**Cabannina Cattle Breeding: An Agro-Ecological Challenge for Sustainable Rural Development in Northern Italy**

Ricardo Communod, Carla Colombani, Eleonora Munari and Daniele Vigo

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/53155

## **1. Introduction**

Intensive farming is an agricultural production system characterized by widely adopting ex‐ ternal inputs - such as capital, mechanization, infrastructures, pesticides and chemical fertil‐ izers intensively used - which affects the natural environment and rural societies. Since it allows to produce more food on a given land extension, such agricultural choice has been the predominant response to population growth so far. While permitting to raise many ani‐ mals in limited areas, intensive animal farming practices require a large amount of food, wa‐ ter, medical treatments, capital intensive technology, energy, and fuel. Is being the selection of animals with rapid food conversion into milk and meat the aim of every industrial farm, a decline in, for example, the animal reproductive performances and in the product quality follows. Thus, nowadays problems in the dairy cattle scenario are easily highlighted. Just to name Friesian breed, its reproductive performances decreased worldwide with negative consequences on both cow robustness and longevity due to increased stress, udder health disturbances and locomotion disorders, which meant damages to the physiological parame‐ ters typical of healthy cows.

Despite all the above mentioned problems associated with conventional farming, many pos‐ itive developments are creeping in. Several alternative initiatives are now flourishing all around the Italian peninsula to promote ecological agriculture; preservation of small farm‐ ers' livelihoods; production of healthy, safe and tradition-linked foods; localization of distri‐ bution, trade and marketing. These typologies of traditional agriculture offer promising models for marginal areas as they promote biodiversity, thrive without agrochemicals, and

© 2013 Communod et al.; licensee InTech. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2013 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

sustain year-round yields. Technological approaches are welcome provided, they promote yield improvements based on agro-ecological principles, emphasizing diversity, synergy, re‐ cycling and integration of animals, soil, and water; moreover, social processes involving and empowering a community are welcome, too. In the Italian north-western region of Liguria, Petramartina farm can be considered as a challenging pioneer thanks to its following agroecological principles in order to recreate a traditional and sustainable dairy breeding based on autochthonous cows, called Cabannina.

fixed costs that represent, together with raw materials necessary to compose animal feed

Cabannina Cattle Breeding: An Agro-Ecological Challenge for Sustainable Rural Development in Northern Italy

The following table (Table 2), gives an overview of Italian Friesian cow milk production and

Total Cows **Days open**

(q/cow/year) (%) Mean Mean

Number of Lactation/Cow

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607

First Calving/

 85,9 34,8 147 2,48 89,1 35,6 136 2,47 89,4 36,1 141 2,45 90,3 35,5 143 2,46 89,8 36,2 143 2,46 88,7 35,6 141 2,46 91,3 36,1 141 2,44 91,9 36,4 144 2,39

**Table 2.** An overview of Italian Friesian cow official production by AIA (Italian Breeders Association)

As shown, the increased number of heads and of milk production amount were not fol‐ lowed by any improvement in reproductive efficiency. In fact, Table 2 clearly demonstrates how the reproductive physiology of the animals was damaged. And mainly in Friesian breeds, cows' robustness and longevity negatively affected by increasing stress, udder health disturbances and locomotion disorders [1], are an issue of major concern to farmers. From a physiological point of view, Holstein cows reached a very critical situation having missed their good reproductive efficiency characters (e.g. calving interval and conception rate [2], excellent longevity in farm (only 2,39 lactations in their life), resistance to stress and diseases (metabolic syndromes, ketosis, mastitis and foot diseases) [1,3,4], whereas they dra‐ matically increased "energy and financial voracity" (diet based on starch and protein meals, great health and structural investments due to several highly-recurring diseases [4-6]. A re‐ cent study conducted on an Italian dairy farm, located in the River Po Plain, highlighted the extreme financial voracity affecting a conventional farm of good quality in order to run it and make it survive [7]. The Authors showed that even an excellent business consisting of 208 productive cows, 70% of which are healthy animals, can lose more than 36000 €/year on including both direct and indirect costs due to animal diseases such as veterinary therapies, decrease in productive performances, milk removed, price-cutting for high milk quality, etc. These data are worrying in the consideration that in Italy milk production represents one of the most important sectors of its agro-industry,. In fact, in Europe Italy is the most impor‐ tant cheese producer and exporter, with its about 460,000 tons of products and almost 3 bil‐ lion Euros (data from www.clal.it, www.ismea.it) derived from PDO (Protected Designation

formulations, the most important passive voice of a farmer's budget.

their reproductive situation in the last years.

Milk Production

**Year**

## **2. Conventional dairy farming in the "River Po Plain" and its critical points**

The River Po Plain is characterized by an industrial breeding system whose bovine herds at present are fewer, larger, more specialized and more capital intensive than they were 60 years ago.

Revealing data are briefly shown in the following table (Table 1).


**Table 1.** Italian National Data about number of herds, total cows, and average number of cows per herd.

As clearly shown, since the last 10 years the Italian dairy situation has followed the interna‐ tional trend for which farmers, have to increase the number of animals in their herds to sus‐ tain their businesses.

Thus, in recent years the dairy system has been mainly concerned with both improving ani‐ mal performances and with increasing the number of heads per farm in order to reduce fixed costs that represent, together with raw materials necessary to compose animal feed formulations, the most important passive voice of a farmer's budget.

sustain year-round yields. Technological approaches are welcome provided, they promote yield improvements based on agro-ecological principles, emphasizing diversity, synergy, re‐ cycling and integration of animals, soil, and water; moreover, social processes involving and empowering a community are welcome, too. In the Italian north-western region of Liguria, Petramartina farm can be considered as a challenging pioneer thanks to its following agroecological principles in order to recreate a traditional and sustainable dairy breeding based

**2. Conventional dairy farming in the "River Po Plain" and its critical**

Revealing data are briefly shown in the following table (Table 1).

YEAR

The River Po Plain is characterized by an industrial breeding system whose bovine herds at present are fewer, larger, more specialized and more capital intensive than they were 60

**NATIONAL DATA**

COWS/HERD

CONSISTENCY

HERDS COWS 15.106 1.088.178 72 14.984 1.107.701 74 14.823 1.100.543 74 14.317 1.101.657 77 14.069 1.102.655 78 13.818 1.100.401 80 13.510 1.101.868 82 13.327 1.103.453 83 13.164 1.113.859 85 12.922 128.626 87

**Table 1.** Italian National Data about number of herds, total cows, and average number of cows per herd.

As clearly shown, since the last 10 years the Italian dairy situation has followed the interna‐ tional trend for which farmers, have to increase the number of animals in their herds to sus‐

Thus, in recent years the dairy system has been mainly concerned with both improving ani‐ mal performances and with increasing the number of heads per farm in order to reduce

on autochthonous cows, called Cabannina.

**points**

606 Food Industry

years ago.

tain their businesses.

The following table (Table 2), gives an overview of Italian Friesian cow milk production and their reproductive situation in the last years.


**Table 2.** An overview of Italian Friesian cow official production by AIA (Italian Breeders Association)

As shown, the increased number of heads and of milk production amount were not fol‐ lowed by any improvement in reproductive efficiency. In fact, Table 2 clearly demonstrates how the reproductive physiology of the animals was damaged. And mainly in Friesian breeds, cows' robustness and longevity negatively affected by increasing stress, udder health disturbances and locomotion disorders [1], are an issue of major concern to farmers. From a physiological point of view, Holstein cows reached a very critical situation having missed their good reproductive efficiency characters (e.g. calving interval and conception rate [2], excellent longevity in farm (only 2,39 lactations in their life), resistance to stress and diseases (metabolic syndromes, ketosis, mastitis and foot diseases) [1,3,4], whereas they dra‐ matically increased "energy and financial voracity" (diet based on starch and protein meals, great health and structural investments due to several highly-recurring diseases [4-6]. A re‐ cent study conducted on an Italian dairy farm, located in the River Po Plain, highlighted the extreme financial voracity affecting a conventional farm of good quality in order to run it and make it survive [7]. The Authors showed that even an excellent business consisting of 208 productive cows, 70% of which are healthy animals, can lose more than 36000 €/year on including both direct and indirect costs due to animal diseases such as veterinary therapies, decrease in productive performances, milk removed, price-cutting for high milk quality, etc. These data are worrying in the consideration that in Italy milk production represents one of the most important sectors of its agro-industry,. In fact, in Europe Italy is the most impor‐ tant cheese producer and exporter, with its about 460,000 tons of products and almost 3 bil‐ lion Euros (data from www.clal.it, www.ismea.it) derived from PDO (Protected Designation Origin) and PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) production. Its most representative cheese is certainly *Parmigiano Reggiano* and *Grana Padano* that recently increased by 9.8% its export trend to Germany, the United States, France, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Clearly, milk production and milk aptitude to produce cheese underwent a dramatic de‐

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609

In herds C, D, and E from an area west of Milan (Abbiategrasso), days open (DO), number of insemination for conception (AI), culling cows (CC) together with sanitary problems and treat‐ ments were monitored and key results from this investigation are represented in table 5.

> **HERD COWS DO AI CC C** 688 154 2,53 30% **D** 438 147,5 2,09 36,50% **E** 345 130,7 3,18 29,03%

**AVERAGE** 144,1 2,53 32%

C,D,E = herds in Abbiategrasso (MI); DO = days open; AI =number of artificial insemination per conception; CC= number of culling cows.

Such data broadly confirm official data related to Italian national situation. Among critical points to be underlined both nationally and internationally, we should consider that not on‐ ly animal intensive breeding dramatically increase worldwide, but vegetal monoculture as well. Thus, while intensive farming and agriculture can be considered extremely competi‐ tive and the only way to feed a fast-growing human population, they also cause different economic, environmental and social problems [9]. In fact, from an ecological point of view,

**a.** Cycles of nutrients, energy, water and wastes become more open rather than closed as

**b.** The natural habitat of most wild creatures can be limited or destroyed by industrial

**c.** A large amount of energy input is needed to produce, transport, and apply chemical

**d.** Dwindling and ever more expensive fossil fuels are used to derive agrochemicals, and to work fuel-based mechanization and irrigation operations, the core of industrialized

**e.** Air pollution can be prompted by chemical fertilizers that were recently implicated in

**f.** Animal and vegetal biodiversity are severely affected as species more susceptible to dis‐

**TOTAL** 1471

consequences of industrialization are manifold [10] as detailed below:

the destruction of the ozone layer and in global warming;

crease causing economic losses to breeders.

**Table 5.** Average data in Herds C, D, and E.

occurring in a natural ecosystem;

fertilizers;

agriculture;

eases are selected.

agro-farm, and most soil can suffer erosion;

Italian breeders have to care about all the important milk quality parameters involved in cheese making processes such as milk fat, proteins and somatic cell count.Recently, Italian re‐ searchers demonstrated that milk whose somatic cell content is greater than 400,000 cells/ml evidences a scarce aptitude to rennet coagulation and cannot be generally considered suitable for cheese production, with particular reference to Grana cheese production [8].

Having in mind the difficulties characterizing the present background and in the aim to con‐ firm Italian national data, some analytical studies were performed in five different Friesian herds bred in the River Po Plain.

The following parameters were investigated: milk production (herds A and B), reproduction and sanitary situation (herds C, D, E).

In herds A and B from an area south of Milan (Lodi) fat and protein in the milk yield as well as total cheese yield were monitored. Tables 3 and 4 show key results from this investigation.


**Table 3.** Milk Production Data in Herd A


**Table 4.** Milk Production Data in Herd B

Clearly, milk production and milk aptitude to produce cheese underwent a dramatic de‐ crease causing economic losses to breeders.

In herds C, D, and E from an area west of Milan (Abbiategrasso), days open (DO), number of insemination for conception (AI), culling cows (CC) together with sanitary problems and treat‐ ments were monitored and key results from this investigation are represented in table 5.


C,D,E = herds in Abbiategrasso (MI); DO = days open; AI =number of artificial insemination per conception; CC= number of culling cows.

**Table 5.** Average data in Herds C, D, and E.

Origin) and PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) production. Its most representative cheese is certainly *Parmigiano Reggiano* and *Grana Padano* that recently increased by 9.8% its export trend to Germany, the United States, France, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Italian breeders have to care about all the important milk quality parameters involved in cheese making processes such as milk fat, proteins and somatic cell count.Recently, Italian re‐ searchers demonstrated that milk whose somatic cell content is greater than 400,000 cells/ml evidences a scarce aptitude to rennet coagulation and cannot be generally considered suitable

Having in mind the difficulties characterizing the present background and in the aim to con‐ firm Italian national data, some analytical studies were performed in five different Friesian

The following parameters were investigated: milk production (herds A and B), reproduction

In herds A and B from an area south of Milan (Lodi) fat and protein in the milk yield as well as total cheese yield were monitored. Tables 3 and 4 show key results from this investigation.

 239 10.608 3,74 397 3,57 379 825 243 10.639 3,68 392 3,48 370 811 254 10.184 3,78 385 3,56 363 793 232 9.991 3,87 387 3,56 356 785 228 10.193 3,52 359 3,48 348 765

 54 10.691 3,37 360 3,3 353 768 55 9.385 3,53 331 3,39 318 695 48 9.344 3,68 344 3,29 307 690 52 9.380 3,67 344 3,27 307 690 55 8.536 3,45 294 3,28 280 616

**FAT PROTEIN**

Kg % Kg % Kg Kg

**FAT PROTEIN**

Kg % Kg % Kg Kg

CHEESE YIELD

CHEESE YIELD

for cheese production, with particular reference to Grana cheese production [8].

MILK YIELD

MILK YIELD

herds bred in the River Po Plain.

**YEAR**

608 Food Industry

**YEAR**

and sanitary situation (herds C, D, E).

LACTATIONS CLOSED

**Table 3.** Milk Production Data in Herd A

**Table 4.** Milk Production Data in Herd B

LACTATIONS CLOSED

Such data broadly confirm official data related to Italian national situation. Among critical points to be underlined both nationally and internationally, we should consider that not on‐ ly animal intensive breeding dramatically increase worldwide, but vegetal monoculture as well. Thus, while intensive farming and agriculture can be considered extremely competi‐ tive and the only way to feed a fast-growing human population, they also cause different economic, environmental and social problems [9]. In fact, from an ecological point of view, consequences of industrialization are manifold [10] as detailed below:


Moreover, an excessive use of fertilizers is linked to acidification/salinization of soils and to a higher incidence of insect pests and diseases through mediation of negative nutritional changes in crop plants [11]. It also implies several harmful effects on the health of workers spreading them, of people living nearby or downstream/downwind an area of application, and of consumers swallowing leftover pesticides from food.

Present industrialized agriculture, as Altieri underlines, is no longer sustainable. In fact, conceiving a constant supply of water, some cheap power and climate exploitation with no

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611

For instance, the old system based on mechanization, e.g. forage drying, cannot work any longer because of the continuous rise in price of fossil fuels. Not to say about the global use of herbicides that counts about 2.6 million tons per year and costs 25 billion euros. Being ex‐ cessive and uncontrolled, they negatively affects wildlife and pollinators, the quality of wa‐ ter and fishing activity, and pose a serious risk of poisoning humans and animals. In addition, arthropods and weeds show high adaptation to these substances, while abuse of monocultures indirectly select pests and makes them more resistant [10]. Table 6 illustrates

Enhancing biomass recycling, with a view to optimizing organic matter decomposition and nutrient cycling over time. Strengthening the " immune system" of agricultural systems by enhancing functional biodiversity, natural enemies,

Providing the most favorable soil conditions for plant growth, particularly by managing organic matter and by

Improving beneficial biological interaction and synergies among the components of agro-biodiversity, thereby

As seen in Table 7, in a recent study Koohafkan et al. [12] formulated some questions indi‐

6. Do they substantially increase food production and contribute to household food security and improved nutrition?

Minimizing losses of energy, water, nutrients and genetic resources by enhancing conservation and regeneration of

abrupt changes is absolutely utopian nowadays.

the fundamentals of agro-ecology.

antagonists, etc.

improving soil biological activity.

1. Do they reduce poverty?

soil and water resources and agro-biodiversity. Diversifying species and genetic resources.

promoting key ecological processes and services.

2. Are they based on rights and social equity?

5. Do they favor redistribution of productive resources?

7. Do they enhance families water access and availability?

8. Do they regenerate and conserve soil and increase soil fertility?

**Table 6.** Principles of Agro-ecology by Altieri (2012) [11].

cating what can be defined as an agro-ecological farm.

3. Do they reduce social exclusion, particularly for women, minorities and indigenous people?

9. Do they reduce soil loss / degradation and enhance soil regeneration and conservation?

10. Do practices maintain or enhance organic matter and the biological life and biodiversity of the soil?

4. Do they protect access and rights to land, water and other natural resources?

Last, but not least, a genetic selection is required in both vegetal and animal conventional production to maximize production, which implies biodiversity decrease. Thus, the amount of crop diversity per unit of arable land decreased and croplands tended towards concentra‐ tion. In fact, in order to serve as many markets as possible some political and economic forces influence a general trend to devote larger and larger areas to monoculture [10].

## **3. Agro-ecological principles as a potential solution to extremely intensive breeding**

Nonetheless, excessive intensive breeding can be successfully contrasted and new ecological concepts and principles can be applied to design, development and management of sustain‐ able agricultural systems. In fact, agro-ecology can be a sensible solution.

Agro-ecology is the science that studies the relationship between agricultural production, land and traditions regarding a given territory [11]. It is a theoretical and practical discipline derives from different experiences related to organic agricultural production, characterizing the last and present centuries.

It investigates the elements of an agricultural ecosystem and their interactions carefully and provides principles and methods of work. Principles and methods that do not merely con‐ sider production but also the ecological, technical, socio-economic and cultural spheres of the agro-ecosystem.

Major aims of this science are:


Following these objectives, some practices - such as crop rotation and use of local varieties essential to the microbiological and mineral balance of the soil can be recovered together with techniques well-known since past times but never applied on a large scale, e.g. the onfarm production of natural preparations and fertilizers [11]. Even planting local varieties of fruit trees and hedges, a good practice swept away by the advent of industrial agriculture, can help to increase biodiversity within a farm and promote a more balanced agro-ecosys‐ tem. A subsoil rich in organic and mineral elements and a greatly diversified topsoil make vegetation more durable and more resistant against diseases and insects.

Present industrialized agriculture, as Altieri underlines, is no longer sustainable. In fact, conceiving a constant supply of water, some cheap power and climate exploitation with no abrupt changes is absolutely utopian nowadays.

For instance, the old system based on mechanization, e.g. forage drying, cannot work any longer because of the continuous rise in price of fossil fuels. Not to say about the global use of herbicides that counts about 2.6 million tons per year and costs 25 billion euros. Being ex‐ cessive and uncontrolled, they negatively affects wildlife and pollinators, the quality of wa‐ ter and fishing activity, and pose a serious risk of poisoning humans and animals. In addition, arthropods and weeds show high adaptation to these substances, while abuse of monocultures indirectly select pests and makes them more resistant [10]. Table 6 illustrates the fundamentals of agro-ecology.

Enhancing biomass recycling, with a view to optimizing organic matter decomposition and nutrient cycling over time.

Strengthening the " immune system" of agricultural systems by enhancing functional biodiversity, natural enemies, antagonists, etc.

Providing the most favorable soil conditions for plant growth, particularly by managing organic matter and by improving soil biological activity.

Minimizing losses of energy, water, nutrients and genetic resources by enhancing conservation and regeneration of soil and water resources and agro-biodiversity.

Diversifying species and genetic resources.

Moreover, an excessive use of fertilizers is linked to acidification/salinization of soils and to a higher incidence of insect pests and diseases through mediation of negative nutritional changes in crop plants [11]. It also implies several harmful effects on the health of workers spreading them, of people living nearby or downstream/downwind an area of application,

Last, but not least, a genetic selection is required in both vegetal and animal conventional production to maximize production, which implies biodiversity decrease. Thus, the amount of crop diversity per unit of arable land decreased and croplands tended towards concentra‐ tion. In fact, in order to serve as many markets as possible some political and economic

Nonetheless, excessive intensive breeding can be successfully contrasted and new ecological concepts and principles can be applied to design, development and management of sustain‐

Agro-ecology is the science that studies the relationship between agricultural production, land and traditions regarding a given territory [11]. It is a theoretical and practical discipline derives from different experiences related to organic agricultural production, characterizing

It investigates the elements of an agricultural ecosystem and their interactions carefully and provides principles and methods of work. Principles and methods that do not merely con‐ sider production but also the ecological, technical, socio-economic and cultural spheres of

**i.** to increase both functionality and productivity of a business and an ecosystem;

Following these objectives, some practices - such as crop rotation and use of local varieties essential to the microbiological and mineral balance of the soil can be recovered together with techniques well-known since past times but never applied on a large scale, e.g. the onfarm production of natural preparations and fertilizers [11]. Even planting local varieties of fruit trees and hedges, a good practice swept away by the advent of industrial agriculture, can help to increase biodiversity within a farm and promote a more balanced agro-ecosys‐ tem. A subsoil rich in organic and mineral elements and a greatly diversified topsoil make

**ii.** to deal with biodiversity conservation and nutrient recycling;

**iii.** to optimize local resources usage and economic viability of a farm.

vegetation more durable and more resistant against diseases and insects.

forces influence a general trend to devote larger and larger areas to monoculture [10].

**3. Agro-ecological principles as a potential solution to extremely**

able agricultural systems. In fact, agro-ecology can be a sensible solution.

and of consumers swallowing leftover pesticides from food.

**intensive breeding**

610 Food Industry

the last and present centuries.

Major aims of this science are:

the agro-ecosystem.

Improving beneficial biological interaction and synergies among the components of agro-biodiversity, thereby promoting key ecological processes and services.

**Table 6.** Principles of Agro-ecology by Altieri (2012) [11].

As seen in Table 7, in a recent study Koohafkan et al. [12] formulated some questions indi‐ cating what can be defined as an agro-ecological farm.



