The Effectiveness of Local Food Marketing Strategies of Food Cooperatives

This study examines the role that food consumer cooperatives play in the local food networks. Data are collected from three case studies with leading food cooperatives and a national survey of the general managers of food cooperatives. We identify the emerging business practices in local sourcing as a differentiation and member recruitment strategy for food cooperatives. Our analysis identifies several clusters of strategies used for local food procurement, based on the extent to which the co-op is involved in procurement activities upstream (at the farm), mid-stream (at the distribution center) or downstream (at the food cooperative). The results also show that when compared to other grocers, food co-ops have clear advantages in working with local producers and oftentimes play a key role in the producers’ business viability.Food consumer cooperatives, local foods, Consumer/Household Economics, Marketing, Q13,

Sourcing and Promotion of Local Foods by Food Cooperatives in the U.S.

This study examines the role that food consumer cooperatives play in the local food networks. Data are collected from three case studies with leading food cooperatives and a national survey of the general managers of food cooperatives. We identify the emerging business practices in local sourcing as a differentiation and member recruitment strategy for food cooperatives. Our analysis identifies several clusters of strategies used for local food procurement, based on the extent to which the co-op is involved in procurement activities upstream (at the farm), mid-stream (at the distribution center) or downstream (at the food cooperative). The results also show that when compared to other grocers, food co-ops have clear advantages in working with local producers and oftentimes play a key role in the producers’ business viability.food consumer cooperatives, local foods, Agribusiness, Marketing, Q13,

Local Food Procurement and Promotion Strategies of Food Cooperatives

Replaced with revised version of paper 11/3/11.food consumer cooperatives, local foods, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Marketing, Q13,

Food Cooperatives’ Innovations and System Dynamics in Local Food Networks

Food cooperatives play an important role in local food networks as business organizations that use innovative business strategies to market local foods to their members and consumers. We utilize data from a national study of the members of eight food cooperatives in the U.S. The objective of this study is to understand the innovations and system dynamics of food co-ops as they are promoting and marketing local foods to their members/owners. Our findings show that food co-ops are much better rated by their members than mainstream grocery stores are rated by their consumers, especially in terms of store characteristics and quality of products offered. Food co-ops face significant competition from other grocery stores especially in terms of offering lower prices. We find that most consumer heterogeneity is among food co-ops, while periphery, mid-level, and core consumer groups seem more homogeneous in their perceptions. The results highlight that some local food promotion strategies that work well at some food co-ops may not work well at others because of different consumer composition and co-op size. Our conclusion is that food co-ops are an important player in local food supply chains, mostly in a niche, highly-differentiated markets

Local Food Procurement and Promotion Strategies of Food Cooperatives

Consumer interest in locally produced foods marketed through local food networks has been increasing. Local food networks utilize local supply chains such as direct market sales to consumers through CSAs, farmers markets, farm stands, and other alternative outlets. Our goal is to examine the role of food cooperatives in strengthening the local food networks and distributing locally produced products. We utilize data from a national study which includes case studies with three leading food co-ops and a national survey of the general managers of food co-ops. We focus on analyzing the business strategies and competitive advantages of food co-ops sourcing local foods from local producers and marketing these local foods to consumers. We identify the emerging business practices, ethics principles, and competition issues for food co-ops with respect to sourcing and marketing of local products. Specifically, we provide a literature review on local food systems, examine local food definitions and recent trends for food co-ops, examine the business models and ethics principles for food co-ops, discuss the business strategies in sourcing and marketing of local foods by food co-ops, and examine the frequency and effectiveness of these business strategies to source and promote local foods. We show that when compared to other grocers, food co-ops have competitive advantages in working with local producers and often play a key role in the local producers’ business viability

Food Cooperatives' Innovations and System Dynamics in Local Food Networks

Food cooperatives play an important role in local food networks as business organizations that use innovative business strategies to market local foods to their members and consumers. We utilize data from a national study of the members of eight food cooperatives in the U.S. The objective of this study is to understand the innovations and system dynamics of food co-ops as they are promoting and marketing local foods to their members/owners. Our findings show that food co-ops are much better rated by their members than mainstream grocery stores are rated by their consumers, especially in terms of store characteristics and quality of products offered. Food co-ops face significant competition from other grocery stores especially in terms of offering lower prices. We find that most consumer heterogeneity is among food co-ops, while periphery, mid-level, and core consumer groups seem more homogeneous in their perceptions. The results highlight that some local food promotion strategies that work well at some food co-ops may not work well at others because of different consumer composition and co-op size. Our conclusion is that food co-ops are an important player in local food supply chains, mostly in a niche, highly-differentiated markets

The Effectiveness of Local Food Marketing Strategies of Food Cooperatives

This study examines the role that food consumer cooperatives play in the local food networks. Data are collected from three case studies with leading food cooperatives and a national survey of the general managers of food cooperatives. We identify the emerging business practices in local sourcing as a differentiation and member recruitment strategy for food cooperatives. Our analysis identifies several clusters of strategies used for local food procurement, based on the extent to which the co-op is involved in procurement activities upstream (at the farm), mid-stream (at the distribution center) or downstream (at the food cooperative). The results also show that when compared to other grocers, food co-ops have clear advantages in working with local producers and oftentimes play a key role in the producers’ business viability

Competitive Advantages in Sourcing and Marketing Local Foods by Food Cooperatives

This study examines whether food co-ops have competitive advantages or disadvantages in sourcing and promoting local foods using survey data from general managers of food co-ops in the United States. A principal component analysis was used to extract four factors: merchandising, farmer assistance, price/quality negotiations, and farmer development. A cluster analysis assigned food co-ops into three areas based on their competitive advantages. Results show that food co-ops assigned to the cluster with slight competitive disadvantages tend to be smaller, while food co-ops assigned to the two clusters with competitive advantages tend to be larger and more likely to be located in the Midwest. Food co-ops have slight competitive advantages when sourcing and promoting local foods when compared to other supermarkets

Marketing Local Foods by Food Cooperatives

Consumer interest in locally produced foods has been increasing and many grocery retailers and other businesses have been involved in marketing local foods to interested consumers. We study the business strategies that food consumer cooperatives in the U.S. use to promote local foods to their patrons. Data are collected from a national survey of the general managers of food cooperatives. This study’s objectives are: 1) to analyze the types of business strategies and frequency of use for these business strategies to promote local foods and 2) to identify the types of food cooperatives that are more versus less intense users of these promotion strategies. Unlike previous studies, the emphasis for this study is on promotion/marketing strategies as opposed to sourcing/working with local farmers business strategies. We use principal component analysis and cluster analysis to group food co-ops based on their involvement with local food promotion activities. We find that food co-ops can be grouped into three main clusters based on the size of the food co-op and its location. These findings can be used by food cooperatives and other local food retailers to attract consumers and increase local food sales