Different sales channels for different farmers: Local and mainstream marketing of organic fruits and vegetables in Norway

Abstract

Most food in developed countries, including organic fruits and vegetables, is sold through supply chains run by
\nlarge wholesalers and supermarket chains. A certain share is sold through local marketing channels such as
\nspeciality stores, food box schemes, farmers’ markets, and community-supported agriculture (CSA). This study
\nuses qualitative interviews and a quantitative survey to expose the differences between mainstream and local
\nmarketing of organic fruits and vegetables in Norway, why and to what extent farmers selling through these two
\nsales channels are different. We find that the supermarket chains’ requirements to provide large quantities of
\nuniform product are burdensome for smaller farmers to match. Farmers supplying the mainstream supermarkets
\ntend to be larger and more rurally located. Farmers selling through local marketing are likely to be smaller, closer
\nto urban areas and more diversified in their production. For local marketing farmers, it is more feasible to
\nproduce according to organic principles, using local resources and crop rotation. Survey results also show that
\nlocal marketing farmers are less motivated to produce fruits and vegetables by income and more motivated to
\nproduce organically to achieve better quality and sustainability. At the same time, there are also many similarities between the two groups, and we do not find evidence of a general “conventionalisation” of organic
\nagriculture in Norway.