The river Aveto flows through the valley floor; it springs in Prato Lungo, an area just below the village of Acquapendente near Mount Caucaso. Slowly winding, it creates different landscapes where pastures alternate to woods, meadows and rocky canyons. Then it passes through the province of Genoa, to reach the province of Piacenza. In Confiente place (a term

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In this context, the Cabannina, a great grazer even in extreme conditions, perfectly adapted to the territory and evolved. In fact, it can climb to the ridges and resist cold temperatures as well as snow without any problem like other northern breeds, such as the Highlands of Scotland. Thanks to these features this breed could spread to other areas of Liguria where the animals can graze free on green pastures surrounded by woods all summer long and

Modern cattle breeds derive from two domestication events of the ancestral "Bos Primige‐ nius" occurred in South West Asia and in Asia, which gave rise to the "Bos Taurus" and "Bos Indicus" respectively [13-15]. Hence, it is believed that these animals may result from a par‐ ticular population of Uri that lived in the Southern Alps area [16]. Their dairy characteristics

In the past the breeder families of Aveto Valley gathered in consortia; alternately, every pro‐ ducer received milk by the other members and made cheese. Every family was given a wooden stick where some notches were carved to mean milk given to community, a form of barter locally named 'cangiu', i.e. 'exchange'. The animals were let loose in the pastures; for most of the year they were fed only with fresh forage and homemade feed supplements such as boiled potato skins, cooking water and bran [17]. When necessary, transhumance to Tigullio coast occurred. At the beginning of the twentieth century there were about 40,000 specimens that in the postwar period underwent a dramatic reduction in their number as countryside was abandoned, people migrated towards cities and intensive farms arose.

In February 1963, Cabannina cows risked their extinction on account of Law No. 126, "Regu‐ lation of Bovine Reproduction", - now repealed- requiring their forced slaughter and re‐ placement with apparently more productive breeds. When this law became effective the Aveto breeders, strongly determined to preserve Cabannina, started their resistance against the Provincial Inspectorate of Agriculture. Attempts were made to combine different races, such as Bruno-Alpine, to the native heads, but with little results. In this regard, Maimone studied these two races years later in 1981 [18]. Combining the data collected by Orefice in 1978 [19], it was certified that Cabannina reproductive efficiency was better than Brown one and its economic life was greater thanks to the early age of its first birth and the reduced inter-calving period (84 days versus 140). Brown also appeared to have an inferior capacity to pasture, especially in villages where Cabannina was farmed, and could not stand the scarce food resources in the area showing phenomena of piroplasmosis which Cabannina breed could better fight against. In fact, originally Aveto Valley was a large swamp and over time native breed may have developed a natural resistance to the protozoa responsible for

that means "confluence") it gets into the river Trebbia, a tributary of the Po river.

and adaptation to the territory still show their ties with the Bos Primigenius.

where many businesses breed only one race.

**4.2. A short historical account**

the disease.

**Table 7.** Questions to define an agro-ecological farm. (Koohafkan, 2011) [12]

## **4. Cabannina breeding in Aveto Valley**

#### **4.1. Territory**

Aveto Valley represents the natural settlement area of Cabannina cows. When a war corre‐ spondent, Ernest Hemingway wrote in his diary in 1945: "I have just passed across the most beautiful valley in the world". In fact, it is one among the narrowest valleys of the northern side of the eastern Ligurian Apennine, where both the climate and the lands have unique characteristics thanks to the favorable altitude, which ranges from about 350 to 1800 meters, and the proximity to the sea. Rain is much more abundant than in the rest of the region, with about 2500 mm per year as peak value, especially in autumn and spring. In winter, snowfalls are stable, usually abundant, and temperatures can drop below 10 °C. In summer, the valley climate is humid and can become cooler at high altitude.

**Figure 1.** Aveto valley panorama, from Scabbiamara area.

The river Aveto flows through the valley floor; it springs in Prato Lungo, an area just below the village of Acquapendente near Mount Caucaso. Slowly winding, it creates different landscapes where pastures alternate to woods, meadows and rocky canyons. Then it passes through the province of Genoa, to reach the province of Piacenza. In Confiente place (a term that means "confluence") it gets into the river Trebbia, a tributary of the Po river.

In this context, the Cabannina, a great grazer even in extreme conditions, perfectly adapted to the territory and evolved. In fact, it can climb to the ridges and resist cold temperatures as well as snow without any problem like other northern breeds, such as the Highlands of Scotland. Thanks to these features this breed could spread to other areas of Liguria where the animals can graze free on green pastures surrounded by woods all summer long and where many businesses breed only one race.

#### **4.2. A short historical account**

11. Do they prevent pest and disease outbreaks? 12. Do they conserve and encourage agro-biodiversity?

13. Do they reduce greenhouse gas emissions?

19. Do they increase human capital formation?

**4.1. Territory**

612 Food Industry

14. Do they increase income opportunities and employment?

16. Do they enhance farm diversification and resilience?

20. Do they contribute to local / regional food sovereignty?

**4. Cabannina breeding in Aveto Valley**

**Figure 1.** Aveto valley panorama, from Scabbiamara area.

15. Do they reduce variation in agricultural production under climatic stress conditions?

17. Do they reduce investment costs and farmer dependence on external inputs? 18. Do they increase the degree and effectiveness of farmer organizations?

**Table 7.** Questions to define an agro-ecological farm. (Koohafkan, 2011) [12]

the valley climate is humid and can become cooler at high altitude.

Aveto Valley represents the natural settlement area of Cabannina cows. When a war corre‐ spondent, Ernest Hemingway wrote in his diary in 1945: "I have just passed across the most beautiful valley in the world". In fact, it is one among the narrowest valleys of the northern side of the eastern Ligurian Apennine, where both the climate and the lands have unique characteristics thanks to the favorable altitude, which ranges from about 350 to 1800 meters, and the proximity to the sea. Rain is much more abundant than in the rest of the region, with about 2500 mm per year as peak value, especially in autumn and spring. In winter, snowfalls are stable, usually abundant, and temperatures can drop below 10 °C. In summer,

Modern cattle breeds derive from two domestication events of the ancestral "Bos Primige‐ nius" occurred in South West Asia and in Asia, which gave rise to the "Bos Taurus" and "Bos Indicus" respectively [13-15]. Hence, it is believed that these animals may result from a par‐ ticular population of Uri that lived in the Southern Alps area [16]. Their dairy characteristics and adaptation to the territory still show their ties with the Bos Primigenius.

In the past the breeder families of Aveto Valley gathered in consortia; alternately, every pro‐ ducer received milk by the other members and made cheese. Every family was given a wooden stick where some notches were carved to mean milk given to community, a form of barter locally named 'cangiu', i.e. 'exchange'. The animals were let loose in the pastures; for most of the year they were fed only with fresh forage and homemade feed supplements such as boiled potato skins, cooking water and bran [17]. When necessary, transhumance to Tigullio coast occurred. At the beginning of the twentieth century there were about 40,000 specimens that in the postwar period underwent a dramatic reduction in their number as countryside was abandoned, people migrated towards cities and intensive farms arose.

In February 1963, Cabannina cows risked their extinction on account of Law No. 126, "Regu‐ lation of Bovine Reproduction", - now repealed- requiring their forced slaughter and re‐ placement with apparently more productive breeds. When this law became effective the Aveto breeders, strongly determined to preserve Cabannina, started their resistance against the Provincial Inspectorate of Agriculture. Attempts were made to combine different races, such as Bruno-Alpine, to the native heads, but with little results. In this regard, Maimone studied these two races years later in 1981 [18]. Combining the data collected by Orefice in 1978 [19], it was certified that Cabannina reproductive efficiency was better than Brown one and its economic life was greater thanks to the early age of its first birth and the reduced inter-calving period (84 days versus 140). Brown also appeared to have an inferior capacity to pasture, especially in villages where Cabannina was farmed, and could not stand the scarce food resources in the area showing phenomena of piroplasmosis which Cabannina breed could better fight against. In fact, originally Aveto Valley was a large swamp and over time native breed may have developed a natural resistance to the protozoa responsible for the disease.

Since 1974, the studies by Usai (1974), Orefice (1978) and Maimone (1981) [18-20] contrib‐ uted to the promotion of Cabannina breed. In 1978 Orefice proved that in the town of Re‐ zzoaglio there were about 500-550 heads of this typical breed. In 1981 when a census was made, out of 759 heads left only 158 were phenotipically Cabannina. Thus, an exemption to law No. 126 was decided in order to use Cabannina reproductors, and in 1985 the "An‐ agraphic Register of indigenous cattle populations and ethnic groups of limited diffusion " was established.

compared against race specifications, height at withers, set from 1.18 to 1.20 m for females, and from 1.25 to 1.30 m for males, appears to be about 10 cm higher, as well as other param‐ eters related to both sexes. Circumference of front shank, as well as head and rump bis-artic‐

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Natural breed evolution and feed were considered to be factors influencing the named changes, but the investigation even considered the influence from crossings with Brown Al‐ pine cows after Law 126 came into force when they began to replace the crossings. More‐ over, while in the past the cows were fed exclusively on forage and leftover food, such as potato peels, the recent introduction of feed concentrates, even not properly balanced ones, may have boosted the growth of Cabannina breed. Actually, its small size should be consid‐ ered as a positive feature to keep because it makes these cows excellent grazers even under extreme conditions, and low feed consumers, which means a substantial economic advant‐

Cabannina breed shows a very low incidence of diseases, virtually no hoof problems, or mastitis. No dystocical parturitions and on average calving-conception occurs after 80

Under normal conditions and in the absence of any drug treatment, the involution of the uterus, is completed within 4-6 weeks post-partum. A recent work about uterine involution [22], shows that the reproductive physiology of Cabannina is characterized by a rapid recov‐ ery of ovarian activity. In fact, the onset of first estrus can be observed 20 days after birth and the fertilizing opportunity occurs in the following cycle, at about day 40. Features that allow farmers to achieve the advantage of a calf per year, i.e. maximum productivity, maxi‐

mum reproductive efficiency and excellent mammary functionality.

ular width remained unchanged.

**Figure 3.** Pasturing Cabannina cows in Scabbiamara area.

age for breeders [21].

*4.3.2. Physiological reproductive features*

*4.3.1. Rusticity*

days [21].

Despite various interventions Cabannina heads have steadily declined. From a survey con‐ ducted in 2010 by the Provincial Association of Breeders, only 254 heads are left on the Lig‐ urian territory, mostly concentrated in Aveto valley. In the same year Cabannina breed has got one of the 193 Slow Food Presidia on the Italian territory. The network of Slow Food Pre‐ sidia was established in 1998; it protects and preserves traditional products made according to old techniques, often present in remote areas of our country, and makes them distinguish‐ able by a logo.

**Figure 2.** U'Cabanin trademark of Cabannina raw milk production.

In our case it is not the product to be preserved, but the breed as a part of it, similarly to other endangered species such as the Black Pig Nebrodi of Sicily and the Black Cock of Val di Vara in Liguria ( www.slowfood.it ). In 2007 a cheese made only from Cabannina raw milk began to be produced under the trademark "U Cabanin". Compared to the 1981 census the number of Cabannina heads has slightly increased, but the situation remains critical, be‐ ing this breed still at high risk of extinction.

#### **4.3. Cabannina cow**

Breed standards required to register animals were defined in a specific Registry for Breeds under Limited Distribution. A recent dissertation from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Parma [21], collected biometric data on Cabannina cows; such data prove how their average measurements have changed according to observations performed from mid'70s. In fact, compared against race specifications, height at withers, set from 1.18 to 1.20 m for females, and from 1.25 to 1.30 m for males, appears to be about 10 cm higher, as well as other param‐ eters related to both sexes. Circumference of front shank, as well as head and rump bis-artic‐ ular width remained unchanged.

**Figure 3.** Pasturing Cabannina cows in Scabbiamara area.

Natural breed evolution and feed were considered to be factors influencing the named changes, but the investigation even considered the influence from crossings with Brown Al‐ pine cows after Law 126 came into force when they began to replace the crossings. More‐ over, while in the past the cows were fed exclusively on forage and leftover food, such as potato peels, the recent introduction of feed concentrates, even not properly balanced ones, may have boosted the growth of Cabannina breed. Actually, its small size should be consid‐ ered as a positive feature to keep because it makes these cows excellent grazers even under extreme conditions, and low feed consumers, which means a substantial economic advant‐ age for breeders [21].

#### *4.3.1. Rusticity*

Since 1974, the studies by Usai (1974), Orefice (1978) and Maimone (1981) [18-20] contrib‐ uted to the promotion of Cabannina breed. In 1978 Orefice proved that in the town of Re‐ zzoaglio there were about 500-550 heads of this typical breed. In 1981 when a census was made, out of 759 heads left only 158 were phenotipically Cabannina. Thus, an exemption to law No. 126 was decided in order to use Cabannina reproductors, and in 1985 the "An‐ agraphic Register of indigenous cattle populations and ethnic groups of limited diffusion

Despite various interventions Cabannina heads have steadily declined. From a survey con‐ ducted in 2010 by the Provincial Association of Breeders, only 254 heads are left on the Lig‐ urian territory, mostly concentrated in Aveto valley. In the same year Cabannina breed has got one of the 193 Slow Food Presidia on the Italian territory. The network of Slow Food Pre‐ sidia was established in 1998; it protects and preserves traditional products made according to old techniques, often present in remote areas of our country, and makes them distinguish‐

In our case it is not the product to be preserved, but the breed as a part of it, similarly to other endangered species such as the Black Pig Nebrodi of Sicily and the Black Cock of Val di Vara in Liguria ( www.slowfood.it ). In 2007 a cheese made only from Cabannina raw milk began to be produced under the trademark "U Cabanin". Compared to the 1981 census the number of Cabannina heads has slightly increased, but the situation remains critical, be‐

Breed standards required to register animals were defined in a specific Registry for Breeds under Limited Distribution. A recent dissertation from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Parma [21], collected biometric data on Cabannina cows; such data prove how their average measurements have changed according to observations performed from mid'70s. In fact,

" was established.

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able by a logo.

**Figure 2.** U'Cabanin trademark of Cabannina raw milk production.

ing this breed still at high risk of extinction.

**4.3. Cabannina cow**

Cabannina breed shows a very low incidence of diseases, virtually no hoof problems, or mastitis. No dystocical parturitions and on average calving-conception occurs after 80 days [21].

### *4.3.2. Physiological reproductive features*

Under normal conditions and in the absence of any drug treatment, the involution of the uterus, is completed within 4-6 weeks post-partum. A recent work about uterine involution [22], shows that the reproductive physiology of Cabannina is characterized by a rapid recov‐ ery of ovarian activity. In fact, the onset of first estrus can be observed 20 days after birth and the fertilizing opportunity occurs in the following cycle, at about day 40. Features that allow farmers to achieve the advantage of a calf per year, i.e. maximum productivity, maxi‐ mum reproductive efficiency and excellent mammary functionality.

## *4.3.3. Physiological productive features*

Milk from Cabannina cows was carefully examined at the laboratory of Veterinary Physiolo‐ gy - University of Milan – [22-23] as to the dimensional characteristics of its fat globules, which make it a product of great value. In fact, it was proven the presence of small fat glob‐ ules resulting in a wide specific surface area (SSA); thus, intestinal lipases can easily attack them and milk results to be highly digestible [24]. Moreover, as fat globules interact with casein curd, their size also influence the processes of lipolysis, bacterial colonization and cheese ripening [25]. High levels of unsaturated fatty acids and desaturase indices were highlighted, with important antimicrobial and biological effects and influences on human health as described in recent literature [26-30].

can use is just close to the stable. In spring, the animals can graze freely. They are usually let loose day and night and lead to the cattleshed only for milking. During the night cows in lactation are kept in the pastures closer to the shed, whereas animals in dry and heifers can

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Milking is performed at 6.00 am and 6.00 pm by a cart machine; it starts with tail binding and then pre-dipping follows, i.e. a neutral liquid detergent (foam on) characterized by a sanitizing and softening action is applied. Such a procedure makes it easier to milk cows. To finish, post-dipping is carried out using a highly viscose solution of benzyl alcohol to pro‐

graze in the fields farther away.

**Figure 4.** Petramartina Farm Logo.

**Figure 5.** The cattleshed.

During cheese making processes, titrable acidity is one among basic parameters to con‐ trol as it indicates good quality and good preservation of the product. Its normal values range between 3.20 and 3.80 °SH/50 ml. in fresh milk [21]. In 1987, Zanetti et al. [31 ]found that a low titrable acidity represents a condition technologically limiting opti‐ mal cheese making. In fact, hypoacidic milk, takes longer to turn into cheese when ren‐ net coagulation is used, thus affecting dairy processing negatively. Finally, even though both remained within normal range values, milk from Cabannina showed average values of SH ° definitely higher than milk from Friesian breed, which can positively influence yield in cheese making processes [32].

## **5. Petramartina farm**

#### **5.1. Farm structure and management**

Petramartina farm is located at Scabbiamara in Aveto Valley at an altitude of 1000 m above sea level. (GPS coordinates: 44 ° 31'60 "N - 09 ° 22'60" E). It was established in 2009; since then, the owners and two workers have looked after the animals and manufactured dairy products. The farm represents a modern rural reality carefully merged with traditions. In fact, its products are sold directly to consumers or to small local retailers (EEC Reg. 852/04) according to the principles of short food chain. The business is articulated into several build‐ ings: an animal shed, a service area, a dairy product manufacturing room, a seasoning room. An area devoted to direct sale and a classroom to provide educational services for students and adult parties have already been designed and will be realized to complete the farm.

#### **5.2. Cattleshed, animals and their reproduction**

The old cattleshed is under the house of the herdsman/milker as it used to be in the past when they derived heat from nearby animals. It is characterized by stalls for the cows, used only to milk them and shelter them in winter, when they rest on chipboard.

As shown in Figure 5, the cattleshed is built according to an old concept: with no separating bars or "educators", as they are not essential where human-animal relation is still strong. Manure removal is not mechanized; the pit where it is kept to be spread over crops the farm can use is just close to the stable. In spring, the animals can graze freely. They are usually let loose day and night and lead to the cattleshed only for milking. During the night cows in lactation are kept in the pastures closer to the shed, whereas animals in dry and heifers can graze in the fields farther away.

**Figure 4.** Petramartina Farm Logo.

*4.3.3. Physiological productive features*

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health as described in recent literature [26-30].

yield in cheese making processes [32].

**5.1. Farm structure and management**

**5.2. Cattleshed, animals and their reproduction**

**5. Petramartina farm**

Milk from Cabannina cows was carefully examined at the laboratory of Veterinary Physiolo‐ gy - University of Milan – [22-23] as to the dimensional characteristics of its fat globules, which make it a product of great value. In fact, it was proven the presence of small fat glob‐ ules resulting in a wide specific surface area (SSA); thus, intestinal lipases can easily attack them and milk results to be highly digestible [24]. Moreover, as fat globules interact with casein curd, their size also influence the processes of lipolysis, bacterial colonization and cheese ripening [25]. High levels of unsaturated fatty acids and desaturase indices were highlighted, with important antimicrobial and biological effects and influences on human

During cheese making processes, titrable acidity is one among basic parameters to con‐ trol as it indicates good quality and good preservation of the product. Its normal values range between 3.20 and 3.80 °SH/50 ml. in fresh milk [21]. In 1987, Zanetti et al. [31 ]found that a low titrable acidity represents a condition technologically limiting opti‐ mal cheese making. In fact, hypoacidic milk, takes longer to turn into cheese when ren‐ net coagulation is used, thus affecting dairy processing negatively. Finally, even though both remained within normal range values, milk from Cabannina showed average values of SH ° definitely higher than milk from Friesian breed, which can positively influence

Petramartina farm is located at Scabbiamara in Aveto Valley at an altitude of 1000 m above sea level. (GPS coordinates: 44 ° 31'60 "N - 09 ° 22'60" E). It was established in 2009; since then, the owners and two workers have looked after the animals and manufactured dairy products. The farm represents a modern rural reality carefully merged with traditions. In fact, its products are sold directly to consumers or to small local retailers (EEC Reg. 852/04) according to the principles of short food chain. The business is articulated into several build‐ ings: an animal shed, a service area, a dairy product manufacturing room, a seasoning room. An area devoted to direct sale and a classroom to provide educational services for students and adult parties have already been designed and will be realized to complete the farm.

The old cattleshed is under the house of the herdsman/milker as it used to be in the past when they derived heat from nearby animals. It is characterized by stalls for the cows, used

As shown in Figure 5, the cattleshed is built according to an old concept: with no separating bars or "educators", as they are not essential where human-animal relation is still strong. Manure removal is not mechanized; the pit where it is kept to be spread over crops the farm

only to milk them and shelter them in winter, when they rest on chipboard.

**Figure 5.** The cattleshed.

Milking is performed at 6.00 am and 6.00 pm by a cart machine; it starts with tail binding and then pre-dipping follows, i.e. a neutral liquid detergent (foam on) characterized by a sanitizing and softening action is applied. Such a procedure makes it easier to milk cows. To finish, post-dipping is carried out using a highly viscose solution of benzyl alcohol to pro‐


tect nipples; in fact, it forms a barrier against bacteria, thus reducing mastitis and related problems for Cabannina cows at lowest level possible.

