary 2015
The 21th ESRS Congress, 29 July - 1st August 2013 in Florence, Italy,
"Rural resilience and vulnerability: the rural as locus of solidarity and conflict in times of crisis"; working group 3: HealthyGrowth - From niche to volume with integrity and trust.
FOODSCAPES Conference, 22-25 September 2013 in Seggau Castle, Austria
Conference presentation "Strengthening organic food value chains in Germany".
The 11th European IFSA Symposium, 1-4 April 2014 in Berlin, Germany
"Farming systems facing global challenges: Capacities and strategies"
HEALTHYGROWTH is organizing an own workshop: 2.1 Healthy growth in value-based food chains.
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Links
HEALTHYGROWTH INTRANET,
The project knowledge is based on on-going and previous research projects: national studies, non-European studies, and EU-projects like
SUS-CHAIN,
OMIARD,
QLIF,
COFAMI,
FOODLINKS,
CORASON,
FOODMETRES,
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Stakeholders
The target groups are food networks, businesses and initiatives of value-based organic food chains.
This includes small-scale organic producers, processors, wholesalers and retailers. The project addresses potential new organic actors in innovative forms of partnership and cooperation, as well as large-scale market chains. Besides market actors, organic farmers associations and public bodies are core recipients of dissemination. The transdisciplinary cooperation and communication related to case studies work enhances stakeholder involvement. Moreover, the elaboration and dissemination of the results will be based on a regional and national network building. HealthyGrowth enables the ongoing exchange of ideas and experiences between stakeholders, as well as training of facilitators. |
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Value-based growth of organic food chains
Background
Organic markets differ between countries, but many local organic market initiatives which maintain their original value characteristics have inherent problems in moving from niche to volume and mainstream large-scale market chains often incorporate organic products without securing and advancing organic values. The increase in volume of the organic food markets throughout Europe meets increasingly consumers that are skeptical about the integrity of organic value chains.
Introduction
In HealthyGrowth a range of successful mid-scale organic value chains will be investigated in order to understand better how they are able to combine volume and values, and to use this knowledge to support the further development of organic businesses, networks and initiatives.
A sustainable growth in the organic market depends on the ability of market chains to combine volume marketing with measures that secure integrity and trust based on organic values and principles, thereby generating a prize premium that can be distributed along the chain in a fair and sustainable way.
Project objectives
The project will assess how integrity and trust can be maintained in the transition from niche to volume. HealthyGrowth studies a range of mid-scale food value chains in terms of patterns of growth, economic performance and efficiency, modes of coordination, communication of values, tradeoffs and strategies of crisis management. This will identify fundamental prerequisites for their success in combining volume and values.
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Expected benefits and results
HealthyGrowth will provide knowledge on development pathways from niche to volume maintaining integrity and trust. It aims to develop general as well as locally adapted recommendations for growing organic markets. Scientists and stakeholders will share knowledge and enhance network building within regions and across borders. By studying a range of mid-scale food value chains and showing the prerequisites for their success, the findings will support the development of midscale organic value-based chains and provide new opportunities for organic actors.
Expected results
HealthyGrowth will help to better understand the implications of increasing turnover and expansion of farmers' associations, marketing initiatives and organic food business such as processors and retailers. The project will analyse the specific challenges of value-based chains that expand and try to maintain the original social-ecological and ethical aspirations embodied in organic farming.
Healthygrowth will provide a better understanding of growth processes, different modes of growth (increased output per unit, increased values per unit, network growth etc.) and their implication on the coordination and communication along the value chain.
Based on a better comprehension of dedicated medium-scale value chain networks, initiatives and businesses, the researchers will, together with practitioners and decision makers, derive locally adapted recommendations for improvements in this segment as well as in large chains and in local food co-operations and networks. This is to support the exchange of ideas between actors across boundaries and to stimulate national and international cooperation. The wide range of project results will therefore be relevant for many facets of organic food chain and market development. The case studies, undertaken in different countries and initiatives or businesses, will encourage an exchange of experiences with other countries, regions or value chains.
Preliminary results
The HealthyGrowth-project had a successful kickoff meeting in Aarhus in April 2013, also characterized by a hugely satisfying group formation.
First results of the project work reveal that research on mid-scale value-based organic food chains and growth processes is very rare in Europe while in the U.S. some research looking at growth processes has been carried out. Overall, in the countries that are participating in HealthyGrowth a considerable amount of relevant research on aspects of growth processes in mid-scale value-based chains, challenges, options and risks of growth has been conducted. Thus, the results of the reviews will provide a basis for the following project work.
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Main project activities
| A state-of-the-art review of relevant organic market research and findings is building the project foundation. Based on the review, the main research method will be defined for a comparative case study analysis of medium-scale value chains across the ten participating countries. At least two cases will be analysed per country. The case study analysis will cover different modes and phases of business and network development, diverse market volumes, as well as various product chains. It will be conducted in cross-national teams, always two teams sharing a specific analytic perspective on all cases. Throughout the project duration, stakeholders and market actors will be actively involved in the project aiming to discuss and verify the findings and to support an effective exchange of knowledge, network building and cooperation on a national and European level. |
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Search Organic Eprints
The open archive includes a vast amount of documents on organic certification
Search the open archive
More search options on www.orgprints.org
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11 partners, 10 countries
Coordinator Egon Noe, Aarhus University, Denmark
Partners
Rebecka Milestad, Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden
Claire Lamine, INRA, France
Hilde Bjørkhaug, Centre for Rural Research, Norway
Andreja Borec, University of Maribor, Slovenia
Markus Schermer, University Innsbruck, Austria
Helmi Risku-Norja, MTT Agrifood, Finland
Susanne von Muenchhausen, Eberswalde University of Applied Sciences, Germany
Virgilijus Skulskis, Lithuanian Institute of Agrarian Economics, Lithuania
Handan Giray, Suleyman Demiral University, Turkey
Adem Atasay, GDAR Directorate of Fruit Research Station, Turkey
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 | The project aims to reach scientists by international and national events and peer-reviewed journals. A core element will be the translation of the scientific findings into practitioners' language in terms of articles in English and project partner languages.
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Dissemination
| A main focus will be on common scientific dissemination to reach scientists by international and national events and peer-reviewed journals. The transdisciplinary cooperation and communication related to case studies work enhances stakeholder involvement. Moreover, the elaboration and dissemination of the results will be based on a regional and national network building. HealthyGrowth enables the ongoing exchange of ideas and experiences between stakeholders, as well as training of facilitators. A core element will be the translation of the scientific findings into practitioners' language in terms of articles in English and project partner languages. |
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