Assessing the degree of localness of food value chains

ABSTRACT

Consumers’ interest in local food has recently increased, even if the distinction between local and global food still remains unclear. Aside from the concept of food-miles, no metrics exist to quantify the level of “localness” of a product. In this study, five criteria for making this distinction are derived from the literature: geographical distance, supply chain size, supply chain length, identity, and governance. Two case studies from the Swiss cheese sector are analyzed using these criteria in order to illustrate the application of the framework and to show the differences in their localness.

On average, the local cheese obtains a degree of localness of 56% and the global one achieves 31%. There are small differences in “geographical distance” and “supply chain length”; but the distinction lies more in “supply chain size,” “identity,” and “governance.” This study shows that these cheeses hide a local–global hybridity, by promoting local attributes and values while being embedded in international markets.

KEYWORDS:

• Cheese
• food chain
• global food
• local food
• localness

Acknowledgment

All authors acknowledge warmly the work and support of students and colleagues at FiBL (A. Tanquerey-Cado, L. Gratteau, U. Le Goff, A. Müller, M. Meier and S. Quiédeville) who contributed to data collection, calculation support, and editing of this paper. We also wish to thank very warmly all people who gave their time during interviews at all stages of each value chain.

Funding

This work was supported by the European Commission under Grant no 311778.

Notes

1. Group decision mechanisms requiring qualified experts who have a detailed understanding of the issues being discussed, answering anonymously to two rounds of questions with feedback in between (Kirwan et al. 2014, 133).

2. The PDO’s book of specifications lists strict rules regarding the feeding of cows, milk treatment, processing standards, equipment, and area of production, as well as final product characteristics such as size, aspect, taste, and nutritional values that hold as legal conditions for using the name of the product.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the European Commission under Grant no 311778.