Management of reproduction represents one among breeders' tasks: to increase genetic vari‐ ability artificial insemination is performed using Cabannino bull paillettes preserved by APA (Association of Provincial Breeders) since 20 years ago, which is essential to recover a cattle breed. Bulls are chosen carefully to keep blood lines as much as possible divided. This is important primarily because deleterious inbreeding must be avoided and, secondly, be‐

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**NAME INSEMINATION DATA BULL DELIVERY DEADLINE DELIVERY** PICOLA 20-05-2010 PIPPO CAB 26-02-2011 06-03-2011 NORA 19-07-2010 PIP 19-04-2011 06-05-2011 NEBBIA 01-09-2010 BIMBOTTO 01-06-2011 08-06-2011 ESMERALDA 26-09-2010 LEO 26-06-2011 06-07-2011 BIONDA 05-11-2010 MANDRIN 35992 05-08-2011 23-08-2011 MARTINA 29-12-2010 FARFALLO 29-09-2011 - LILLY 07-05-2011 LEO - -

Table 9 details dates about each insemination performed and deliveries occurred. As to in‐ seminations, only one is necessary per animal, which can decrease reproduction manage‐ ment costs. As to calving-conception interval, data from the farm under investigation showed compatible with the breed trend, reaching about 80 days, against current 145 days

At Petramartina farm, dairy consists of two distinct working units: one devoted to cheese cooling where there is a milk cooling tank, the other for its processing with a boiler, a table

Nowadays the farm, one among Slow Food Presidia, manufactures several dairy products:

cause genetic and phenotypic data about bull semen have not been collected so far.

**Table 9.** Insemination data and birth calendar.

related to Italian Friesian cows [21].

for curd processing and a press.

**•** Nina:, a fresh 'caciotta' from raw milk

**•** Velleja: a fresh ricotta (sort of cottage cheese)

**•** Primo sale of Cabannina a refreshing light cheese

**•** Squacquero of Cabannina a creamy cheese

**5.3. Dairy, seasoning room and dairy products**

**•** U Cabanin: matured cheese (60 days at least) from raw milk

**•** Yocab: whole white yoghurt or with honey from the farm apiary

**•** Mamma d'oro: a creamy cheese to spread, particularly suitable for children

**Table 8.** Animals in the stable in August 2011

As shown in Table 8, productive animals are currently limited to 9 but their number is con‐ stantly increasing when compared with previous years. Figure 6 proves that trend related to number of Cabannine cows assigned to milk production is becoming larger and is equal to 2.5 subjects/year, which can prompt towards implementing their relative abundance in the area, sustaining their reintegration within typical Ligurian breeding and, last but not least, ensuring biodiversity in cattle. Year 2011 was a greatly positive as 4 female cows directed to production were born.

**Figure 6.** Cabannina cows increase from 2009 to 2011. Trend for forthcoming years.

Management of reproduction represents one among breeders' tasks: to increase genetic vari‐ ability artificial insemination is performed using Cabannino bull paillettes preserved by APA (Association of Provincial Breeders) since 20 years ago, which is essential to recover a cattle breed. Bulls are chosen carefully to keep blood lines as much as possible divided. This is important primarily because deleterious inbreeding must be avoided and, secondly, be‐ cause genetic and phenotypic data about bull semen have not been collected so far.


**Table 9.** Insemination data and birth calendar.

tect nipples; in fact, it forms a barrier against bacteria, thus reducing mastitis and related

As shown in Table 8, productive animals are currently limited to 9 but their number is con‐ stantly increasing when compared with previous years. Figure 6 proves that trend related to number of Cabannine cows assigned to milk production is becoming larger and is equal to 2.5 subjects/year, which can prompt towards implementing their relative abundance in the area, sustaining their reintegration within typical Ligurian breeding and, last but not least, ensuring biodiversity in cattle. Year 2011 was a greatly positive as 4 female cows directed to

**Figure 6.** Cabannina cows increase from 2009 to 2011. Trend for forthcoming years.

**n. cows**

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

**year**

**number of cows in the farm**

y = 2.5x ‐ 5018.7 R² = 0.9868

**NUMBER COW NAME AURICULAR BRAND STATUS** BIONDA IT010990001714 Production MARTINA IT010990009965 Production NORA IT010990009966 Production NEBBIA IT018990022884 Production BELLA IT010990013162 Production PETRA IT010990013163 Production ESMERALDA IT010990012274 Production PICOLA IT018990042730 Production LILLY IT018990032152 Production RAYA IT010990013806 NORA LENA IT010990013807 NEBBIA SUSY IT010990015551 ESMERALDA MIRA IT010990013805 PICOLA

problems for Cabannina cows at lowest level possible.

618 Food Industry

**Table 8.** Animals in the stable in August 2011

production were born.

Table 9 details dates about each insemination performed and deliveries occurred. As to in‐ seminations, only one is necessary per animal, which can decrease reproduction manage‐ ment costs. As to calving-conception interval, data from the farm under investigation showed compatible with the breed trend, reaching about 80 days, against current 145 days related to Italian Friesian cows [21].

#### **5.3. Dairy, seasoning room and dairy products**

At Petramartina farm, dairy consists of two distinct working units: one devoted to cheese cooling where there is a milk cooling tank, the other for its processing with a boiler, a table for curd processing and a press.

Nowadays the farm, one among Slow Food Presidia, manufactures several dairy products:


**Raw materials Analytical components T.Q.:**

Cabannina Cattle Breeding: An Agro-Ecological Challenge for Sustainable Rural Development in Northern Italy

Petramartina farm can be defined as a modern agro-ecology reality according to the studies performed, as highlighted through direct comparison with the fundamentals of agro-ecolo‐

Enhancing biomass recycling, with a view to optimizing organic matter decomposition and

Strengthening the " immune system" of agricultural systems by enhancing functional

Providing the most favorable soil conditions for plant growth, particularly by managing

Minimizing losses of energy, water, nutrients and genetic resources by enhancing conservation

Diversifying species and genetic resources. X Improving beneficial biological interaction and synergies among the components of agro-

**Pertramartina Farm Yes No**

X

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X

X

X

X

wheat meal protein 15,5% (small/young) broad beans Oils and fat 3% wheat bran crude cellulose 7%

maize ash 7%

barley

sugar cane treacle calcium carbonate Bicalcium phosphate Magnesium carbonate Sodium bicarbonate farina glutinata di mais

vitamine e provitamine (vit.A, vit.D3, vit.E, vit.B1)

gy by Altieri (2012) [11] (table 11):

biodiversity, natural enemies, antagonists, etc.

organic matter and by improving soil biological activity.

**Table 11.** Principles of Agro-Ecology by Altieri (2012) [11]

and regeneration of soil and water resources and agro-biodiversity.

biodiversity, thereby promoting key ecological processes and services.

**Table 10.** Raw materials from which Cabannina special feed is derived.

oligoelementi (Mn,Zn,Fe,Cu,I,Cb,Se)

**6. Conclusions**

nutrient cycling over time.

**Figure 7.** Petramartina dairy.

Since when named among Slow Food Presidia, Petramartina farm has been able to produce many different dairy products from just one ingredient, milk, which meets with the recent consumers' demand for products with a characteristic taste on which they can indulge. Physiologically, Cabannina breed cannot compete with milk production from Frisian. Being its quantity of milk per lactation equal to 26-30 kg, Cabannina raw milk sale would not be economically relevant. Nonetheless, the percentages of fat (about 3.7%), proteins (about 3.3%) and lactose (5.3%) make it particularly suitable for producing very good cheese, as re‐ cently confirmed by a recent study [11]. Briefly, Cabannina breeding is now possible thanks to its highly differentiated and tasty dairy products.

#### **5.4. Pasture management and diet**

The Ligurian hinterland is characterized by small sloping plains among its woods. Cabanni‐ na cows have very strong and resistant hoofs and a low live weight (about 4.5 quintals), and can move on this territory without great difficulties. For their correct management, a breed‐ er should divide pasture into different areas where the animals can alternatively rotate to be provided with a constant supply of organic material, to avoid excessive exploitation of vege‐ tation and to ensure a good cleaning of the whole undergrowth. Being highly adaptive, ani‐ mals of this breed graze looser most part of the year, but from February to March and from October to November, depending on the weather.

The typical diet of Cabannina cows consists of pasture forage. During winter, when kept in‐ side in stalls, the farmer must provide their whole daily ration, based only on hay originated from areas in Aveto Valley. Lactating cows are given an integration all year long at milking time, i.e. a feed supplement specifically made for this breed derived from raw materials typ‐ ical of pastures in these areas (table 10).

Such a feed has an average protein content; it is to be administered daily with fodder as much as 2% of each animal body (30% maximum according to U Cabanin production protocols).

So far no studies on Aveto Valley forage and related nutritional value have been conducted, which makes it impossible to consider how the Cabannina diet is balanced. Nonetheless, such forage is pivotal to the exploitation of this breed whose production results to be con‐ stant even though it only feed on fodder from the pasture they graze.


## **6. Conclusions**

**Figure 7.** Petramartina dairy.

620 Food Industry

to its highly differentiated and tasty dairy products.

October to November, depending on the weather.

ical of pastures in these areas (table 10).

**5.4. Pasture management and diet**

Since when named among Slow Food Presidia, Petramartina farm has been able to produce many different dairy products from just one ingredient, milk, which meets with the recent consumers' demand for products with a characteristic taste on which they can indulge. Physiologically, Cabannina breed cannot compete with milk production from Frisian. Being its quantity of milk per lactation equal to 26-30 kg, Cabannina raw milk sale would not be economically relevant. Nonetheless, the percentages of fat (about 3.7%), proteins (about 3.3%) and lactose (5.3%) make it particularly suitable for producing very good cheese, as re‐ cently confirmed by a recent study [11]. Briefly, Cabannina breeding is now possible thanks

The Ligurian hinterland is characterized by small sloping plains among its woods. Cabanni‐ na cows have very strong and resistant hoofs and a low live weight (about 4.5 quintals), and can move on this territory without great difficulties. For their correct management, a breed‐ er should divide pasture into different areas where the animals can alternatively rotate to be provided with a constant supply of organic material, to avoid excessive exploitation of vege‐ tation and to ensure a good cleaning of the whole undergrowth. Being highly adaptive, ani‐ mals of this breed graze looser most part of the year, but from February to March and from

The typical diet of Cabannina cows consists of pasture forage. During winter, when kept in‐ side in stalls, the farmer must provide their whole daily ration, based only on hay originated from areas in Aveto Valley. Lactating cows are given an integration all year long at milking time, i.e. a feed supplement specifically made for this breed derived from raw materials typ‐

Such a feed has an average protein content; it is to be administered daily with fodder as much as 2% of each animal body (30% maximum according to U Cabanin production protocols).

So far no studies on Aveto Valley forage and related nutritional value have been conducted, which makes it impossible to consider how the Cabannina diet is balanced. Nonetheless, such forage is pivotal to the exploitation of this breed whose production results to be con‐

stant even though it only feed on fodder from the pasture they graze.

Petramartina farm can be defined as a modern agro-ecology reality according to the studies performed, as highlighted through direct comparison with the fundamentals of agro-ecolo‐ gy by Altieri (2012) [11] (table 11):


**Table 11.** Principles of Agro-Ecology by Altieri (2012) [11]

The farm totally follows the above mentioned agro-ecological principles.

Similarly, we can compare it with the questions proposed by Koohafkan (2011) [12] (table 12):

Some critical points can be identified:

use in industrial breeding.

**Acknowledgments**

**Author details**

**References**

be purchased from other local businesses;

role in Cabannina cow recovery in Ligurian region.

**3.** in the current lack of direct production of forage; in fact, for the winter period it has to

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**4.** hay integration through the use of a feed supplement does not fully meet the agro-eco‐ logical principles, but the issue is absolutely irrelevant when compared to its irrational

Noticeably, Petramartina farm is soon going to implement its properties by acquiring new pastures in the aim of improving the territorial hydrogeological structure. Moreover, farm‐ ing is also designed to become an essential element in promoting environmental education at any school level for the east Ligurian territory through adequate didactic structures. A further step towards preservation and spreading of Cabannina breed and its derived prod‐

Authors are particularly grateful to Mr. Ugo Campodonico, Ms. Simona Cesari and their family from Petramartina Farm for their supporting our study as well as for their pivotal

Department of Veterinary Science and Public Health – DIVET - University of Milan, Italy

[1] Roxström A, Strandberg E, Berglund B, Emanuelson U, Philipsson J. Genetic and en‐ vironmental correlations among female fertility traits and milk production in differ‐ ent parities of Swedish Red and White dairy cattle. Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica, Section A - Animal Science 2010a;51(1) 7-14. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/

[2] Sørensen AC, Lawlor T & Ruiz, F. A survey on fertility in the Holstein populations of the world. In: Proceedings of the Int. Conf. on Fertility in dairy cows "EAAP Satellite

[3] Roxström A, Strandberg E, Berglund B, Emanuelson U, Philipsson J. Genetic and en‐ vironmental correlations among female fertility traits, and the ability to show oes‐

Meeting", pp. 1:17, 30-31 August 2007 Liverpool Hope University, UK; 2007.

ucts, as well as the creation of new jobs in the farming and marketing areas.

Ricardo Communod, Carla Colombani, Eleonora Munari and Daniele Vigo

10.1080/090647001300004745 (accessed August 19, 2012)


**Table 12.** Questions to define an agro-ecological farm (Koohafkan, 2011) [12]

The merits of Petramartina farm are obvious, with particular reference to its strong relation with territory, animals and humans. The main economic returns of this business undoubted‐ ly are due to:


Some critical points can be identified:

The farm totally follows the above mentioned agro-ecological principles.

1. Do they reduce poverty? X 2. Are they based on rights and social equity? X 3. Do they reduce social exclusion, particularly for women, minorities and indigenous people? X 4. Do they protect access and right to land, water and other natural resources? X 5. Do they favor redistribution of productive resources? X 6. Do they substantially increase food production and contribute to household food security

7. Do they enhance families water access and availability? X

8. Do they regenerate and conserve soil and increase soil fertility? X 9. Do they reduce soil loss/ degradation and enhance soil regeneration and conservation? X 10. Do practices maintain or enhance organic matter and the biological life and biodiversity of

11. Do they prevent pest and disease outbreaks? X 12. Do they conserve and encourage agro-biodiversity? X 13. Do they reduce greenhouse gas emissions? X 14. Do they increase income opportunities and employment? X

16. Do they enhance farm diversification and resilience? X 17. Do they reduce investment costs and farmer dependence on external inputs? X 18. Do they increase the degree and effectiveness of farmer organizations? X 19. Do they increase human capital formation? X 20. Do they contribute to local/ regional food sovereignty? X

The merits of Petramartina farm are obvious, with particular reference to its strong relation with territory, animals and humans. The main economic returns of this business undoubted‐

**2.** a reduced consumption of fossil fuel during different stages of feed preparation and

**1.** a low use of water for field irrigation and for animal management in the stables;

15. Do they reduce variation in agricultural production under climatic stress conditions?

**Table 12.** Questions to define an agro-ecological farm (Koohafkan, 2011) [12]

and improved nutrition?

the soil?

622 Food Industry

ly are due to:

preservation.

Similarly, we can compare it with the questions proposed by Koohafkan (2011) [12] (table 12):

**Petramartina Farm Yes No**

X

X


Noticeably, Petramartina farm is soon going to implement its properties by acquiring new pastures in the aim of improving the territorial hydrogeological structure. Moreover, farm‐ ing is also designed to become an essential element in promoting environmental education at any school level for the east Ligurian territory through adequate didactic structures. A further step towards preservation and spreading of Cabannina breed and its derived prod‐ ucts, as well as the creation of new jobs in the farming and marketing areas.

## **Acknowledgments**

Authors are particularly grateful to Mr. Ugo Campodonico, Ms. Simona Cesari and their family from Petramartina Farm for their supporting our study as well as for their pivotal role in Cabannina cow recovery in Ligurian region.

## **Author details**

Ricardo Communod, Carla Colombani, Eleonora Munari and Daniele Vigo

Department of Veterinary Science and Public Health – DIVET - University of Milan, Italy

## **References**


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**Chapter 27**

**The SFIN Innovation System – Reflections on Food**

The Skane Food Innovation Network works to help the food industry innovate, to make the future happen in a way that includes better food, increased competitiveness for the food companies within the region and a stronger culinary profile of the region. This chapter aims at presenting and discussing how a Triple Helix cluster initiative can be managed towards innovation. Skane Food Innovation Network (SFIN) is a triple helix cluster initiative located in the South of Sweden. SFIN represents a new type of innovation system. Government aids to individual corporations are no longer allowed due to EU legislation, which has forced Swedish public innovation funding to alter its form and organization. Today such funding is directed to regional industry clusters instead of individual companies. This has prompted innovation of the Swedish innovation system. SFIN is considered at the front line of this de‐ velopment through its highly developed and consistent triple helix model of innovation

The chapter reflects upon how the innovation system works, both in practice and in theory. In practice, it builds on widespread institutional and industry legitimacy, twelve different networks organized around various nodes in the value system, the interplay between sys‐ temic innovation meetings and the formation of pilot projects, and not least, the direct in‐ volvement of entrepreneurs, customers and the shared value created in the joint action of the two groups. With a systematic approach - detect, develop and diffuse – to innovation,

The chapter builds on the idea of "bridging regimes" (Jönsson et al, 2011) and argues that innovation could be considered a collective cognitive process. It involves a case, showing the importance of recruiting intermediators that can bridge the different regimes that are im‐ printed in the actors and make them involved in realizing innovative solutions. Innovation

and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2013 Jönsson and Knutsson; licensee InTech. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2013 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution,

**Cluster Management**

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/53175

**1. Introduction**

(OECD, 2012).

Håkan Jönsson and Hans Knutsson

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

SFIN has moved towards a new innovation system.


## **The SFIN Innovation System – Reflections on Food Cluster Management**

Håkan Jönsson and Hans Knutsson

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/53175

## **1. Introduction**

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gust 19, 2012)

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2003/02/L3203/L3203.html (accessed August 19, 2012)

full (accessed August 19, 2012)

gust 19, 2012)

The Skane Food Innovation Network works to help the food industry innovate, to make the future happen in a way that includes better food, increased competitiveness for the food companies within the region and a stronger culinary profile of the region. This chapter aims at presenting and discussing how a Triple Helix cluster initiative can be managed towards innovation. Skane Food Innovation Network (SFIN) is a triple helix cluster initiative located in the South of Sweden. SFIN represents a new type of innovation system. Government aids to individual corporations are no longer allowed due to EU legislation, which has forced Swedish public innovation funding to alter its form and organization. Today such funding is directed to regional industry clusters instead of individual companies. This has prompted innovation of the Swedish innovation system. SFIN is considered at the front line of this de‐ velopment through its highly developed and consistent triple helix model of innovation (OECD, 2012).

The chapter reflects upon how the innovation system works, both in practice and in theory. In practice, it builds on widespread institutional and industry legitimacy, twelve different networks organized around various nodes in the value system, the interplay between sys‐ temic innovation meetings and the formation of pilot projects, and not least, the direct in‐ volvement of entrepreneurs, customers and the shared value created in the joint action of the two groups. With a systematic approach - detect, develop and diffuse – to innovation, SFIN has moved towards a new innovation system.

The chapter builds on the idea of "bridging regimes" (Jönsson et al, 2011) and argues that innovation could be considered a collective cognitive process. It involves a case, showing the importance of recruiting intermediators that can bridge the different regimes that are im‐ printed in the actors and make them involved in realizing innovative solutions. Innovation

© 2013 Jönsson and Knutsson; licensee InTech. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2013 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

inside an existing organization is particularly described and analyzed (Govindarajan and Trimble, 2010; Kotter, 1985). By innovation itself is meant any process or product that sells and creates new value in a market (Edquist, 2002). In theory, the innovation system may be described as a collective cognitive process. The chapter connects theoretical underpinnings from strategy theory and market theory with models of change, institutionalization and cul‐ ture. Strategy is discussed as a consistent and long-term set of activities (Porter, 1996) and a clear and understandable modus operandi (Miles and Snow, 1984; Drucker, 1994). The sys‐ tem creates a "liquid environment" and increases the "adjacent possible" (Johnson, 2010), where ideas are detected and further developed in a market, defined as any self-referencing group with certain needs in common (Moore, 1991). Such a market view is consistent with the idea that any innovation established through replication (Christensen et al., 2006) in or‐ der to survive. Once the change is made (Kotter, 1996)– the developed new value creation is accepted, widespread and taken for granted, the new solution is institutionalized (Veblen, 1904; Hodgson, 1988; Scott, 1995) and part of a specific culture on one or more levels in soci‐ ety (Schein, 2010). The whole process of innovation is about bridging regimes: it could, in essence, be seen as managing stakeholder perceptions through the three stages of detection, development and diffusion, on the three levels of individual, organization and society.

This view of the innovation process could be interpreted in two opposite ways. On one hand, you could expect innovation as a result of the "adjacent possible" in a "liquid environ‐ ment" (Johnson, 2010), where the mere coexistence of different individuals gives the future new combinations of ideas, DNA, artefacts or other things. This is what Edquist and Hom‐ men (1999) call the "systems oriented" view on innovation processes. On the other hand, there is a strong contender in the "linear" perspective on innovation. Innovation is unidirec‐ tional process, where research and development efforts is initiated by public authorities or private firms, which is expected to produce new technology, which in turn provides new

The SFIN Innovation System – Reflections on Food Cluster Management

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/53175

629

The purpose of this chapter is to describe and interpret the development and the dynamics

By innovation is meant any process or product that sells and creates new value in a market (Edquist, 2002). In theory, the model may be understood in terms of strategy as a consistent and long-term set of activities (Porter, 1996) and the need for a clear and understandable modus operandi (Miles and Snow, 1984; Drucker, 1994). The system creates a "liquid envi‐ ronment" and increases the "adjacent possible" (Johnson, 2010). A market is any self-refer‐ encing group with certain needs in common (Moore, 1991), in which any innovation has to

A major impediment for innovation tends to be the idea that things should be done the way they always have been done. Innovations therefore often occur in settings where actors with different backgrounds join up with a mutual interest to solve the same problem. However, things can also go terribly wrong if the different backgrounds clash instead of fertilizing each other. Sidney Winter and Richard Nelson (1982) have discussed the importance of studying regimes in order to understand why or why not innovations tend to happen. Win‐ ter defines regimes in a sector as a specific set of not only regulative institutions and norms but regimes also regulate codified formal as well as tacit informal habits and routines relat‐ ed to common collective and individual practices and beliefs. These practices and beliefs shape and coordinate actions between various groups, individuals, and organizations in the sector. An important role for organisations working with facilitating innovation may be to

We are both active in social sciences, business administration and ethnology. We use our set of models of concepts as "temporary walking sticks [to] aid sense making as we go along" (Ghoshal, 2005). Ghoshal questions the pretense of knowledge, resulting from the idea that social sciences should be formed, tested and verified in the same way as natural science and causal theories are. Thus, our eclectic approach is a start trying to understand and verbalise the shaping of the shaping of the future. The approach is to use an eclectic frame of refer‐ ence, where different models and concepts in the field of business administration are put to‐ gether in order to show how concepts of strategy, markets, institutions and culture have

be established through replication (Christensen, 2006) in order to survive.

work for "bridging regimes", as argued in Jönsson et al, (2011).

human understanding and acceptance in common.

solutions to market needs.

