Abstract

Businesses integrate in different food supply arrangements (FSAs) to create economic value. Ways to increase that value are traditionally associated with sharing expectations and aligning outcomes from different participants. However, in the case of micro-producers, increasing economic value is not the only motivation to engage with such arrangements. In their case other drivers have been identified which suggest the need for a complementary approach in order to realise their individual development.
In this paper, we analyse four different arrangements for food supply design: direct distribution channels, supply chains, supply networks and supply communities. Elements such as challenge addressed, main driver, organisational principle, transactional direction and power structure are considered to provide a new description for the preference to a particular supply arrangement. Our contribution extends the notion of multi-actor supply arrangements beyond chains and networks, by considering supply communities that involve producers and consumers. We introduce the notion of ‘community’ and use it to propose micro-producers as members of internally self-organised communities that may engage in the development of individual and collective supportive actions. To contextualise the discussion, we use the case of a typical UK regional, county-based food marketing group which provides umbrella marketing support for specialist SME and micro food businesses.