LEGITIMACY OF TERMINAL WHOLESALE MARKETS AS STAKEHOLDERS OF LOCAL FOOD CHAINS

Abstract

International audienceTerminal wholesale markets (TWM) aim at supplying consumption areas, especially urban areas. They are physical places where professional agents (producers, wholesalers, retailers, restaurant owners) meet to sell and buy wholesale food products. Since the late 1970s, French TWM have been facing increasing competition. More recently, in a context of change toward food re-localization, their legitimacy as intermediaries is also questioned. This article aims to analyze the strategies that French TWM implement in order to re-legitimate themselves as stakeholders of more local and sustainable food systems. We focus on two cases in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region, the Lyon-Corbas private market and Grenoble « Market of national interest ». The purpose is to assess their 'hybridity', between 'alternative' and 'conventional', how this may restore their legitimacy and allow them to maintain their activity