**1.2. Purpose and approach**

of the way SFIN facilitate innovation.

#### **1.1. Shaping the shaping of the future food industry**

How do you shape the future? As a matter of fact, you don't have to do anything. It will shape itself around you, with or without your involvement or approval. But if you have an idea of what you want to see in the future, there is a challenge ahead. The Skane Food Inno‐ vation Network works to help the food industry innovate, to make the future happen in a way that includes better food, increased competitiveness for the food companies within the region and a stronger culinary profile of the region. This chapter aims at presenting and dis‐ cussing how a Triple Helix cluster initiative can be managed towards innovation.

This chapter is about regional economic development and innovation is a key concept. It is used in the meaning of any process or product that sells and creates new value in a market (Edquist, 2002). The text revolves around the development of Skane Food Innovation Net‐ work (SFIN). In 2003 - winning the competition Vinnväxt - SFIN was boosted by national funding the coming 10 years. The objective was to systematically facilitate innovation in the since long established food cluster in the south of Sweden, also known as Skane. Reading the official program description today, almost ten years later, it is strikingly void of norma‐ tive guidelines of how to go about creating the innovation system. The purpose of the pro‐ gram, called *Regional growth through dynamic innovation systems*, is

*"to promote sustainable growth in the regions based on international competitive ability, by succes‐ sively developing or further developing the functioning, dynamics and effectiveness of innovation sys‐ tems in functional regions at an international level. A prerequisite for the programme is the active participation of players from the business community, research organisations, politics and public ad‐ ministration."*

The concept of Triple Helix is mentioned in the original directions. The collaboration be‐ tween business firms, universities and public sector organisation, innovation will result. This view of the innovation process could be interpreted in two opposite ways. On one hand, you could expect innovation as a result of the "adjacent possible" in a "liquid environ‐ ment" (Johnson, 2010), where the mere coexistence of different individuals gives the future new combinations of ideas, DNA, artefacts or other things. This is what Edquist and Hom‐ men (1999) call the "systems oriented" view on innovation processes. On the other hand, there is a strong contender in the "linear" perspective on innovation. Innovation is unidirec‐ tional process, where research and development efforts is initiated by public authorities or private firms, which is expected to produce new technology, which in turn provides new solutions to market needs.

#### **1.2. Purpose and approach**

inside an existing organization is particularly described and analyzed (Govindarajan and Trimble, 2010; Kotter, 1985). By innovation itself is meant any process or product that sells and creates new value in a market (Edquist, 2002). In theory, the innovation system may be described as a collective cognitive process. The chapter connects theoretical underpinnings from strategy theory and market theory with models of change, institutionalization and cul‐ ture. Strategy is discussed as a consistent and long-term set of activities (Porter, 1996) and a clear and understandable modus operandi (Miles and Snow, 1984; Drucker, 1994). The sys‐ tem creates a "liquid environment" and increases the "adjacent possible" (Johnson, 2010), where ideas are detected and further developed in a market, defined as any self-referencing group with certain needs in common (Moore, 1991). Such a market view is consistent with the idea that any innovation established through replication (Christensen et al., 2006) in or‐ der to survive. Once the change is made (Kotter, 1996)– the developed new value creation is accepted, widespread and taken for granted, the new solution is institutionalized (Veblen, 1904; Hodgson, 1988; Scott, 1995) and part of a specific culture on one or more levels in soci‐ ety (Schein, 2010). The whole process of innovation is about bridging regimes: it could, in essence, be seen as managing stakeholder perceptions through the three stages of detection, development and diffusion, on the three levels of individual, organization and society.

How do you shape the future? As a matter of fact, you don't have to do anything. It will shape itself around you, with or without your involvement or approval. But if you have an idea of what you want to see in the future, there is a challenge ahead. The Skane Food Inno‐ vation Network works to help the food industry innovate, to make the future happen in a way that includes better food, increased competitiveness for the food companies within the region and a stronger culinary profile of the region. This chapter aims at presenting and dis‐

This chapter is about regional economic development and innovation is a key concept. It is used in the meaning of any process or product that sells and creates new value in a market (Edquist, 2002). The text revolves around the development of Skane Food Innovation Net‐ work (SFIN). In 2003 - winning the competition Vinnväxt - SFIN was boosted by national funding the coming 10 years. The objective was to systematically facilitate innovation in the since long established food cluster in the south of Sweden, also known as Skane. Reading the official program description today, almost ten years later, it is strikingly void of norma‐ tive guidelines of how to go about creating the innovation system. The purpose of the pro‐

*"to promote sustainable growth in the regions based on international competitive ability, by succes‐ sively developing or further developing the functioning, dynamics and effectiveness of innovation sys‐ tems in functional regions at an international level. A prerequisite for the programme is the active participation of players from the business community, research organisations, politics and public ad‐*

The concept of Triple Helix is mentioned in the original directions. The collaboration be‐ tween business firms, universities and public sector organisation, innovation will result.

cussing how a Triple Helix cluster initiative can be managed towards innovation.

gram, called *Regional growth through dynamic innovation systems*, is

*ministration."*

628 Food Industry

**1.1. Shaping the shaping of the future food industry**

The purpose of this chapter is to describe and interpret the development and the dynamics of the way SFIN facilitate innovation.

By innovation is meant any process or product that sells and creates new value in a market (Edquist, 2002). In theory, the model may be understood in terms of strategy as a consistent and long-term set of activities (Porter, 1996) and the need for a clear and understandable modus operandi (Miles and Snow, 1984; Drucker, 1994). The system creates a "liquid envi‐ ronment" and increases the "adjacent possible" (Johnson, 2010). A market is any self-refer‐ encing group with certain needs in common (Moore, 1991), in which any innovation has to be established through replication (Christensen, 2006) in order to survive.

A major impediment for innovation tends to be the idea that things should be done the way they always have been done. Innovations therefore often occur in settings where actors with different backgrounds join up with a mutual interest to solve the same problem. However, things can also go terribly wrong if the different backgrounds clash instead of fertilizing each other. Sidney Winter and Richard Nelson (1982) have discussed the importance of studying regimes in order to understand why or why not innovations tend to happen. Win‐ ter defines regimes in a sector as a specific set of not only regulative institutions and norms but regimes also regulate codified formal as well as tacit informal habits and routines relat‐ ed to common collective and individual practices and beliefs. These practices and beliefs shape and coordinate actions between various groups, individuals, and organizations in the sector. An important role for organisations working with facilitating innovation may be to work for "bridging regimes", as argued in Jönsson et al, (2011).

We are both active in social sciences, business administration and ethnology. We use our set of models of concepts as "temporary walking sticks [to] aid sense making as we go along" (Ghoshal, 2005). Ghoshal questions the pretense of knowledge, resulting from the idea that social sciences should be formed, tested and verified in the same way as natural science and causal theories are. Thus, our eclectic approach is a start trying to understand and verbalise the shaping of the shaping of the future. The approach is to use an eclectic frame of refer‐ ence, where different models and concepts in the field of business administration are put to‐ gether in order to show how concepts of strategy, markets, institutions and culture have human understanding and acceptance in common.

Our effort could be labelled action research (Lewin, 1946, Rapaport, 1970, Susman and Ever‐ ed, 1978). Action research is defined by Rapaport (ibid.:499): "*Action research aims to contrib‐ ute both to the practical concerns of people in an immediate problematic situation and to the goals of social science by joint collaboration within a mutually acceptable ethical framework.*"

The former CEO of SFIN retired in 2006, and a new one was recruited. From being an anon‐ ymous "industry body", SFIN now got a person with a strong background working with one of the most successful and innovative Swedish consumer products in a long time. Around 2007, "the entrepreneurial phase" began. Now there was an increased support of entrepreneurs, seen as innovation synapses. It could be regarded a reflex of large compa‐ nies' urge for here-and-now innovation. SFIN now changed into a rhythm of making more frequent decisions. Each decision, though, concerned smaller amounts of money. In retro‐ spect, the development could be described as the recognition of the systems view on innova‐ tion. The typical decision was about a business plan or project plan, and a subsequent need for financial support for implementing it. This kind of decision-making turned out to be very difficult, sometimes almost ad hoc, and the organisation then was struggling for crite‐ ria from which to evaluate the proposals. The result, and the problem, was that an inconsis‐ tency emerged, no other logic than stimulating individual entrepreneurs in order to create

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631

The orientations seen in this first half of the Vinnväxt program are direct reflections of what was evaluated and, hence, expected from SFIN by Vinnova. The new CEO, slightly flabber‐ gasted, turned to the board for directions. None was given. Instead, the board and CEO to‐ gether began articulating a strategic orientation for SFIN. The approach used was recognised from straightforward strategic planning and the traditional management of busi‐ ness. State a vision, formulate a mission and set goals and strategies in order to fulfil the mission. The process was clarifying the ideas and purposes of SFIN. A new organisation

The Skane Food Innovation Network is registered as a non-profit organisation. Its constitu‐ ents are a number of partners, today about 40, and members, today more than 100. Partners pay an annual fee of about 4 000 euro, whereas members pay 300 euro. Partners qualify for board representation, members do not. The board mirrors the triple helix view - large and small companies, universities, and public authorities are all represented by the eleven board

The board has formulated a so called "VAMS", an acronym for Vision, Business Idea (Swed‐

The vision states that SFIN is shaping the future food industry and meal experiences. The business idea is to offer the best network for cooperation of different competences, stage pi‐ lot projects and gain credibility from a concrete track record of innovation. From the high credibility, SFIN sustain and develop its network and receives funding from national and

The objectives revolve around maintaining the networks in an inclusive manner, and hence increase the attractiveness and deepen and widen the competence base of the industry. Strategies are concerned with deep understanding of future needs and questions in the in‐ dustry, creating a clear and attractive offer to participate, attracting people with vision and

innovation, new firms and more jobs.

structure was created and still holds sway today.

**2.2. The shape of the SFIN innovation system**

members. The Governor of Skane is chairman of the board.

ish: Affärsidé), Objectives (Swedish: Mål) and Strategies.

international authorities.

The empirical account of the chapter is based on our direct experiences of working inside SFIN since 2004. We both started off leading different projects for a few years. Since 2008 we have been part of the management team of SFIN, each heading a separate large operation. In 2010, the Skåne Regional Council, one of the major stakeholders of SFIN, decided to allocate the initiative Taste of Skane inside SFIN. The assignment is to develop Skane in terms of food experiences - tourism, restaurants, food education, and much more. In 2011, the same organisation gave SFIN the assignment of innovating the hospital meals, starting with the small regional hospital in Trelleborg where a role model is to be presented in early 2014.

So, from an eclectic frame of reference and first hand empirical experiences, this story will serve two general purposes - making sense of cluster management in SFIN and advocating the use of individual and common understanding of the subject of change. Individual come collective understanding, as we aim to show, is at the core of innovation.

## **2. Skane Food Innovation Network (SFIN)**

#### **2.1. The development phases of SFIN**

During most part of the 20th century, the Swedish food market has been protected from in‐ ternational competition. The idea of national self-subsistence used to guide Swedish food policy. International competitiveness was not a major issue, since surplus production was limited. During the last decades, though, the Swedish food industry has been rapidly chang‐ ing from a sheltered national industry into an industry exposed to strong international com‐ petition (Lagnevik 2006). In 2003, VINNOVA, the state agency for innovation and systemsoriented research, launched a regionally oriented program for research, technology and deployment/demonstration (RTD). The aim was to promote upgrading and renewal of local innovation and R&D capabilities and skill building in certain important growth areas with strong regional profiles. One initiative within the Vinnväxt (Winn-Growth) program was granted to the Skane Food Innovation Network, a triple Helix network formed in Skane, Sweden's "bread basket" with approximately half of the nation's food production and R&D.

After winning the Vinnväxt competition in 2003, this first period of the "cluster initiative" was research oriented. This "research phase" saw a large share of the funding funnelled into research and PhD student projects. It was characterised by a linear view of the innovation process. As a triple helix organisation, the reactions from the business part of the stakehold‐ ers gradually expressed doubts about how the process should gain their companies. The in‐ herent tension between long-term research and short-term profitability pressures of larger companies needed to be resolved.

The former CEO of SFIN retired in 2006, and a new one was recruited. From being an anon‐ ymous "industry body", SFIN now got a person with a strong background working with one of the most successful and innovative Swedish consumer products in a long time. Around 2007, "the entrepreneurial phase" began. Now there was an increased support of entrepreneurs, seen as innovation synapses. It could be regarded a reflex of large compa‐ nies' urge for here-and-now innovation. SFIN now changed into a rhythm of making more frequent decisions. Each decision, though, concerned smaller amounts of money. In retro‐ spect, the development could be described as the recognition of the systems view on innova‐ tion. The typical decision was about a business plan or project plan, and a subsequent need for financial support for implementing it. This kind of decision-making turned out to be very difficult, sometimes almost ad hoc, and the organisation then was struggling for crite‐ ria from which to evaluate the proposals. The result, and the problem, was that an inconsis‐ tency emerged, no other logic than stimulating individual entrepreneurs in order to create innovation, new firms and more jobs.

The orientations seen in this first half of the Vinnväxt program are direct reflections of what was evaluated and, hence, expected from SFIN by Vinnova. The new CEO, slightly flabber‐ gasted, turned to the board for directions. None was given. Instead, the board and CEO to‐ gether began articulating a strategic orientation for SFIN. The approach used was recognised from straightforward strategic planning and the traditional management of busi‐ ness. State a vision, formulate a mission and set goals and strategies in order to fulfil the mission. The process was clarifying the ideas and purposes of SFIN. A new organisation structure was created and still holds sway today.

### **2.2. The shape of the SFIN innovation system**

Our effort could be labelled action research (Lewin, 1946, Rapaport, 1970, Susman and Ever‐ ed, 1978). Action research is defined by Rapaport (ibid.:499): "*Action research aims to contrib‐ ute both to the practical concerns of people in an immediate problematic situation and to the goals of*

The empirical account of the chapter is based on our direct experiences of working inside SFIN since 2004. We both started off leading different projects for a few years. Since 2008 we have been part of the management team of SFIN, each heading a separate large operation. In 2010, the Skåne Regional Council, one of the major stakeholders of SFIN, decided to allocate the initiative Taste of Skane inside SFIN. The assignment is to develop Skane in terms of food experiences - tourism, restaurants, food education, and much more. In 2011, the same organisation gave SFIN the assignment of innovating the hospital meals, starting with the small regional hospital in Trelleborg where a role model is to be presented in early 2014.

So, from an eclectic frame of reference and first hand empirical experiences, this story will serve two general purposes - making sense of cluster management in SFIN and advocating the use of individual and common understanding of the subject of change. Individual come

During most part of the 20th century, the Swedish food market has been protected from in‐ ternational competition. The idea of national self-subsistence used to guide Swedish food policy. International competitiveness was not a major issue, since surplus production was limited. During the last decades, though, the Swedish food industry has been rapidly chang‐ ing from a sheltered national industry into an industry exposed to strong international com‐ petition (Lagnevik 2006). In 2003, VINNOVA, the state agency for innovation and systemsoriented research, launched a regionally oriented program for research, technology and deployment/demonstration (RTD). The aim was to promote upgrading and renewal of local innovation and R&D capabilities and skill building in certain important growth areas with strong regional profiles. One initiative within the Vinnväxt (Winn-Growth) program was granted to the Skane Food Innovation Network, a triple Helix network formed in Skane, Sweden's "bread basket" with approximately half of the nation's food production and R&D.

After winning the Vinnväxt competition in 2003, this first period of the "cluster initiative" was research oriented. This "research phase" saw a large share of the funding funnelled into research and PhD student projects. It was characterised by a linear view of the innovation process. As a triple helix organisation, the reactions from the business part of the stakehold‐ ers gradually expressed doubts about how the process should gain their companies. The in‐ herent tension between long-term research and short-term profitability pressures of larger

*social science by joint collaboration within a mutually acceptable ethical framework.*"

collective understanding, as we aim to show, is at the core of innovation.

**2. Skane Food Innovation Network (SFIN)**

**2.1. The development phases of SFIN**

630 Food Industry

companies needed to be resolved.

The Skane Food Innovation Network is registered as a non-profit organisation. Its constitu‐ ents are a number of partners, today about 40, and members, today more than 100. Partners pay an annual fee of about 4 000 euro, whereas members pay 300 euro. Partners qualify for board representation, members do not. The board mirrors the triple helix view - large and small companies, universities, and public authorities are all represented by the eleven board members. The Governor of Skane is chairman of the board.

The board has formulated a so called "VAMS", an acronym for Vision, Business Idea (Swed‐ ish: Affärsidé), Objectives (Swedish: Mål) and Strategies.

The vision states that SFIN is shaping the future food industry and meal experiences. The business idea is to offer the best network for cooperation of different competences, stage pi‐ lot projects and gain credibility from a concrete track record of innovation. From the high credibility, SFIN sustain and develop its network and receives funding from national and international authorities.

The objectives revolve around maintaining the networks in an inclusive manner, and hence increase the attractiveness and deepen and widen the competence base of the industry. Strategies are concerned with deep understanding of future needs and questions in the in‐ dustry, creating a clear and attractive offer to participate, attracting people with vision and drive, organising meetings between companies, entrepreneurs, universities and industry or‐ ganisations, focusing commercialisation of innovations, taking the role as the network hub and constantly communicating our work and existence.

On a deeper level, these different examples represent a maturation and consolidation of the early years of wayward - yet legitimate - experimentation. The strategic planning process undertaken in 2008 apparently missed out on the emotional aspect of change by avoiding making a mission statement. The organisation probably was not ready for it, but now the board and management team increasingly speak in terms of social responsibility, sustaina‐ bility and social capital. The fourth example of this, and a strong confirmation of the credi‐ bility that SFIN has earned over time, is the most recent pilot project situated at the Trelleborg hospital. In the next section, the case of Meal Pleasure at the Trelleborg Hospital,

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will serve as a more detailed look into the dynamics of the SFIN innovation system.

In 2009, the public foodservice sector was slowly introduced into the SFIN operations. It was obvious that this was a forgotten part of the Swedish food industry. Half of the industry is foodservice, half is retail and consumer-oriented. Half of the foodservice sector is private restaurants and service sector offerings (gas stations, Seven Elevens and the likes), the other half is public sector meals. The major part is served in schools, hospitals and elderly care. Thus, this forgotten part constitutes one quarter of the entire demand in sales value, even more in terms of number of people being served. It is a rather consistent segment from a supplier's point of view, where public procurement law has streamlined the procurement of food and meal solutions. The guests, though, is a completely different thing. The elderly cannot be segmented by age, nor can school kids or patients in hospitals. This is a very de‐ manding part of the food industry with diverse preferences and, on average, weak buying

The public foodservice sector is furthermore signified by a low average educational level, a predominantly female labour force, low pay, low rate of training and education on the job and the use of traditional cooking techniques. The most obvious example is the use of high tech ovens, which in fact are small "computerised food factories". Such an oven is expen‐ sive. Still it is often used merely as a traditional oven, a few hours a day, five days a week,

One particular problem, unique to the public foodservice sector, is the obligation to follow the public procurement law. One important purpose of the law is to optimise the use of taxpayers money and avoid nepotism. This is done by organised procurement using the com‐ petitive forces in a marketplace. This works, unless there is a dysfunctional market. In the Swedish food industry, both the retail and the foodservice market are oligopolistic markets. In the foodservice case, there are two large dominating suppliers. These have been continu‐ ously intimidating municipalities and counties by frequent and systematic legal actions and court over-rulings of public procurement processes, a tactic aiming at coercing the public or‐

ganisations to behave in a certain way (likely as to benefit large-scale suppliers).

**3. The case of meal pleasure at the Trelleborg hospital**

**3.1. The background**

power.

due to lack of education and incentive.

The operating core is organised in six different areas, each headed by one person. The areas cover as follows:


The CEO and the area managers form a management team, also including the communica‐ tions manager and one representative each from the two largest public stakeholders and funders, Region Skane and the County Council. The management team meet regularly three hours once a week.

From the different areas, various networks are formed. This model is an offspring from the initial CEO network, created by the new CEO in 2006. These networks are gatherings around specific topics, functions or roles in the system. Currently, 12 different networks meet more or less regularly. Apart from the CEO network, SFIN operates a communications network, a public meal network, a retailers' network, an HR network and seven more net‐ works.

The logic is straightforward. In the networks, different ideas surface. Vital ideas, surviving the initial scrutiny of the network itself, are brought to the management team. The manage‐ ment team discuss the innovation potential of the idea. Today, there is a clear-cut evaluation criteria. The innovation has to be of a systemic character. There has to be a dedicated entre‐ preneur or coalition ready to test it in a pilot project. Finally, there has to be realistic plans of how the pilot project could reproduce itself, on commercial merits.

