**5. Discussion**

*Operations Management - Emerging Trend in the Digital Era*

groups through better managing the benefits and barriers.

kets in Nova Scotia had enjoyed significant growth since 2004.

good as stated goals, regardless of its short history. Some critics doubted that the respondents that primarily covered the buy-local groups were already aware of the initiative. However, the cross tabulations suggest that only less than half respondents in the high group were already aware of it, while the other two groups had a lower percentage. It is recommended in this study that initiatives such as Select Nova Scotia should put greater emphasis on targeting medium and low buying

*4.2.2 Case study 2: Nova Scotia Farmers' Market Economic Impact Study 2013*

With a rich history of farming, fishing, and artisan production, Nova Scotians have a habit of visiting and shopping at farmers' markets [54]. The farmers' mar-

An economic impact study on Nova Scotia Farmers' Markets was carried out in 2013 to figure out the reasons behind the three-fold growth in less than a decade. Twenty-one out of 43 Nova Scotian Farmers' Markets participated in this study. A number of patrons visited, and the average amount of money they spent was collected on the day. The dominant motivations behind these patrons' shopping behavior were supporting local businesses and demand for locally sourced, sustain-

Farmers' markets in Nova Scotia take various forms as they are in both rural and urban areas, opening in specific seasons or all year round [54]. Participating markets are grouped with their respective sizes; small ones have less than 20 vendors, and large ones can have over 40 vendors altogether [54]. The average attendance at large markets are correspondingly higher than those of medium- and small-sized ones. Among all the large markets, attendance at the Farmers' Market in Sydney, Cape Breton, ranked the third lowest [54]. The number of shopping groups counted is not limited to a group of patrons or households, but individuals as well. On average, a market can generate \$22,654 worth of revenue for the region [54]. By market, Halifax Seaport enjoys highest average spending, equivalent to \$50 per shopping group, and Cape Breton Farmers' Market in Sydney ranks the 11th in all

Vendor mix also has a huge impact on the average spending per shopping group

The economic impacts farmers' markets can generate are both direct, direct sales made in the markets, and indirect, money spent at surrounding businesses. The total economic impact is estimated to be \$1,881,573, calculated by multiplying the average dollar amount by average market attendance [54]. Small markets enjoyed greater indirect economic impact as they are more common in smaller regions, in which patrons often shop at one time, therefore help to boost the sales of

Forty-five percent of respondents suggest that supporting local food movement was their primary reason for shopping, followed by 30% found that shopping was a fun and social experience [54]. Also, the quality products farmers' markets provide, and the unique selection of products than elsewhere is also important factors for patrons to shop at the markets [54]. More importantly, the patrons at the market were not very price sensitive. They expect a higher value rather than lower price. Crawford [54] suggested that these farmers' markets should get their stakeholders

[54]. It stands for the selection of vendors and products, which therefore lead to a higher spending of the patrons. If the farmers' markets could provide more complementary products, they could potentially generate more sales since many of the patrons have limited time for grocery shopping. Compared with the total shopping group, or household, spending on food, the farmers' market could have

**358**

able food [54].

the participating markets.

better growth.

nearby stores.

Recent years have shown increasing interest in short food supply chains or alternative food networks (AFNs) [4, 5, 7, 8, 24]. As direct channels of food distribution, AFNs drew the participants closer and enabled the redistribution of power across the food chain [29].

AFNs can be categorized into three kinds: direct sales by individuals, e.g., U-picks and farm gate sales; collective direct sales, e.g., farmers market; and partnerships, e.g., Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs). Contrary to global food supply chains, AFNs have facilitated the mobilization of locally produced fresh products [10] by connecting suppliers, e.g., farmers, with consumers [11]. The transition from passive end-consumers to proactive citizen-consumers clearly represents a new type of relationship between the producers and consumers of food [19]. Furthermore, consumers are becoming more conscious about environmentally friendly production and distribution systems [32], and interested in finding out about the origin of their food [16, 33]. In terms of environmental benefits, local food economy shortens the travel distance of food [45] and reduces the carbon emissions incurred in the transportation process. Furthermore, Abate [1] believes that the local food economy can connect and involve different local actors in the local community, revitalize businesses that may be hardly surviving and provide them with business opportunities, and also promote the sense of identity which is similar to the viewpoint of Oberholtzer and Grow [42]. It can also create job opportunities, increase the local income, and diversify the local economy.

Based on the research in different regions of the US on consumers' motivations to buy local, Baker et al. [5] suggested that the most important reasons of consumers using farmers' markets are access to fresh local foods and support local agriculture. But consumers in Manitoba, Canada, demonstrated different motivations based on the findings from the Food Matters Manitoba research study [46]; the major driver for attending farmers' market in Manitoba was to support the local economy, and the second most important factor was to help local farmers. The interest in the food quality was only placed at third. However, based on the research conducted on different consumers from across the country, i.e., Canada, it was discovered that consumers perceive freshness of food as the top motivator for buying local food products, followed by supporting local agriculture businesses as the second most important factor [48]. Besides these, Hunt [47] linked the demographic factors with the motivating factors to shop in farmers' market. He believes that social interaction is a significant motivator for consumers based on their demographic characteristics. His research was based on more than 200 consumers in the farmers' market. About 98% of the respondents agreed that they had fun while interacting with other people in farmers' market; 94% of them talk with vendors and 81% of people meet people they know in the market. Johnson and Endres [9] reported consumer's desire for fresh, high quality, and pesticide-free foods as the top reasons for purchasing locally produced food products. Second is to minimize the environmental footprint in the production process and reduce transportation emissions. Third is to help farmers achieve higher profitability by supporting their food production and distribution system which requires less investment in processing and packaging of food products. From a food safety perspective, the local food system reduces the risk of food safety and security because locally produced food items are usually fresher and less processed, and there is a high level of

transparency. Consumers can either reach their sites of production or talk to growers to obtain information about local grown foods [40]. From managerial point of view, based on the survey conducted by Oberholtzer and Grow [42], most managers of farmers' market believe that the impacts brought by farmers' market to the community can be in many aspects. They described that a farmers' market provides a platform for all kinds of social and economic practices. This contributes to the formation of linked community and increases the individuals' sense of belonging in the community. Meanwhile, its basic function also enables it to provide consumers with fresh and inexpensive food.

There are both benefits and challenges for farmers to sell their products in farmers' markets. In terms of benefits, from vendors' perspective, first, selling food products in local markets shortens the distance they travel, which implies reduced transportation costs [47]. Second, selling in local markets enables them to have more interactions with consumers and improves their operations by understanding consumers' demands. Based on the Robinson and Farmer's [25] description, the first challenge for vendors is to convince more potential consumers to pay a premium price for their products. The second barrier is the gap between consumer demand and supply in terms of season. Farmers' Markets Canada [48] also found that the top two reasons for people to not shop at farmers' markets are the inconvenience of location and the lack of awareness. According to Colasanti et al. [49], the major reasons for less awareness of farmers' markets are largely due to the ineffective promotion strategy and the inconvenience of location. According to Wittman et al. [15], many customers would choose to support locally sourced food when there is a greater variety of products and easier accessibility for shopping.