In summary, SFIN has over the past three years been compressed into six "business areas", a coherent network structure, a management control model and three distinct activities under‐ taken in order to create the future food industry and meal experiences: we *detect* a need or potential for innovation, we *develop* the solution in pilot projects, and we *diffuse* them to a wider market. This is the SFIN innovation system. This particular "modus operandi" has produced a wide variety of both short-term projects and long-term signature co-operations. The first one was an industry trainee program in open innovation. Another is the training program for elderly homes, "Meal Pleasure for Elderly". A third example is the retail con‐ cept "Locally Produced and Carefully Selected".

On a deeper level, these different examples represent a maturation and consolidation of the early years of wayward - yet legitimate - experimentation. The strategic planning process undertaken in 2008 apparently missed out on the emotional aspect of change by avoiding making a mission statement. The organisation probably was not ready for it, but now the board and management team increasingly speak in terms of social responsibility, sustaina‐ bility and social capital. The fourth example of this, and a strong confirmation of the credi‐ bility that SFIN has earned over time, is the most recent pilot project situated at the Trelleborg hospital. In the next section, the case of Meal Pleasure at the Trelleborg Hospital, will serve as a more detailed look into the dynamics of the SFIN innovation system.

## **3. The case of meal pleasure at the Trelleborg hospital**

#### **3.1. The background**

drive, organising meetings between companies, entrepreneurs, universities and industry or‐ ganisations, focusing commercialisation of innovations, taking the role as the network hub

The operating core is organised in six different areas, each headed by one person. The areas

**•** Future Strategy: trend spotting, stakeholder relations, governance issues, finance and

**•** Entrepreneurship: coaching entrepreneurs in the industry and the adherent support sys‐

The CEO and the area managers form a management team, also including the communica‐ tions manager and one representative each from the two largest public stakeholders and funders, Region Skane and the County Council. The management team meet regularly three

From the different areas, various networks are formed. This model is an offspring from the initial CEO network, created by the new CEO in 2006. These networks are gatherings around specific topics, functions or roles in the system. Currently, 12 different networks meet more or less regularly. Apart from the CEO network, SFIN operates a communications network, a public meal network, a retailers' network, an HR network and seven more net‐

The logic is straightforward. In the networks, different ideas surface. Vital ideas, surviving the initial scrutiny of the network itself, are brought to the management team. The manage‐ ment team discuss the innovation potential of the idea. Today, there is a clear-cut evaluation criteria. The innovation has to be of a systemic character. There has to be a dedicated entre‐ preneur or coalition ready to test it in a pilot project. Finally, there has to be realistic plans of

In summary, SFIN has over the past three years been compressed into six "business areas", a coherent network structure, a management control model and three distinct activities under‐ taken in order to create the future food industry and meal experiences: we *detect* a need or potential for innovation, we *develop* the solution in pilot projects, and we *diffuse* them to a wider market. This is the SFIN innovation system. This particular "modus operandi" has produced a wide variety of both short-term projects and long-term signature co-operations. The first one was an industry trainee program in open innovation. Another is the training program for elderly homes, "Meal Pleasure for Elderly". A third example is the retail con‐

how the pilot project could reproduce itself, on commercial merits.

cept "Locally Produced and Carefully Selected".

**•** Career: student activities, trainee program, attraction of the food industry

**•** Public Meals: increasing the status and competence of the public meal sector

**•** Packaging: develop innovative food packaging, small-scale, local producers etc

**•** Regional Food and Tourism: develop small-scale food producers, food tourism etc

and constantly communicating our work and existence.

cover as follows:

funding

632 Food Industry

tems

hours once a week.

works.

In 2009, the public foodservice sector was slowly introduced into the SFIN operations. It was obvious that this was a forgotten part of the Swedish food industry. Half of the industry is foodservice, half is retail and consumer-oriented. Half of the foodservice sector is private restaurants and service sector offerings (gas stations, Seven Elevens and the likes), the other half is public sector meals. The major part is served in schools, hospitals and elderly care. Thus, this forgotten part constitutes one quarter of the entire demand in sales value, even more in terms of number of people being served. It is a rather consistent segment from a supplier's point of view, where public procurement law has streamlined the procurement of food and meal solutions. The guests, though, is a completely different thing. The elderly cannot be segmented by age, nor can school kids or patients in hospitals. This is a very de‐ manding part of the food industry with diverse preferences and, on average, weak buying power.

The public foodservice sector is furthermore signified by a low average educational level, a predominantly female labour force, low pay, low rate of training and education on the job and the use of traditional cooking techniques. The most obvious example is the use of high tech ovens, which in fact are small "computerised food factories". Such an oven is expen‐ sive. Still it is often used merely as a traditional oven, a few hours a day, five days a week, due to lack of education and incentive.

One particular problem, unique to the public foodservice sector, is the obligation to follow the public procurement law. One important purpose of the law is to optimise the use of taxpayers money and avoid nepotism. This is done by organised procurement using the com‐ petitive forces in a marketplace. This works, unless there is a dysfunctional market. In the Swedish food industry, both the retail and the foodservice market are oligopolistic markets. In the foodservice case, there are two large dominating suppliers. These have been continu‐ ously intimidating municipalities and counties by frequent and systematic legal actions and court over-rulings of public procurement processes, a tactic aiming at coercing the public or‐ ganisations to behave in a certain way (likely as to benefit large-scale suppliers).

The educational level of the staff and the status of the foodservice operations are related to the problem of public procurement. Increasing occupational status and educational level could make the public foodservice customers more demanding, in that way increasing the innovation pace in the Swedish foodservice industry. That is the hypothesis that motivated SFIN to start working with the public sector.

The project organisation consisted of a political steering committee, a managing steering committee, a work group and a reference group. SFIN participated in all groups. The rest of the participants varied, but represented either the Region Skane corporate level, the Region Skane business development, the Trelleborg hospital or Regionservice (the facility manage‐ ment part of Region Skane coordinating real estate, food, transportation, laundry, and postal

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635

At the time in Region Skane, each hospital manager was responsible for all service opera‐ tions, including the food process, and the organisation of the healthcare. Regionservice had the role of an in-house service integrator, coordinating the service activities in the entire or‐

There were three distinct stakeholders. The hospital of Trelleborg, Regionservice and SFIN. In this context, SFIN was a fairly unknown organisation of ("self-entitled?", some whis‐ pered) experts in the field, who had been given a powerful position in reshaping the hospi‐ tal foodservice in Trelleborg and, more or less explicitly expected, the rest of the Region Skane hospitals. Adding to that, Regionservice had a rather bad reputation in the hospitals, not meeting expectations. Naturally, Regionservice representatives were suspicious and perhaps - offended by the political decision to invite an innovation organisation from the outside "that no-one ever has heard of". Moreover, the project was running against the clock, as the contract with the external food supplier was to expire 31 August 2012. Region‐

service, the coordinator and recipient of the SFIN innovations, had 15 months to go.

The first meeting with a group from Regionservice and the Trelleborg hospital was held be‐ fore the summer, before there was a project plan written. This was the first step in cooperat‐ ing. The meeting was marked by confusion. There was no previous relations in the group to rely on. Knutsson, chairing the meeting, had nothing but a generally formulated political de‐ cision to hold on to. Focus was naturally put on the "dusting off" the hospital kitchen.

SFIN, represented by an experienced, renowned and respected chef, made an initial sketch of the kitchen layout on the basis of available blueprints. The Regionservice real estate divi‐ sion appointed a project leader to organise the starting up the kitchen. This was a young and inexperienced person, as fresh as they come, who got this assignment as her first project. The tight time schedule and the goal to create something entirely new clashed. Soon it was discovered that the previous check of the building, about one year old, had been rough and, as it showed, insufficient. The original estimation was 11 MSEK. It rapidly grew to specula‐ tions of 70 MSEK. The needed capacity was 500 meals per day. Any sound investment calcu‐ lus became impossible. Thereafter, Regionservice got silent and started its own investigation

There was obvious tension between Regionservice and SFIN. The director of support and service functions in Region Skane was contacted and introduced to the need to strengthen the Regionservice commitment to the collaborative nature of the project. A collaboration document was written and acknowledged. But the Regionservice investigation was already

**3.4. Colliding regimes – The first year's theme**

of the Klippan kitchen without the participation of SFIN.

services).

ganization.

### **3.2. The rationales of the Trelleborg project**

Region Skane, the county council, is responsible for healthcare, transportation, cultural and regional development of Skane. It has offered continuous support of SFIN since the start in 1994. Gradually, the confidence in SFIN has increased. In 2009, with 2012 looming, the need for a new procurement of hospital meals for about two thirds of the healthcare organisation was pressing the politicians. The same year, a hospital food process investigation was initi‐ ated. The result was a vision for making Skane a role model in food and meals in Northern Europe by 2025.

It was an ambitious vision and it was necessary to take action. A senior foodservice "celebri‐ ty" working for SFIN saw it coming and used her leverage in the political sphere in Region Skane to suggest a pilot project to "walk the talk". Said and done, a pilot project in the small local hospital of Trelleborg; was decided upon. There was an existing kitchen ready to use. "Just dust it off and get it running", we were told.

Apart from starting up a dormant kitchen and start cooking tasty food, the short-term goal was, and still is, to innovate the hospital meal experience and to integrate the meal into the healthcare operation. In other words, we got an opportunity to give the meal a higher status in hospitals. The longer-term goal was set to disseminate the idea, to diffuse the model. This is done in SFIN by way of entrepreneurial incentive. This was decided in the early summer of 2011, just before the holidays. In August that year, the adventure started.

#### **3.3. The SFIN networks paying off**

SFIN got the assignment from the board of Region Skane, along with funding for two years. This funding covered SFIN expenses for the project, not for investments or employment of staff or other Region Skane-related costs. The line-up from SFIN was possible to achieve as a direct result of the network organisation. Various SFIN projects in the past had made it pos‐ sible for a rather unique and unorthodox set of project members to form.

The common denominator of this group is a genuine interest in making a difference. Nor‐ mally, there is an obvious attraction to public funding as "easy money", but these people all work long-term with SFIN on reasonable market-based terms.

Initially, the SFIN manager Knutsson worked as a project owner in SFIN alongside with two experienced and highly respected persons. Together, these three people formed a project core group and started to write a project plan. The project plan was accepted by the respon‐ sible politicians in late August 2011.

The project organisation consisted of a political steering committee, a managing steering committee, a work group and a reference group. SFIN participated in all groups. The rest of the participants varied, but represented either the Region Skane corporate level, the Region Skane business development, the Trelleborg hospital or Regionservice (the facility manage‐ ment part of Region Skane coordinating real estate, food, transportation, laundry, and postal services).

At the time in Region Skane, each hospital manager was responsible for all service opera‐ tions, including the food process, and the organisation of the healthcare. Regionservice had the role of an in-house service integrator, coordinating the service activities in the entire or‐ ganization.

There were three distinct stakeholders. The hospital of Trelleborg, Regionservice and SFIN. In this context, SFIN was a fairly unknown organisation of ("self-entitled?", some whis‐ pered) experts in the field, who had been given a powerful position in reshaping the hospi‐ tal foodservice in Trelleborg and, more or less explicitly expected, the rest of the Region Skane hospitals. Adding to that, Regionservice had a rather bad reputation in the hospitals, not meeting expectations. Naturally, Regionservice representatives were suspicious and perhaps - offended by the political decision to invite an innovation organisation from the outside "that no-one ever has heard of". Moreover, the project was running against the clock, as the contract with the external food supplier was to expire 31 August 2012. Region‐ service, the coordinator and recipient of the SFIN innovations, had 15 months to go.

### **3.4. Colliding regimes – The first year's theme**

The educational level of the staff and the status of the foodservice operations are related to the problem of public procurement. Increasing occupational status and educational level could make the public foodservice customers more demanding, in that way increasing the innovation pace in the Swedish foodservice industry. That is the hypothesis that motivated

Region Skane, the county council, is responsible for healthcare, transportation, cultural and regional development of Skane. It has offered continuous support of SFIN since the start in 1994. Gradually, the confidence in SFIN has increased. In 2009, with 2012 looming, the need for a new procurement of hospital meals for about two thirds of the healthcare organisation was pressing the politicians. The same year, a hospital food process investigation was initi‐ ated. The result was a vision for making Skane a role model in food and meals in Northern

It was an ambitious vision and it was necessary to take action. A senior foodservice "celebri‐ ty" working for SFIN saw it coming and used her leverage in the political sphere in Region Skane to suggest a pilot project to "walk the talk". Said and done, a pilot project in the small local hospital of Trelleborg; was decided upon. There was an existing kitchen ready to

Apart from starting up a dormant kitchen and start cooking tasty food, the short-term goal was, and still is, to innovate the hospital meal experience and to integrate the meal into the healthcare operation. In other words, we got an opportunity to give the meal a higher status in hospitals. The longer-term goal was set to disseminate the idea, to diffuse the model. This is done in SFIN by way of entrepreneurial incentive. This was decided in the early summer

SFIN got the assignment from the board of Region Skane, along with funding for two years. This funding covered SFIN expenses for the project, not for investments or employment of staff or other Region Skane-related costs. The line-up from SFIN was possible to achieve as a direct result of the network organisation. Various SFIN projects in the past had made it pos‐

The common denominator of this group is a genuine interest in making a difference. Nor‐ mally, there is an obvious attraction to public funding as "easy money", but these people all

Initially, the SFIN manager Knutsson worked as a project owner in SFIN alongside with two experienced and highly respected persons. Together, these three people formed a project core group and started to write a project plan. The project plan was accepted by the respon‐

of 2011, just before the holidays. In August that year, the adventure started.

sible for a rather unique and unorthodox set of project members to form.

work long-term with SFIN on reasonable market-based terms.

SFIN to start working with the public sector.

**3.2. The rationales of the Trelleborg project**

use. "Just dust it off and get it running", we were told.

**3.3. The SFIN networks paying off**

sible politicians in late August 2011.

Europe by 2025.

634 Food Industry

The first meeting with a group from Regionservice and the Trelleborg hospital was held be‐ fore the summer, before there was a project plan written. This was the first step in cooperat‐ ing. The meeting was marked by confusion. There was no previous relations in the group to rely on. Knutsson, chairing the meeting, had nothing but a generally formulated political de‐ cision to hold on to. Focus was naturally put on the "dusting off" the hospital kitchen.

SFIN, represented by an experienced, renowned and respected chef, made an initial sketch of the kitchen layout on the basis of available blueprints. The Regionservice real estate divi‐ sion appointed a project leader to organise the starting up the kitchen. This was a young and inexperienced person, as fresh as they come, who got this assignment as her first project. The tight time schedule and the goal to create something entirely new clashed. Soon it was discovered that the previous check of the building, about one year old, had been rough and, as it showed, insufficient. The original estimation was 11 MSEK. It rapidly grew to specula‐ tions of 70 MSEK. The needed capacity was 500 meals per day. Any sound investment calcu‐ lus became impossible. Thereafter, Regionservice got silent and started its own investigation of the Klippan kitchen without the participation of SFIN.

There was obvious tension between Regionservice and SFIN. The director of support and service functions in Region Skane was contacted and introduced to the need to strengthen the Regionservice commitment to the collaborative nature of the project. A collaboration document was written and acknowledged. But the Regionservice investigation was already on its way and the door was not opened to SFIN. At that time, it was also decided by the board of Region Skane that Regionservice should take on the direct responsibility for all support functions. That meant that the hospitals were relieved of the support functions, ef‐ fective January 1, 2012. This stirred things up in Region Skane and the pilot project did not go unaffected. Regionservice got more powerful and the door to SFIN seemed firmly shut. In late January, the door came ajar, though. Suddenly, the real estate project leader forward‐ ed a number of detailed questions from their kitchen architect and kindly asked that we re‐ spond the same day.

tion model, it became necessary to take a stand on the food issue - do we transport hot or cold food, or both? The decision was made by the experienced chef representing SFIN, in mutual understanding with the foodservice representative from Regionservice, to go with the cold alternative. The decision to work with chilled food was supported by the politi‐ cians, and opened up a possibility to solve the problem of supplying food to other hospitals in Skane. If the Trelleborg kitchen was expanded, it could serve so much more than merely the few patients and persons in Trelleborg. This, of course, had ramifications on the building project. But the political negotiations were kept secret. Knutsson was allowed to break the news of going for chilled food in a construction meeting. The impression was that SFIN had surrendered and resorted to the cook/chill method. In the meantime, a plan was outlined for a larger solution, which the politicians initially at first supported. However, one week later there was a 180° turn, and the old plan was only reconfirmed by the politicians. All of this wheeling and dealing went unmentioned to the real estate project group and it was no won‐ der that SFIN lost credibility in that group. That wasn't enough. The hospital management in Trelleborg had been completely forgotten in this intense and extremely pressured situa‐

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637

As the last steering committee before the summer ended, no decision had been made to re‐ organise the project. As it happened, the project leader met with the service director/project owner the same morning. Referring the meeting, the project leader got an immediate posi‐ tive response and the service director offered himself to chair the steering committee and to

So, as the summer is almost gone, the project is now divided into four distinct parts of the project (construction, food, meals, and continuous operations). In this scheme, SFIN has now got an explicit development and innovation responsibility for on one hand the kitchen de‐ sign and a distinct food strategy, and on the other hand the meal experiences of patients, staff and visitors. The construction part of the project now resides directly under the service director. Articulated goals are now present in each respective part. All in all, order has been

In Trelleborg, base groups are formed within each clinic, and the hospital management is engaged in the formulation of the Trelleborg policy of patient meals. In that policy, the inte‐ gration of hospital meals into the healthcare operation resides. The construction planning is

Of course, it remains to be seen, but by early 2014, SFIN and Regionservice will present a new way of working with food in the hospitals of Region Skane. The meal organisation is revamped, the status of the meals is increasing and the quality of the hospital food is dra‐ matically improved by new production and distribution methods. Moreover, the cost of hos‐ pital meals is lower than before and the new kitchen turns the conception of high quality foodservice production upside down. From the rest of the country and from other parts of Europe, people start to benchmark and copy the new norm of hospital food, established by

supervise a revising of the project plan and the project organisation.

reinstated and roles and responsibilities are now much clearer.

underway, and a new, healthy menu is currently planned.

SFIN in tight cooperation with Region Skane. Fingers crossed.

tion and was not happy.

**3.5. Current state**

In the meantime, two people – one dietician and one gastrome – built a remarkable base of knowledge and learnings about the meals in the Trelleborg hospital. The explicit goal was to observe and analyse the potential and need for change in the meal organisation and the quality of the patient's meal experience. They worked in an exploratory fashion and became more and more independent of the project leader, working increasingly with the kitchen is‐ sue and the collaboration between Regionservice and SFIN. The first half of 2012 was a peri‐ od where the project goals first got under real scrutiny. What does it mean to "innovate the hospital meal experience and to integrate the meal into the healthcare operation"? Frequent‐ ly the phrase "establish a new norm for hospital food" was used in SFIN. That did not bring light to the more and more blurred question - "What do we have to do?" The pressure in‐ creased further from an increasing interest and high expectations of the project. And here we were, fumbling for structure and some guidance. And what about the food, where did *that* go in this huge project?

A hospital kitchen is an important part of the infrastructure. There is a certain minimum ef‐ ficient scale, given the choice of building, production methods and technology. In the spring of 2012, there was hardly enough expected volume to guarantee an acceptable cost per meal. The projected daily volumes included 300-350 meals to the hospital and about 150 meals to a new psychiatric unit in Trelleborg (RPC), starting up in 2016. 500 meals per day rendered an unacceptable production cost and the entire credibility of the project was being questioned. In that situation, the municipality of Trelleborg caught the project's interest. In the munici‐ pality, there was a commonly known need to invest in new elderly care meal solutions. Con‐ tacts were made and a letter of intent was written in the spring. Left with a need to find out ways to share the meal organisation, this was a crucial step that in one blow could double the projected production volume in the kitchen. Also in the late spring of 2012, the political decision was made to invest in total 50,1 MSEK in the Trelleborg kitchen. And the project is delayed by one whole year. With the decision finally at hand, the building process got off to a new start. There was a new building meeting and in that meeting, there was a complete breakdown of communication between SFIN and Regionservice.

The demand and expectations from the hospital, RPC and seven different elderly homes in the town of Trelleborg turned out to be difficult to capture and align. The picture of the total demand was very blurred and the design of the kitchen and logistics turned out to be a bad compromise. A calm and focused foodservice manager in Regionservice now entered the project in order to strengthen the project in the eyes of Regionservice and, in some respect, mediate between SFIN and the real estate project group. In order to get hold of the produc‐ tion model, it became necessary to take a stand on the food issue - do we transport hot or cold food, or both? The decision was made by the experienced chef representing SFIN, in mutual understanding with the foodservice representative from Regionservice, to go with the cold alternative. The decision to work with chilled food was supported by the politi‐ cians, and opened up a possibility to solve the problem of supplying food to other hospitals in Skane. If the Trelleborg kitchen was expanded, it could serve so much more than merely the few patients and persons in Trelleborg. This, of course, had ramifications on the building project. But the political negotiations were kept secret. Knutsson was allowed to break the news of going for chilled food in a construction meeting. The impression was that SFIN had surrendered and resorted to the cook/chill method. In the meantime, a plan was outlined for a larger solution, which the politicians initially at first supported. However, one week later there was a 180° turn, and the old plan was only reconfirmed by the politicians. All of this wheeling and dealing went unmentioned to the real estate project group and it was no won‐ der that SFIN lost credibility in that group. That wasn't enough. The hospital management in Trelleborg had been completely forgotten in this intense and extremely pressured situa‐ tion and was not happy.

### **3.5. Current state**

on its way and the door was not opened to SFIN. At that time, it was also decided by the board of Region Skane that Regionservice should take on the direct responsibility for all support functions. That meant that the hospitals were relieved of the support functions, ef‐ fective January 1, 2012. This stirred things up in Region Skane and the pilot project did not go unaffected. Regionservice got more powerful and the door to SFIN seemed firmly shut. In late January, the door came ajar, though. Suddenly, the real estate project leader forward‐ ed a number of detailed questions from their kitchen architect and kindly asked that we re‐

In the meantime, two people – one dietician and one gastrome – built a remarkable base of knowledge and learnings about the meals in the Trelleborg hospital. The explicit goal was to observe and analyse the potential and need for change in the meal organisation and the quality of the patient's meal experience. They worked in an exploratory fashion and became more and more independent of the project leader, working increasingly with the kitchen is‐ sue and the collaboration between Regionservice and SFIN. The first half of 2012 was a peri‐ od where the project goals first got under real scrutiny. What does it mean to "innovate the hospital meal experience and to integrate the meal into the healthcare operation"? Frequent‐ ly the phrase "establish a new norm for hospital food" was used in SFIN. That did not bring light to the more and more blurred question - "What do we have to do?" The pressure in‐ creased further from an increasing interest and high expectations of the project. And here we were, fumbling for structure and some guidance. And what about the food, where did

A hospital kitchen is an important part of the infrastructure. There is a certain minimum ef‐ ficient scale, given the choice of building, production methods and technology. In the spring of 2012, there was hardly enough expected volume to guarantee an acceptable cost per meal. The projected daily volumes included 300-350 meals to the hospital and about 150 meals to a new psychiatric unit in Trelleborg (RPC), starting up in 2016. 500 meals per day rendered an unacceptable production cost and the entire credibility of the project was being questioned. In that situation, the municipality of Trelleborg caught the project's interest. In the munici‐ pality, there was a commonly known need to invest in new elderly care meal solutions. Con‐ tacts were made and a letter of intent was written in the spring. Left with a need to find out ways to share the meal organisation, this was a crucial step that in one blow could double the projected production volume in the kitchen. Also in the late spring of 2012, the political decision was made to invest in total 50,1 MSEK in the Trelleborg kitchen. And the project is delayed by one whole year. With the decision finally at hand, the building process got off to a new start. There was a new building meeting and in that meeting, there was a complete

The demand and expectations from the hospital, RPC and seven different elderly homes in the town of Trelleborg turned out to be difficult to capture and align. The picture of the total demand was very blurred and the design of the kitchen and logistics turned out to be a bad compromise. A calm and focused foodservice manager in Regionservice now entered the project in order to strengthen the project in the eyes of Regionservice and, in some respect, mediate between SFIN and the real estate project group. In order to get hold of the produc‐

breakdown of communication between SFIN and Regionservice.

spond the same day.

636 Food Industry

*that* go in this huge project?

As the last steering committee before the summer ended, no decision had been made to re‐ organise the project. As it happened, the project leader met with the service director/project owner the same morning. Referring the meeting, the project leader got an immediate posi‐ tive response and the service director offered himself to chair the steering committee and to supervise a revising of the project plan and the project organisation.

So, as the summer is almost gone, the project is now divided into four distinct parts of the project (construction, food, meals, and continuous operations). In this scheme, SFIN has now got an explicit development and innovation responsibility for on one hand the kitchen de‐ sign and a distinct food strategy, and on the other hand the meal experiences of patients, staff and visitors. The construction part of the project now resides directly under the service director. Articulated goals are now present in each respective part. All in all, order has been reinstated and roles and responsibilities are now much clearer.

In Trelleborg, base groups are formed within each clinic, and the hospital management is engaged in the formulation of the Trelleborg policy of patient meals. In that policy, the inte‐ gration of hospital meals into the healthcare operation resides. The construction planning is underway, and a new, healthy menu is currently planned.

Of course, it remains to be seen, but by early 2014, SFIN and Regionservice will present a new way of working with food in the hospitals of Region Skane. The meal organisation is revamped, the status of the meals is increasing and the quality of the hospital food is dra‐ matically improved by new production and distribution methods. Moreover, the cost of hos‐ pital meals is lower than before and the new kitchen turns the conception of high quality foodservice production upside down. From the rest of the country and from other parts of Europe, people start to benchmark and copy the new norm of hospital food, established by SFIN in tight cooperation with Region Skane. Fingers crossed.

#### **3.6. Case study learnings**

This case is a story where we want to show more details of the innovation process. We will dwell somewhat upon the difficulties we have experienced from working side by side, with an established organisation.

**4. Innovation in the light of strategy, markets and institutions**

**•** strategy is about understanding how you create value to a customer

**•** success is contextual, every organisation is part of a larger system

ket" (Edquist, 2002) is built on a collective cognitive process;

ment is the following:

the value of the new thing

**4.1. Innovation and strategy**

you do, in total.

goal,

**•** individuals are influenced by other individuals;

is the objective for adaptation. Tight fit is built upon

**•** simplicity and increased understanding by incumbents

Looking at the Trelleborg case from a strategic point of view may give further insight on how actions can be planned in order to succeed in innovation facilitation. First of all, the way that SFIN runs its course follows the strategic planning paradigm. But, just to conceptu‐ alise a management system in terms of a list of words will not suffice. From theory we can deduce a certain frame of reference, guiding both sense-making and action-taking. The argu‐

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http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/53175

639

**•** the flipside of a good strategy is inertia and a compromised ability to adapt to change

**•** innovation is based on every individual's understanding, acceptance and estimation of

**•** innovation, defined as "any process or product that sells and creates new value in a mar‐

**•** The SFIN innovation system is built around a systems view on innovation and concerns the management of cognitive processes triggered by the meeting between people.

Strategy has an everyday connotation as a plan. It is implicitly rational, built on analysis and take its form as an ex ante decision to make something special to happen. There is a wide literature on the concept of strategy, but a convergence could be discerned from a number of scholars in the past. In 1975, the Swedish scholar Richard Normann (1975) defined the way a company could dominate competitors, i.e. strategy, as an interplay between the organisa‐ tion, its products and its markets. Strategy, Mintzberg (1978) has defined as "a pattern in a stream of decisions". A continuation of that definition is recognised in Miles and Snow (1984) and Porter (1996), who define strategy as a matter of activity fit. What counts is what

Miles and Snow (ibid.) present fit in terms of integration of an organisation's strategy, struc‐ ture and management processes. Misfit breaks down an organisation, whereas tight fit is "the underlying causal dynamic producing sustained, excellent performance and a strong corporate culture" (1984:10). Early fit is the discovery and articulation of new patterns of strategy, structure and process and fragile fit signals vulnerability to change. Tight fit, thus,

**•** discovery and establishment of a seemingly easy way to work together towards a chosen

The story began with the importance of confronting the basic concept of value creation. Change stemmed from an understanding of (the potential for) value creation, in this case supported by external knowledge and experience, but also a strong political awareness and desire to improve the meals served at the Region Skane hospitals. The staff working in the areas in need of change did not, however, recognise the need to the same extent. This was an important learning in the project. Every organisation is shaped to produce a certain out‐ come. Ongoing operations create, over time, an inertia and inability to adapt to change. One of the participants in the project, a former foodservice manager, drily summed up the opera‐ tion in one kitchen by saying "this is like it was 25 years ago when I left it".

This pointed to the need for implementing the wish for change to the staff. The success of an organisation is contextual, every organisation is part of a larger system. The supply chain of the hospital food operation relies on education, procurement, IT cooperation be‐ tween different occupational groups and so on. To isolate and dissect a single part of a system in order to change only that particular part is doomed - the surrounding system will rein in the deviant.

Innovation is based, the case shows, on every individual's understanding, acceptance and estimation of the value of the "new thing". It was most difficult to convey to large groups of people that we shouldn't talk about just food, we had to take the entire meal into con‐ sideration. Hospital staff may have longed for "finally getting better tasting food" but the foodservice organisation had a clear view that "cook/chill food is lousy!". This was the re‐ al challenge of innovation, finding the motivation and mutual understanding among the kitchen staff and hospital staff at one hand, and the external innovation facilitating actors at the other. We needed to initiate and encourage change agents in a long-term process of changing attitudes and conceptions of how the meals in hospitals are valued and, hence, organised.

We tried to derive changing attitudes, values and conceptions to individuals influencing in‐ dividuals. The case reveals the importance of tasting sessions, to organise "base groups" at every single clinic and to align top management support, middle management involvement and floor management dedication.

In essence, this is an argument for treating the innovation process as a cognitive process rather than the physical implementation of new work routines. The innovation in this case is the reconceptualisation of a hospital meal.

## **4. Innovation in the light of strategy, markets and institutions**

Looking at the Trelleborg case from a strategic point of view may give further insight on how actions can be planned in order to succeed in innovation facilitation. First of all, the way that SFIN runs its course follows the strategic planning paradigm. But, just to conceptu‐ alise a management system in terms of a list of words will not suffice. From theory we can deduce a certain frame of reference, guiding both sense-making and action-taking. The argu‐ ment is the following:


#### **4.1. Innovation and strategy**

**3.6. Case study learnings**

638 Food Industry

an established organisation.

will rein in the deviant.

organised.

and floor management dedication.

the reconceptualisation of a hospital meal.

This case is a story where we want to show more details of the innovation process. We will dwell somewhat upon the difficulties we have experienced from working side by side, with

The story began with the importance of confronting the basic concept of value creation. Change stemmed from an understanding of (the potential for) value creation, in this case supported by external knowledge and experience, but also a strong political awareness and desire to improve the meals served at the Region Skane hospitals. The staff working in the areas in need of change did not, however, recognise the need to the same extent. This was an important learning in the project. Every organisation is shaped to produce a certain out‐ come. Ongoing operations create, over time, an inertia and inability to adapt to change. One of the participants in the project, a former foodservice manager, drily summed up the opera‐

This pointed to the need for implementing the wish for change to the staff. The success of an organisation is contextual, every organisation is part of a larger system. The supply chain of the hospital food operation relies on education, procurement, IT cooperation be‐ tween different occupational groups and so on. To isolate and dissect a single part of a system in order to change only that particular part is doomed - the surrounding system

Innovation is based, the case shows, on every individual's understanding, acceptance and estimation of the value of the "new thing". It was most difficult to convey to large groups of people that we shouldn't talk about just food, we had to take the entire meal into con‐ sideration. Hospital staff may have longed for "finally getting better tasting food" but the foodservice organisation had a clear view that "cook/chill food is lousy!". This was the re‐ al challenge of innovation, finding the motivation and mutual understanding among the kitchen staff and hospital staff at one hand, and the external innovation facilitating actors at the other. We needed to initiate and encourage change agents in a long-term process of changing attitudes and conceptions of how the meals in hospitals are valued and, hence,

We tried to derive changing attitudes, values and conceptions to individuals influencing in‐ dividuals. The case reveals the importance of tasting sessions, to organise "base groups" at every single clinic and to align top management support, middle management involvement

In essence, this is an argument for treating the innovation process as a cognitive process rather than the physical implementation of new work routines. The innovation in this case is

tion in one kitchen by saying "this is like it was 25 years ago when I left it".

Strategy has an everyday connotation as a plan. It is implicitly rational, built on analysis and take its form as an ex ante decision to make something special to happen. There is a wide literature on the concept of strategy, but a convergence could be discerned from a number of scholars in the past. In 1975, the Swedish scholar Richard Normann (1975) defined the way a company could dominate competitors, i.e. strategy, as an interplay between the organisa‐ tion, its products and its markets. Strategy, Mintzberg (1978) has defined as "a pattern in a stream of decisions". A continuation of that definition is recognised in Miles and Snow (1984) and Porter (1996), who define strategy as a matter of activity fit. What counts is what you do, in total.

Miles and Snow (ibid.) present fit in terms of integration of an organisation's strategy, struc‐ ture and management processes. Misfit breaks down an organisation, whereas tight fit is "the underlying causal dynamic producing sustained, excellent performance and a strong corporate culture" (1984:10). Early fit is the discovery and articulation of new patterns of strategy, structure and process and fragile fit signals vulnerability to change. Tight fit, thus, is the objective for adaptation. Tight fit is built upon


**•** reduced need for elaborate coordinating mechanisms, creating slack resources to be re-al‐ located.

So, the sustaining innovation is a matter of improvement of the existing solution to a prob‐ lem. You run your thoughts through a single loop - how can we do this better? The degree of surprise by the unexpected is limited. Disruptive innovation, though, is by definition something other than the existing thing. Then, when you enter a "going concern", the ac‐ countant's label on an organisation expected to live long, and you should get the unexpect‐

The SFIN Innovation System – Reflections on Food Cluster Management

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/53175

641

In more practical terms, Govindarajan and Trimble (2010) differentiate between the main or‐ ganisation, what they call the "performance engine", and the innovation organisation, the "dedicated team". In order to succeed with exploration, call it innovation, the dedicated team has to work alongside with the people in the performance engine. A partnership has to

The main issue, Govindarajan and Trimble argue, is the work relationships among the par‐ ticipating members and decision-makers. Work relationships are analysed in terms of depth, power balance and operating rhythm. Deep relationships are defined as a continuous and tight relationship where two or more people work together with a specific problem. Power balance is a matter of influence and having the final say. It doesn't rely on individual per‐ sonal authority, but rather the primacy of certain organisational functions over other. Last, the operating rhythm concerns the pace and intervals in which the cooperating organisa‐ tions work - if one part work in a monthly budgetary cycle and the other in a three-year de‐

What Govindarajan and Trimble teach us in SFIN is, at the very least, that as soon as we enter an existing organisation with an innovation mission, we must take good care of the work relationships we establish. Infrequent, casual meetings with imbalanced power distri‐ bution - one way or the other - and differing time horizons, we are by and large bound to fail to innovate. If we don't get to understand each other, the existing view of reality will prevail. In order to redraw the mental maps of the hospital staff to include the hospital meals as an integrated part of the healthcare, we need to get our "partners" in the "perform‐ ance engine" Regionservice and the Trelleborg hospital to take the patient meals in a double loop – why do we serve meals in the first place? We have to do this in close work relations, where we need to engage deeply in the realities of kitchen staff and healthcare staff, so that we can better understand how people think about and value the work they do. The change

The problem of innovating inside an existing organisation could be further discussed in terms of diversity and interdependence in the organisation (Kotter, 1985). Kotter claims that the larger the organisation, the harder it is to run it efficiently. If we look closer to his ex‐ planation, again work relations between people is the object of interest. His argument goes that a smaller organisation, with a narrow scope of technology, products and markets, cre‐ ates less confusion and disputes than in larger organisation. The larger organisation de‐ pends on many people working together, so when interests divert among these interdependent individuals, the organisation gets stiff and bureaucratic. Kotter ponders: "*it*

be established between the exploring and exploiting parts of the organisation.

velopment process, the operating rhythm will cause the work relation to wither.

doesn't start from our standpoint, it starts from theirs.

**4.3. Innovation, markets and other institutions**

ed to happen, you could expect resistance.

**•** the causal association between the way to work and achieved performance.

Miles and Snow combine the classic thoughts of Selznick (1957) with similar ideas of Nor‐ mann (1975, 2001) and Porter (1980, 1985, 1996). The easy way to work, well understood by incumbents, could be regarded as a distinctive competence (Selznick, ibid.) and an interplay between the mental models of people, institutionalised organisational behaviour and the way a company runs its business. Normann (2001) indicates that a "business landscape", i.e. an industry structure and its prevailing business logic, could be a result of the "mental maps" of people. Drucker (1994) calls the same thing "the theory of the business". A later heir of these ideas is Jim Collins (Collins, 2001, Collins and Hansen, 2011), who in a massive empirical material derives an explanation of the success of certain companies. It is from dis‐ ciplined people, thoughts and actions superior performance stems. In the healthcare organi‐ zation of Region Skane, this is expressed in distinct occupational roles and a strong hierarchical organization. Even though people have to eat, and our wellbeing depends very much on what we eat, people in the medical profession seldom considers how the patient's eating affects its recovery. The "mental map" of healthcare needs to be redrawn.

#### **4.2. Strategy, inertia and the difficulty of surprise**

When, in SFIN, we speak about getting the unexpected to happen, there is one problem with innovation and strategy. Strategy is a matter of pattern, routines and familiarity. March (1991), among many others, is preoccupied with the choice a firm has to make between ex‐ ploiting "old certainties" and exploring new possibilities: "The essence of exploitation is the refinement and extension of existing competences, technologies, and paradigms. Its returns are positive, proximate, and predictable. The essence of exploration is experimentation with new alternatives. Its returns are uncertain, distant, and often negative. Thus, the distance in time and space between the locus of learning and the locus for the realization of returns is generally greater in the case of exploration than in the case of exploitation, as is the uncer‐ tainty." (1991:85)

This frames the challenge of SFIN and other innovation organisations: how do you help an organisation close the gap in time and space, i.e. between innovation experiments and prof‐ itable growth of business? The wider the gap, the less interested an organisation is to bet on something other than the proven way. Christensen (1997) distinguish between disruptive and sustaining innovation, where sustaining innovation is an incremental development of the existing products or methods. Disruptive innovation changes the game, for the customer or the organisation or both. Digging further down the theoretical underpinnings of innova‐ tion, Argyris and Schon (1978) introduced the idea of single and double loop learning to a wider public. Learning in a single loop is to learn to do better what you already do. Doubleloop learning occurs when you question why you are doing what you do in the first place you test the assumptions, values and policies underlying the particular action.

So, the sustaining innovation is a matter of improvement of the existing solution to a prob‐ lem. You run your thoughts through a single loop - how can we do this better? The degree of surprise by the unexpected is limited. Disruptive innovation, though, is by definition something other than the existing thing. Then, when you enter a "going concern", the ac‐ countant's label on an organisation expected to live long, and you should get the unexpect‐ ed to happen, you could expect resistance.

In more practical terms, Govindarajan and Trimble (2010) differentiate between the main or‐ ganisation, what they call the "performance engine", and the innovation organisation, the "dedicated team". In order to succeed with exploration, call it innovation, the dedicated team has to work alongside with the people in the performance engine. A partnership has to be established between the exploring and exploiting parts of the organisation.

The main issue, Govindarajan and Trimble argue, is the work relationships among the par‐ ticipating members and decision-makers. Work relationships are analysed in terms of depth, power balance and operating rhythm. Deep relationships are defined as a continuous and tight relationship where two or more people work together with a specific problem. Power balance is a matter of influence and having the final say. It doesn't rely on individual per‐ sonal authority, but rather the primacy of certain organisational functions over other. Last, the operating rhythm concerns the pace and intervals in which the cooperating organisa‐ tions work - if one part work in a monthly budgetary cycle and the other in a three-year de‐ velopment process, the operating rhythm will cause the work relation to wither.

What Govindarajan and Trimble teach us in SFIN is, at the very least, that as soon as we enter an existing organisation with an innovation mission, we must take good care of the work relationships we establish. Infrequent, casual meetings with imbalanced power distri‐ bution - one way or the other - and differing time horizons, we are by and large bound to fail to innovate. If we don't get to understand each other, the existing view of reality will prevail. In order to redraw the mental maps of the hospital staff to include the hospital meals as an integrated part of the healthcare, we need to get our "partners" in the "perform‐ ance engine" Regionservice and the Trelleborg hospital to take the patient meals in a double loop – why do we serve meals in the first place? We have to do this in close work relations, where we need to engage deeply in the realities of kitchen staff and healthcare staff, so that we can better understand how people think about and value the work they do. The change doesn't start from our standpoint, it starts from theirs.

#### **4.3. Innovation, markets and other institutions**

**•** reduced need for elaborate coordinating mechanisms, creating slack resources to be re-al‐

Miles and Snow combine the classic thoughts of Selznick (1957) with similar ideas of Nor‐ mann (1975, 2001) and Porter (1980, 1985, 1996). The easy way to work, well understood by incumbents, could be regarded as a distinctive competence (Selznick, ibid.) and an interplay between the mental models of people, institutionalised organisational behaviour and the way a company runs its business. Normann (2001) indicates that a "business landscape", i.e. an industry structure and its prevailing business logic, could be a result of the "mental maps" of people. Drucker (1994) calls the same thing "the theory of the business". A later heir of these ideas is Jim Collins (Collins, 2001, Collins and Hansen, 2011), who in a massive empirical material derives an explanation of the success of certain companies. It is from dis‐ ciplined people, thoughts and actions superior performance stems. In the healthcare organi‐ zation of Region Skane, this is expressed in distinct occupational roles and a strong hierarchical organization. Even though people have to eat, and our wellbeing depends very much on what we eat, people in the medical profession seldom considers how the patient's

**•** the causal association between the way to work and achieved performance.

eating affects its recovery. The "mental map" of healthcare needs to be redrawn.

When, in SFIN, we speak about getting the unexpected to happen, there is one problem with innovation and strategy. Strategy is a matter of pattern, routines and familiarity. March (1991), among many others, is preoccupied with the choice a firm has to make between ex‐ ploiting "old certainties" and exploring new possibilities: "The essence of exploitation is the refinement and extension of existing competences, technologies, and paradigms. Its returns are positive, proximate, and predictable. The essence of exploration is experimentation with new alternatives. Its returns are uncertain, distant, and often negative. Thus, the distance in time and space between the locus of learning and the locus for the realization of returns is generally greater in the case of exploration than in the case of exploitation, as is the uncer‐

This frames the challenge of SFIN and other innovation organisations: how do you help an organisation close the gap in time and space, i.e. between innovation experiments and prof‐ itable growth of business? The wider the gap, the less interested an organisation is to bet on something other than the proven way. Christensen (1997) distinguish between disruptive and sustaining innovation, where sustaining innovation is an incremental development of the existing products or methods. Disruptive innovation changes the game, for the customer or the organisation or both. Digging further down the theoretical underpinnings of innova‐ tion, Argyris and Schon (1978) introduced the idea of single and double loop learning to a wider public. Learning in a single loop is to learn to do better what you already do. Doubleloop learning occurs when you question why you are doing what you do in the first place -

you test the assumptions, values and policies underlying the particular action.

**4.2. Strategy, inertia and the difficulty of surprise**

located.

640 Food Industry

tainty." (1991:85)

The problem of innovating inside an existing organisation could be further discussed in terms of diversity and interdependence in the organisation (Kotter, 1985). Kotter claims that the larger the organisation, the harder it is to run it efficiently. If we look closer to his ex‐ planation, again work relations between people is the object of interest. His argument goes that a smaller organisation, with a narrow scope of technology, products and markets, cre‐ ates less confusion and disputes than in larger organisation. The larger organisation de‐ pends on many people working together, so when interests divert among these interdependent individuals, the organisation gets stiff and bureaucratic. Kotter ponders: "*it* *is not by chance that the economist's traditional model of a firm, where only 'rational' economic deci‐ sion making occurred, and where power struggles and politics were nonexistent, was a small and technologically simple organization that operated in an environment without large customers, suppli‐ ers, unions, or governmental regulators, and that employed a relatively homogeneous labor force in a simple organization structure.*" (Kotter, 19851 ). Thus, as soon as the organisation grows, the di‐ versity and interdependence in existing relations have to be managed and led.

the diversity of the staff's different conceptions of a hospital meal. This is the first ripple

The SFIN Innovation System – Reflections on Food Cluster Management

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/53175

643

The distance between the concepts of market, institution and culture could be seen as great. However, if we take the above definitions as our viewpoint and listen to Schein (2010) and his definition of group culture, the close relation between the three appears clearly and in‐ terestingly. The culture of a group Schein defines as "*a pattern of shared basic assumptions learned by a group as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, which has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems*." (2010:36). In the western business community, there is an adage that "culture eats strategy". This means that no matter what strategy companies formulate, the implementation will be determined by the culture of the organisation. Culture is based on past experiences, what has been working. Strategy, de‐ fined as a plan, is about future competition and profits. Culture is based on inductive emo‐ tional consequence, strategy is based on deductive rational choice. The statement could be

Culture, Schein (ibid.) suggests, could observed on a macro level (national, ethnic), organisa‐ tional level (private, public, nonprofit, government), on a sub level (occupational) and on a micro level (units, teams, groups within a larger organisation). Thus, if we extend the argu‐ ment of culture eating strategy, it becomes imperative to take existing cultures into account if enduring change is wanted. In that sense, there is wind in our sails now, as the Swedish healthcare establishment increasingly directs attention to deteriorating hospital food. How‐ ever, the real challenge of re-conceptualizing the hospital meals is found at the occupational and work group levels. These cultures need to be confronted and overtly discussed if they

Following Levinthal (1991) and Scott (1995) regimes have three dimensions: i) cognitive rules, related to belief systems, ii) normative rules expressed in missions, goals, and identity, and iii) strategies and strategic orientations towards the surrounding external socio- techni‐

The Trelleborg case shows the three dimensions in relation to the re-conceptualization of a hospital meal. There were plenty of cognitive rules about how a hospital meal should be, that turned out to be an impediment for innovation, sometimes in direct conflict to the nor‐ mative and strategic dimensions. Furthermore, the regimes of the public staff, the political level and the innovation facilitating actor (SFIN) were difficult to bridge, as shown in the

The road to successful innovation work turned out to be the combination of people that could function as intermediaries between the different regimes in action. People working for SFIN had credibility among the hospital staff, while the experienced and renowned chef's

are to be altered. And to the extent they are, the innovation project will succeed.

across the mental map of hospital food being redrawn.

**5. Bridging regimes to boost innovation**

tested on other cultural levels than the organisation.

cal and politico–economic environment.

initial conflicts about the hospital kitchen.

Max de Pree in his book "Leadership is an art" (1987) made a classic statement about lead‐ ing an organisation - "the first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant." In case of an organisation needing to change, the leader has to spell it out. Kotter (1996) has designed an eight-step model of change, claiming the need to explain, motivate and sustain the change. The now and here must be described, but also the then and there: where are we and where are we going. A small core of people, the "guiding coalition", has the initiative, but in order to succeed, more and more people have to be involved. One important motivator for others to engage is "short-term wins", necessary to underscore the meaning of and reward from participating. Kotter ends his list with the need to persevere and to gradually institutionalise the changes. New behav‐ iour has to be established. If we choose to define "institution" as a pattern of routinized be‐ haviour (Veblen, 1904, Hodgson, 1988, Scott, 1995, Cohen et al, 2004), the links between individual understanding, actions and innovation are again in focus. When changes are in‐ stitutionalised, the diversity of action and interdependences are not considered.

Yet, the diffusion of certain behaviour is not automatic. Once the leader has pointed out the way, "defined the reality", people need to follow. Think about this definition of a market. A market is i) a set of actual or potential customers, ii) for a given set of products or services, iii) who have a common set of needs or wants, and iv) who reference each other when mak‐ ing a buying decision (Moore, 1991). There is a direct link between Kotter's (1996) eight-step change model and this view of a market. First, there has to be a need for the new thing. Then a group has to advocate the new thing and persuade others to buy it. Transferred to the con‐ cept of innovation, defined as "any process or product that sells and creates new value in a market" (Edquist, 2002), it is deeply dependent on a cognitive process where an idea roots itself and grow stronger as more and more people see it and value it. A successful innova‐ tion has gained a critical mass of buyers. A product offered by a company creates value to its buyer, otherwise there will be no repeat buying, nor any persuading elaborations to other potential buyers about the good qualities of the product.

The group that formulates the Trelleborg policy for patients' meals sets the stage for the base groups, which are now being formed and activated in the hospital. The base group ac‐ tivity is a conscious move to have the people reflect upon what they do and to discuss it with each other. In that way, under the supervision of the project members, there is a clear "guiding coalition" creating a sense of urgency. From this, the base group activities reduce

<sup>1</sup> Here is an example of how innovations challenge existing norms. The Kotter book Power and Influence was read on an iPad, the new way of reading. In there, the pages are dynamically paginated. The traditional way to refer to a quote hence needs a paper copy - the old way is supported by norms and standards.

the diversity of the staff's different conceptions of a hospital meal. This is the first ripple across the mental map of hospital food being redrawn.

## **5. Bridging regimes to boost innovation**

*is not by chance that the economist's traditional model of a firm, where only 'rational' economic deci‐ sion making occurred, and where power struggles and politics were nonexistent, was a small and technologically simple organization that operated in an environment without large customers, suppli‐ ers, unions, or governmental regulators, and that employed a relatively homogeneous labor force in a*

Max de Pree in his book "Leadership is an art" (1987) made a classic statement about lead‐ ing an organisation - "the first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant." In case of an organisation needing to change, the leader has to spell it out. Kotter (1996) has designed an eight-step model of change, claiming the need to explain, motivate and sustain the change. The now and here must be described, but also the then and there: where are we and where are we going. A small core of people, the "guiding coalition", has the initiative, but in order to succeed, more and more people have to be involved. One important motivator for others to engage is "short-term wins", necessary to underscore the meaning of and reward from participating. Kotter ends his list with the need to persevere and to gradually institutionalise the changes. New behav‐ iour has to be established. If we choose to define "institution" as a pattern of routinized be‐ haviour (Veblen, 1904, Hodgson, 1988, Scott, 1995, Cohen et al, 2004), the links between individual understanding, actions and innovation are again in focus. When changes are in‐

versity and interdependence in existing relations have to be managed and led.

stitutionalised, the diversity of action and interdependences are not considered.

potential buyers about the good qualities of the product.

hence needs a paper copy - the old way is supported by norms and standards.

Yet, the diffusion of certain behaviour is not automatic. Once the leader has pointed out the way, "defined the reality", people need to follow. Think about this definition of a market. A market is i) a set of actual or potential customers, ii) for a given set of products or services, iii) who have a common set of needs or wants, and iv) who reference each other when mak‐ ing a buying decision (Moore, 1991). There is a direct link between Kotter's (1996) eight-step change model and this view of a market. First, there has to be a need for the new thing. Then a group has to advocate the new thing and persuade others to buy it. Transferred to the con‐ cept of innovation, defined as "any process or product that sells and creates new value in a market" (Edquist, 2002), it is deeply dependent on a cognitive process where an idea roots itself and grow stronger as more and more people see it and value it. A successful innova‐ tion has gained a critical mass of buyers. A product offered by a company creates value to its buyer, otherwise there will be no repeat buying, nor any persuading elaborations to other

The group that formulates the Trelleborg policy for patients' meals sets the stage for the base groups, which are now being formed and activated in the hospital. The base group ac‐ tivity is a conscious move to have the people reflect upon what they do and to discuss it with each other. In that way, under the supervision of the project members, there is a clear "guiding coalition" creating a sense of urgency. From this, the base group activities reduce

1 Here is an example of how innovations challenge existing norms. The Kotter book Power and Influence was read on an iPad, the new way of reading. In there, the pages are dynamically paginated. The traditional way to refer to a quote

). Thus, as soon as the organisation grows, the di‐

*simple organization structure.*" (Kotter, 19851

642 Food Industry

The distance between the concepts of market, institution and culture could be seen as great. However, if we take the above definitions as our viewpoint and listen to Schein (2010) and his definition of group culture, the close relation between the three appears clearly and in‐ terestingly. The culture of a group Schein defines as "*a pattern of shared basic assumptions learned by a group as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, which has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems*." (2010:36). In the western business community, there is an adage that "culture eats strategy". This means that no matter what strategy companies formulate, the implementation will be determined by the culture of the organisation. Culture is based on past experiences, what has been working. Strategy, de‐ fined as a plan, is about future competition and profits. Culture is based on inductive emo‐ tional consequence, strategy is based on deductive rational choice. The statement could be tested on other cultural levels than the organisation.

Culture, Schein (ibid.) suggests, could observed on a macro level (national, ethnic), organisa‐ tional level (private, public, nonprofit, government), on a sub level (occupational) and on a micro level (units, teams, groups within a larger organisation). Thus, if we extend the argu‐ ment of culture eating strategy, it becomes imperative to take existing cultures into account if enduring change is wanted. In that sense, there is wind in our sails now, as the Swedish healthcare establishment increasingly directs attention to deteriorating hospital food. How‐ ever, the real challenge of re-conceptualizing the hospital meals is found at the occupational and work group levels. These cultures need to be confronted and overtly discussed if they are to be altered. And to the extent they are, the innovation project will succeed.

Following Levinthal (1991) and Scott (1995) regimes have three dimensions: i) cognitive rules, related to belief systems, ii) normative rules expressed in missions, goals, and identity, and iii) strategies and strategic orientations towards the surrounding external socio- techni‐ cal and politico–economic environment.

The Trelleborg case shows the three dimensions in relation to the re-conceptualization of a hospital meal. There were plenty of cognitive rules about how a hospital meal should be, that turned out to be an impediment for innovation, sometimes in direct conflict to the nor‐ mative and strategic dimensions. Furthermore, the regimes of the public staff, the political level and the innovation facilitating actor (SFIN) were difficult to bridge, as shown in the initial conflicts about the hospital kitchen.

The road to successful innovation work turned out to be the combination of people that could function as intermediaries between the different regimes in action. People working for SFIN had credibility among the hospital staff, while the experienced and renowned chef's knowledge of food preparation could not be disputed. The SFIN project leader turned out to have unknown skills for intermediating between the outside organisation and the higher ad‐ ministrative and political level.

[5] Dosi, G, Teece, D. J, & Chytry, J. (2004). Understanding Industrial and Corporate

The SFIN Innovation System – Reflections on Food Cluster Management

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/53175

645

[6] Drucker, P. F. (1994). The Theory of the Business, Harvard Business Review, Septem‐

[7] EdquistCharles and Hommen, Leif ((1999). Systems of innovation: theory and policy

[8] Edquist, C. (2002). Innovation Policy for Sweden- Objectives, Rationales, Problems

[9] Ghoshal, S. (2005). Bad management theories are destroying good management prac‐

[10] Govindarajan, V, & Trimble, C. (2010). The other side of innovation. Solving the exe‐

[12] Johnson, S. (2010). Where good ideas come from. The natural history of innovation,

[13] Jönsson, H, Knutsson, H, & Frykfors, C-O. (2011). Facilitating Innovations in a Ma‐ ture Industry-Learnings from the Skane Food Innovation Network, in Valdez (2011).

[14] Lagnevik, M. (2006). Food innovation at interfaces: experience from the Öresund re‐ gion', in Hulsink, W.; Dons, H. (Eds.) Pathways to High-Tech Valleys and Research

[15] Levinthal, D. A. (1991). Organizational adaption and environmental selections-inter‐

[16] Lewin, K. (1946). Action research and minority problems. Journal of Social (2), 34-46. [17] Miles, R. E, & Snow, C. C. (1984). Fit, Failure And the Hall of Fame, California Man‐

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ber, , 95-105.

There is still work to be done before the new paradigm of hospital meals is successfully launched in Trelleborg, especially the implementation at ground level. The innovation is not a success until all levels are imprinted with the mission for change.

## **Notes on contributors**

*Håkan Jönsson*, associate professor in European Ethnology is researcher and lecturer at the Department of Arts And Cultural Sciences at Lund University, where he teaches at the Mas‐ ter of Applied Cultural Analysis program (www.maca.ac). He is also head of operations in the Skane Food Innovation Network, responsible for the area of small scale food manufac‐ turers and culinary tourism.

*Hans Knutsson* is assistant professor at the School of Economics and Management, Lund Uni‐ versity. He teaches accounting, management control, and strategy and focuses his research on public management and cluster development. He is head of operations in the Skane Food Innovation Network, running the area of Meal Pleasure/Public Meals.

## **Author details**

Håkan Jönsson and Hans Knutsson

Lund University, Sweden

## **References**


knowledge of food preparation could not be disputed. The SFIN project leader turned out to have unknown skills for intermediating between the outside organisation and the higher ad‐

There is still work to be done before the new paradigm of hospital meals is successfully launched in Trelleborg, especially the implementation at ground level. The innovation is not

*Håkan Jönsson*, associate professor in European Ethnology is researcher and lecturer at the Department of Arts And Cultural Sciences at Lund University, where he teaches at the Mas‐ ter of Applied Cultural Analysis program (www.maca.ac). He is also head of operations in the Skane Food Innovation Network, responsible for the area of small scale food manufac‐

*Hans Knutsson* is assistant professor at the School of Economics and Management, Lund Uni‐ versity. He teaches accounting, management control, and strategy and focuses his research on public management and cluster development. He is head of operations in the Skane Food

[1] Argyris, C, & Schön, D. (1978). Organizational Learning: A theory of action perspec‐

[2] Christensen, C. M. (1997). The innovator's dilemma. When new technologies cause

[3] Christensen, C. M, Baumann, H, Ruggles, R, & Sadtler, T. M. (2006). Disruptive Inno‐

[4] Cohen, M. D, Burkhart, R, Dosi, G, Egidi, M, Marengo, L, Warglien, M, & Winter, S. (2004). Routines and other recurring action patterns of organizations: contemporary

vation for Social Change, Harvard Business Review, December, , 94-101.

a success until all levels are imprinted with the mission for change.

Innovation Network, running the area of Meal Pleasure/Public Meals.

great firms to fail. Harvard Business School Press, Boston.

ministrative and political level.

644 Food Industry

**Notes on contributors**

turers and culinary tourism.

Håkan Jönsson and Hans Knutsson

tive. Addison-Wesley.

research issues, in Dosi et al (2004).

Lund University, Sweden

**Author details**

**References**


[25] Porter, M. E. (1996). What is strategy?, Harvard Business Review, November-Decem‐ ber, , 61-78.

**Chapter 28**

**Collaborative Innovation — A Focus on Food SMES**

During the last years, the topic of 'collaborative innovation' has become the dominant perspective in the innovation literature by the argument that innovations are effectively developed through the interplay between different parties from different organizations (Steinle and Schiele, 2002; Trott and Hartmann, 2009; Nootebom 2004, Chesbrough, 2006).

In the SME context, the development of well established networks for innovation has been understood as necessity more than a choice (Goss, 1991; Pratten, 1991, Rothwell and Dodgson, 1993,). A large body of literature indicates that participation in networks and engagement in partnerships are important for SME as these factors enable firm toto tackle new technological and market frontiers and to cope with the fast changing envi‐

Main advantages are the access to network competencies as well as the opportunities of engaging into supply chain innovation processes and of growing in collaborations with larger customers (Johnsen and Ford, 2006; 2007). At the same time, collaborative innovation creates challenges to SME resulting from the inability to nurture and maintain the necessary resources and capabilities for growing (Matthyssens, Vandenbempt, Berghman 2006), to build a competitive positioning (Colurcio and Russo Spena, 2009; Day and Nedugady, 1994) and to create value for the own company and for the network (Johnsen and Ford, 2006; Donada and

Recently, the network perspective have triggered a fervent debate on the generation of knowledge and learning in inter-organizational and network collaborations (Dyer and Singh 1998; Nooteboom 1999, 2004, 2006; Lampela and Kärkäinen 2009, Hallikas et al. 2009, Lampela et al. 2008). Collaborative learning in innovation networks is said to stim‐

and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2013 Colurcio and Russo-Spena; licensee InTech. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2013 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution,

Maria Colurcio and Tiziana Russo-Spena

**1.1. Collaborative innovation: A set of agenda**

Nogatchewsky, 2006; Ulaga, 2003).

ronment (Hanna and Walsh 2002; Van de Vrande et al. 2009).

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/54616

**1. Introduction**

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter


## **Collaborative Innovation — A Focus on Food SMES**

Maria Colurcio and Tiziana Russo-Spena

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/54616

**1. Introduction**

[25] Porter, M. E. (1996). What is strategy?, Harvard Business Review, November-Decem‐

[26] Porter, M. E. (2008). The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy, Harvard Busi‐

[27] Rapaport, R. N. (1970). Three dilemmas of action research. Human Relations, 23, in

[30] Susman, G. I, & Evered, R. D. (1978). An Assessment of the Scientific Merits of Action

[31] Valdez, B. ed., ((2011). Scientific, Health and Social Aspects of the Food Industry, In‐

[32] Veblen, T. (1904). The Theory of Business Enterprise, Charles Scribner's Sons. New

[33] Winter, S, & Nelson, R. R. (1982). An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change, Har‐

[35] Schein, E. H. (2010). Organizational Culture and Leadership, 4th ed, Jossey-Bass.

[38] March, J. G. (1991). Exploration and Exploitation in Organizational Learning, Organi‐

[39] Collins, J. (2001). Good to Great. Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others

[40] Collins, J, & Hansen, M. T. (2011). Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck-

[37] Kotter, J. P. (1996). Leading change, Harvard Business School Press.

[29] Selznick, P. (1957). Leadership in Administration, Harper & Row, New York.

ber, , 61-78.

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Tech.

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ness Review, January, , 79-93.

Susman and Evered (1978)., 499-513.

[28] Scott, W. R. (1995). Institutions and Organizations, Sage.

[34] Depree, M. (2004). Leadership is an art, Bantam Dell.

Why some thrive despite them all. HarperCollins.

[36] Kotter, J. P. (1985). Power and influence,

zation Science, 2, 1, , 71-87.

Don't, HarperCollins.

Research, Administrative Science Quarterly, 23, 4, , 582-603.

### **1.1. Collaborative innovation: A set of agenda**

During the last years, the topic of 'collaborative innovation' has become the dominant perspective in the innovation literature by the argument that innovations are effectively developed through the interplay between different parties from different organizations (Steinle and Schiele, 2002; Trott and Hartmann, 2009; Nootebom 2004, Chesbrough, 2006).

In the SME context, the development of well established networks for innovation has been understood as necessity more than a choice (Goss, 1991; Pratten, 1991, Rothwell and Dodgson, 1993,). A large body of literature indicates that participation in networks and engagement in partnerships are important for SME as these factors enable firm toto tackle new technological and market frontiers and to cope with the fast changing envi‐ ronment (Hanna and Walsh 2002; Van de Vrande et al. 2009).

Main advantages are the access to network competencies as well as the opportunities of engaging into supply chain innovation processes and of growing in collaborations with larger customers (Johnsen and Ford, 2006; 2007). At the same time, collaborative innovation creates challenges to SME resulting from the inability to nurture and maintain the necessary resources and capabilities for growing (Matthyssens, Vandenbempt, Berghman 2006), to build a competitive positioning (Colurcio and Russo Spena, 2009; Day and Nedugady, 1994) and to create value for the own company and for the network (Johnsen and Ford, 2006; Donada and Nogatchewsky, 2006; Ulaga, 2003).

Recently, the network perspective have triggered a fervent debate on the generation of knowledge and learning in inter-organizational and network collaborations (Dyer and Singh 1998; Nooteboom 1999, 2004, 2006; Lampela and Kärkäinen 2009, Hallikas et al. 2009, Lampela et al. 2008). Collaborative learning in innovation networks is said to stim‐

ulate the creation of new knowledge, processes, products and services as well as the mo‐ tivation for networking itself (Araujo, 1998). Many contributions have demonstrated the role of learning in the context of innovation networks discussing it as particularly chal‐ lenging but increasingly more important task for companies (Capaldo 2007, Lane and Lu‐ batkin 1998; Inkpen and Tsang 2005, Dyer and Hatch 2006).

development of innovation capabilities for smaller partners. Power unbalance is a barrier since business relationships in such a situation are dominated very often by contracting more than by trust (Jeffrey and Reed, 2000; Blomqvist et al.2005); so they don't drive cooperation to innovation but simply consist of a contractual contribution of resources. Important studies are those by Ford and Rosson (1982) and Geser (1992) who have deepened insights about fre‐

Collaborative Innovation — A Focus on Food SMES

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/54616

649

Although researchers focused on different characteristics which enable or inhibit the devel‐ opment of business relationships aimed at innovation, a common central theme emerged: the asymmetry of relationships. The concept of asymmetric relationships concerns different elements of the relationships such as size, power, resources, and competencies and strongly affects its innovation potential (Blomqvist, 2002; Whipple and Frankle, 2000; Bailey et al. 1998; Colurcio, 2009; Colurcio et al. 2012). On the topic of asymmetric relationships, a relevant contribution comes from Johnsen and Ford (2000; 2001, 2007) who have identified seven types of asymmetries in business relationships: mutuality, particularity, conflict, cooperation,

All these characteristics express interdependency ties among partners involved in the rela‐ tionship. These interdependencies unequally affect the partners of the relationships. Mutuality is conceived as an "attitudinal variable" since it concerns the willingness of an organization to advantage common goals in respect to its own goals; it requires a long-term perspective since a company may give up its own goals in order to advantage a counterpart. Over time this behaviour will create well-being for both (or all) the parts involved in the relationship. Particularity is the way to manage the relationship and concerns the interaction's level of standardization. It depends on the relational approach of the party and on its availability to customize the relationship and its contents. Conflicts are the essence of asymmetry since it conveys the inequality between the parties and conflicts are amplified by the level of the interdependence of the relationships. The interdependence strengthens the differences and in turn feeds relational pressure and conflicts. Co-operation concerns the willingness of the may concern specific goals or projects but it is mainly conceived as a way to work, as a perspective to manage the relationship and to extract value from it for all the involved parts. Interpersonal inconsistency relates to individual characteristics of subjects that interact in the relationship. Intensity stresses that the number of people who interact in a relationship affects the relation‐ ship and its value (cross-functional group; team working). Power and dependence hedges in

different kinds of asymmetries and stresses difference in the partners' resource stock.

depending on value, culture and managerial system of the SME.

**3. Learning process in collaborative innovation**

These characteristics may work both as facilitators and barriers to the development of innovation in a business relationship and affect the evolution of the relationship differently

Recently knowledge and learning processes have become the main topics in the agenda of many scholars studying collaborative innovation (Dyer and Singh, 1998; Gemunden et. al,

quency, range and level of contacts between firms.

interpersonal inconsistency, intensity, power and dependence.

However, the integration of diverse knowledge sources and development of learning processes are carried out in relationships between a multiplicity of actors that may show different characteristics of asymmetry. The asymmetries become evident when the rela‐ tionships involve actors with different positioning and power, as showed by Johnson and Ford (2007). Asymmetries in business relationships have been analyzed from their different perspectives and on their impact on innovation and network development (Mouzas & Ford, 2004 ; Johnsen and Ford 2001; 2006).

From other perspective a wide literature has identified enablers and barriers to network collaboration (Leonard, 1995; Szulanski, 1996; Knott, 2003). Among others Szulanski (1996) has recognized the main role of knowledge, motivation, trust and ambiguity while others researchers also considered the role of the context (the environment) (Nelson and Winter, 1982; Teece, 1986; Pihkala, Ylinenpaa and Vesalainen, 2002). Other studies have showed that the amount of social capital correlates significantly with the competitiveness of collaborative networks (Macke, Vallejos, Faccin, & Genari, 2010).

Despite these contributions we find that little attention has been paid to analyse the collabo‐ rative innovation in the context of learning and asymmetric relationships. We aimed at generating insights into attributes of relations and at identifying barriers and enablers to collaboration and learning in innovation networks from the perspective of SME.

We find the issue of collaborative innovation, asymmetry and learning very critical and under investigated to explain the competitiveness and the development of firms.

## **2. Asymmetric relationships**

The study examining the way in which a firm innovates through inter-organizational and network collaborations (Capaldo 2007, Lane and Lubatkin 1998; Inkpen and Tsang 2005, Dyer and Hatch 2006; Nooteboom 2004) has only a more recent tradition.

Many researchers focus on partner characteristics, such as size, interdependence, cultural compatibility and relative influence (Holmlund and Kock, 1996; Pittaway and Morrisay, 2005). They show that these factors may leverage resources to drive innovation but that they can also inhibit innovation. Other authors (Pfeffer and Salancik, 1978; Håkansson and Snehota, 1995; Axelrod, 1964) - although stressing that networking is often the only way to realize innovation within a small size context - emphasize the organizational (resource) dependencies that emerge from networking. Similarly, other contributions that have focused on power unbalance (Hakansson; 1987; Håkansson and Gadde, 1992) find that this relational character‐ istic may become a barrier to the build up of a fruitful relationship and it may inhibit the development of innovation capabilities for smaller partners. Power unbalance is a barrier since business relationships in such a situation are dominated very often by contracting more than by trust (Jeffrey and Reed, 2000; Blomqvist et al.2005); so they don't drive cooperation to innovation but simply consist of a contractual contribution of resources. Important studies are those by Ford and Rosson (1982) and Geser (1992) who have deepened insights about fre‐ quency, range and level of contacts between firms.

ulate the creation of new knowledge, processes, products and services as well as the mo‐ tivation for networking itself (Araujo, 1998). Many contributions have demonstrated the role of learning in the context of innovation networks discussing it as particularly chal‐ lenging but increasingly more important task for companies (Capaldo 2007, Lane and Lu‐

However, the integration of diverse knowledge sources and development of learning processes are carried out in relationships between a multiplicity of actors that may show different characteristics of asymmetry. The asymmetries become evident when the rela‐ tionships involve actors with different positioning and power, as showed by Johnson and Ford (2007). Asymmetries in business relationships have been analyzed from their different perspectives and on their impact on innovation and network development

From other perspective a wide literature has identified enablers and barriers to network collaboration (Leonard, 1995; Szulanski, 1996; Knott, 2003). Among others Szulanski (1996) has recognized the main role of knowledge, motivation, trust and ambiguity while others researchers also considered the role of the context (the environment) (Nelson and Winter, 1982; Teece, 1986; Pihkala, Ylinenpaa and Vesalainen, 2002). Other studies have showed that the amount of social capital correlates significantly with the competitiveness

Despite these contributions we find that little attention has been paid to analyse the collabo‐ rative innovation in the context of learning and asymmetric relationships. We aimed at generating insights into attributes of relations and at identifying barriers and enablers to

We find the issue of collaborative innovation, asymmetry and learning very critical and under

The study examining the way in which a firm innovates through inter-organizational and network collaborations (Capaldo 2007, Lane and Lubatkin 1998; Inkpen and Tsang 2005, Dyer

Many researchers focus on partner characteristics, such as size, interdependence, cultural compatibility and relative influence (Holmlund and Kock, 1996; Pittaway and Morrisay, 2005). They show that these factors may leverage resources to drive innovation but that they can also inhibit innovation. Other authors (Pfeffer and Salancik, 1978; Håkansson and Snehota, 1995; Axelrod, 1964) - although stressing that networking is often the only way to realize innovation within a small size context - emphasize the organizational (resource) dependencies that emerge from networking. Similarly, other contributions that have focused on power unbalance (Hakansson; 1987; Håkansson and Gadde, 1992) find that this relational character‐ istic may become a barrier to the build up of a fruitful relationship and it may inhibit the

batkin 1998; Inkpen and Tsang 2005, Dyer and Hatch 2006).

648 Food Industry

(Mouzas & Ford, 2004 ; Johnsen and Ford 2001; 2006).

**2. Asymmetric relationships**

of collaborative networks (Macke, Vallejos, Faccin, & Genari, 2010).

collaboration and learning in innovation networks from the perspective of SME.

investigated to explain the competitiveness and the development of firms.

and Hatch 2006; Nooteboom 2004) has only a more recent tradition.

Although researchers focused on different characteristics which enable or inhibit the devel‐ opment of business relationships aimed at innovation, a common central theme emerged: the asymmetry of relationships. The concept of asymmetric relationships concerns different elements of the relationships such as size, power, resources, and competencies and strongly affects its innovation potential (Blomqvist, 2002; Whipple and Frankle, 2000; Bailey et al. 1998; Colurcio, 2009; Colurcio et al. 2012). On the topic of asymmetric relationships, a relevant contribution comes from Johnsen and Ford (2000; 2001, 2007) who have identified seven types of asymmetries in business relationships: mutuality, particularity, conflict, cooperation, interpersonal inconsistency, intensity, power and dependence.

All these characteristics express interdependency ties among partners involved in the rela‐ tionship. These interdependencies unequally affect the partners of the relationships. Mutuality is conceived as an "attitudinal variable" since it concerns the willingness of an organization to advantage common goals in respect to its own goals; it requires a long-term perspective since a company may give up its own goals in order to advantage a counterpart. Over time this behaviour will create well-being for both (or all) the parts involved in the relationship. Particularity is the way to manage the relationship and concerns the interaction's level of standardization. It depends on the relational approach of the party and on its availability to customize the relationship and its contents. Conflicts are the essence of asymmetry since it conveys the inequality between the parties and conflicts are amplified by the level of the interdependence of the relationships. The interdependence strengthens the differences and in turn feeds relational pressure and conflicts. Co-operation concerns the willingness of the may concern specific goals or projects but it is mainly conceived as a way to work, as a perspective to manage the relationship and to extract value from it for all the involved parts. Interpersonal inconsistency relates to individual characteristics of subjects that interact in the relationship. Intensity stresses that the number of people who interact in a relationship affects the relation‐ ship and its value (cross-functional group; team working). Power and dependence hedges in different kinds of asymmetries and stresses difference in the partners' resource stock.

These characteristics may work both as facilitators and barriers to the development of innovation in a business relationship and affect the evolution of the relationship differently depending on value, culture and managerial system of the SME.

## **3. Learning process in collaborative innovation**

Recently knowledge and learning processes have become the main topics in the agenda of many scholars studying collaborative innovation (Dyer and Singh, 1998; Gemunden et. al, 1999). Among them, the inter-organizational and collaborative network learning perspectives have emerged as distinctive approaches providing a starting point for the analysis of devel‐ opment of innovations in collaborative relationships. The table 1 summaries the similarities and distinctions among these perspectives on the base of three main dimensions of knowledge and learning process in interaction i.e. firm's knowledge base, attributes of knowledge and characteristics of relationships.

recognize the value of external partner's knowledge and to build and maintain high-quality and productive-firm relationships. These relationships have been recognized as important for accelerating the firm's knowledge access with an effect on growth and innovativeness (Lampela and Kärkäinen, 2006). Moreover, the understanding on the interactive process of knowledge flow has been deepened by Dyer and Singh (1998) who emphasized the similarity of the knowledge base and the level of knowledge specialization in learning between partners. Similarly, Lane and Lubatkin (1998) introduced the concept of relative absorptive capacity to take a wide set of characteristics of the partner into account. In addition, Dhanaraj et al. (2004) have showed that the strength of a relationship between firms positively influenced the transfer of both tacit and explicit knowledge, leading to higher performance in learning. Kachra et al. (2008) found that the presence of stronger social relationships and social capital correlates significantly with the innovativeness of learning based collaboration (see also Knight, 2002). Furthermore, scholars studied the role of motivation (Szulanski, 1996, 2002) and appropria‐ bility (Hurmelinna-Laukkanen et al, 2007) and identified trust as one of the most effective enablers to inter-firm knowledge and resources transfer because high trust decreases situa‐ tional uncertainty (Simonin, 1999) and opportunism (Lubatkin et al., 2001) and encourages higher commitment to the relationship (Capaldo, 2007). At the same time, some authors have evidenced also the "dark side" of strong inter-organizational relationships as obstacles for innovation mainly of radical type. The main reason is that a strong relationship locks firms into a narrow network, making them dependent on the inspiration by only a small number of external sources of creativity (Capaldo, 2007) and reduces the likeliness to explore new

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The focus on structural and social dimension of relationships has been further debated by collaborative learning perspective focused on "learning by a group of organizations as a group" (Knight, 2002). According to Hallikas et al. (2009) the network learning liter‐ ature represents a novel topic for learning research as the innovation phenomenon be‐ comes increasingly occurring with multiple participating organizations. Emphasizing the aspect of multiple and organized relations (Håkansson and Snehota (2006) and open and interconnected business relationships (Ford et al 2003; Ford and Håkansson 2006), these studies have shed new light on the mix of diversity, variety and continuity of relation‐ ships and the way in which they are conductive to learning and innovation. Among them, Möller and Rajala (2007) argued that in innovation networks, knowledge explora‐ tion through weak ties, i.e. sources external to well established relationships, is needed, and flexibility of network is essential. They furthermore recognized the role of network orchestration defined by the nodal position held by an actor in a flexible network as cru‐ cial from a knowledge transfer point of view, especially *"because such an actor's task is to*

The problem related to relational distance has also been discussed according to a cognitive perspective (Argyris and Schon, 1977). The lack of feedback for effective learning processes is seen as very likely when a relatively large number of agents interact with each other in various process steps. So it has been concluded that striving to learn more effectively in network means

knowledge paths (Collinson and Wilson, 2006).

*connect multiple actors in the net"*(Möller and Rajala, 2007; p 899 ).

The collaborative network learning approach


**Table 1.** Learning in inter-organizational and collaborative perspective

#### The inter-organizational approach

Based on the foundation of organizational learning literature (Cohen and Lenvintal, 1990), the inter-organisational perspective (Johnson and Sohi 2003; Blomqvist and Levy 2004) stresses the firm's knowledge attributes of absorptive capacity (Levinthal, 1990; Koza and Lewin, 1998) as addressing the leveraging of firm's interaction (Lampela and Kärkäinen 2009, Hallikas et al 2009) in a dyadic relationship. Relational capability (Lorenzoni and Lipparini, 1999; Johnson and Sohi, 2003), collaboration capability (Blomqvist and Levy, 2004) and interaction capability (Johnson and Ford, 2006) are different terms used to refer to the ability of a firm to

recognize the value of external partner's knowledge and to build and maintain high-quality and productive-firm relationships. These relationships have been recognized as important for accelerating the firm's knowledge access with an effect on growth and innovativeness (Lampela and Kärkäinen, 2006). Moreover, the understanding on the interactive process of knowledge flow has been deepened by Dyer and Singh (1998) who emphasized the similarity of the knowledge base and the level of knowledge specialization in learning between partners. Similarly, Lane and Lubatkin (1998) introduced the concept of relative absorptive capacity to take a wide set of characteristics of the partner into account. In addition, Dhanaraj et al. (2004) have showed that the strength of a relationship between firms positively influenced the transfer of both tacit and explicit knowledge, leading to higher performance in learning. Kachra et al. (2008) found that the presence of stronger social relationships and social capital correlates significantly with the innovativeness of learning based collaboration (see also Knight, 2002). Furthermore, scholars studied the role of motivation (Szulanski, 1996, 2002) and appropria‐ bility (Hurmelinna-Laukkanen et al, 2007) and identified trust as one of the most effective enablers to inter-firm knowledge and resources transfer because high trust decreases situa‐ tional uncertainty (Simonin, 1999) and opportunism (Lubatkin et al., 2001) and encourages higher commitment to the relationship (Capaldo, 2007). At the same time, some authors have evidenced also the "dark side" of strong inter-organizational relationships as obstacles for innovation mainly of radical type. The main reason is that a strong relationship locks firms into a narrow network, making them dependent on the inspiration by only a small number of external sources of creativity (Capaldo, 2007) and reduces the likeliness to explore new knowledge paths (Collinson and Wilson, 2006).

#### The collaborative network learning approach

1999). Among them, the inter-organizational and collaborative network learning perspectives have emerged as distinctive approaches providing a starting point for the analysis of devel‐ opment of innovations in collaborative relationships. The table 1 summaries the similarities and distinctions among these perspectives on the base of three main dimensions of knowledge and learning process in interaction i.e. firm's knowledge base, attributes of knowledge and

**Dimensions Inter-organizational perspective Collaborative network perspective**

• Collaborative competency • Cooperative competency • Network competence

• Positioning and visioning

• Flexibility of network • Strong ties/loose ties

(2006)

Based on the foundation of organizational learning literature (Cohen and Lenvintal, 1990), the inter-organisational perspective (Johnson and Sohi 2003; Blomqvist and Levy 2004) stresses the firm's knowledge attributes of absorptive capacity (Levinthal, 1990; Koza and Lewin, 1998) as addressing the leveraging of firm's interaction (Lampela and Kärkäinen 2009, Hallikas et al 2009) in a dyadic relationship. Relational capability (Lorenzoni and Lipparini, 1999; Johnson and Sohi, 2003), collaboration capability (Blomqvist and Levy, 2004) and interaction capability (Johnson and Ford, 2006) are different terms used to refer to the ability of a firm to

• Coordinator or orchestrator capacity

• Multiple and connected relationships

Ford (1998); Holm et al (1999) Bloomqvist, (2006); Moller and Halinen (1999); Möller and Rajala (2007); Miles et al. (2000, 2004); Ritter et al. (2002); Möller and Rajala (2006); Dhanaraj and Parkhe (2006), Heikkinen and Tähtinen

• Managed/unmanaged network

• Absorptive capacity • Relational, interaction and collaboration capability, • Relative absorptive capacity

• Tacit/explicit knowledge • Similarity of knowledge • Specialized knowledge • Similarity and shared routine

• Strong/weak ties

(2007);

The inter-organizational approach

**Table 1.** Learning in inter-organizational and collaborative perspective

• Commitment/opportunism • Trust, shared value and culture • Similarity of processes • Shared inter-firm routine

Dyer and Singh (1998); Lane and Lubatkin (1998); Adler, (2001); Johnson and Sohi (2003); Blomqvist and Levy (2004); Miles et al. (2000, 2004); Lampela and Kärkäinen (2006); Rasmussen (2007); (2002); Hurmelinna-Laukkanen et al (2007); Castaldo

• Resource and knowledge appropriateness

characteristics of relationships.

Firm's knowledge base and capacity

650 Food Industry

Knowledge and processes characteristic

Relation characteristics

studies

Main references and

The focus on structural and social dimension of relationships has been further debated by collaborative learning perspective focused on "learning by a group of organizations as a group" (Knight, 2002). According to Hallikas et al. (2009) the network learning liter‐ ature represents a novel topic for learning research as the innovation phenomenon be‐ comes increasingly occurring with multiple participating organizations. Emphasizing the aspect of multiple and organized relations (Håkansson and Snehota (2006) and open and interconnected business relationships (Ford et al 2003; Ford and Håkansson 2006), these studies have shed new light on the mix of diversity, variety and continuity of relation‐ ships and the way in which they are conductive to learning and innovation. Among them, Möller and Rajala (2007) argued that in innovation networks, knowledge explora‐ tion through weak ties, i.e. sources external to well established relationships, is needed, and flexibility of network is essential. They furthermore recognized the role of network orchestration defined by the nodal position held by an actor in a flexible network as cru‐ cial from a knowledge transfer point of view, especially *"because such an actor's task is to connect multiple actors in the net"*(Möller and Rajala, 2007; p 899 ).

The problem related to relational distance has also been discussed according to a cognitive perspective (Argyris and Schon, 1977). The lack of feedback for effective learning processes is seen as very likely when a relatively large number of agents interact with each other in various process steps. So it has been concluded that striving to learn more effectively in network means to enable trust-based mutual communication and continuous feedback as well as that the coordination and co-operation link between the organizations must be strong and kept active (Blomqvist, 2004; Miles et al., 2000; 2004). Miles et al. (2000, 2005) pointed out that the ability to collaborate in network is a meta-capability for innovation. Similarly, Sivadas and Dwyer (2000) discussed cooperative competency as *"the ability of the partners to trust, communicate, and coordinate*" (ibid, p 40). Moller and Halinen (1999) and Ritter et al. (2002) have developed a concept of network competence to understand the capacity of firm to drive innovation success through the effectively management of actors in the network. Many others authors furthered the role of coordination or orchestrator (Dhanaraj and Parkhe, 2006; Heikkinen and Tähtinen, 2006) and discussed these aspects in term of capacity to 1) support absorptive competences among the network actors, 2) foster articulation and codification of tacit knowledge when it is reasonable and possible, and 3) develop long-term inter-firm relationships and network vision and identities for members (Hurmelinna-Laukkanen and Natti, 2007).

tions (Moskowitz, 2008). Innovation is very much fraught with risk in the food sector; 60 – 80% of the new launched products fail (Grunert and Valli, 2001). To realize a success‐ ful food product innovation therefore a combined efforts of different network partners like suppliers (often SMEs) and retailers – is needed for customizing the new product to

Given the difficult market situation of food sector SME as well as the necessity to cooperate for being able to create and launch food innovations, there is a need for research that deepens un‐ derstanding of how SMEs experience their relationships and configure modes of interaction with asymmetric partners. Also we want deepen the understanding of factors and barriers of food sector SME network learning, fostering integration and creation of new knowledge as an‐ tecedents and contribution to innovation and sustainable competitive advantage of all network.

For the study, we decided to investigate processing food SME that innovate in network collaborations. An aspect to study is how highly different partners like SME suppliers and large retailers can cooperate for innovation despite – or because of - large power asymmetries (Gellynck and Molnar, 2009; Colurcio et al. 2012). Beside product innovation, a network is also needed for the so-called "immaterial" organizational innovations like the adoption of quality standards and methods are of tremendous importance for food SMEs (Padel, 2001). Without network partners, these innovations would be out of their reach as they require inter alia scale

Literature suggests that the opportunities for collaborative innovation depend on the market

Our sampling strategy followed three criteria: *First*, all selected companies had to be SME, i.e. have between 1 and 250 employees. *Second*, we based our sample on the "stylized model of agri-food vertical chain" originally defined by Raynaud et al. (2005:60) which is presented in

**Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Stage 5 Stage 6**

2nd Processor

end products)

Within this model, we mainly focused on processors active in stages 3 and 4. We expected that these SMEs would have a high need to cooperate in innovation processes. *Third*, the accessi‐ bility of the company, i.e. the interest of the interviewee to participate in the study, has been crucial for the sample design (Merkens, 2007). The final sample consisted of interviewees from 167 Italian SME (148 small and 19 medium companies). All interviewees were indicated by the

(e.g. semi-finished good,

Wholesaler Retailer

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the needs of the end-consumers (Gellynck, & Molnar, 2009).

**4.1. Selection of industry and sample**

conditions (Chen and Chen, 2002).

**Table 2.** Stages of the agri-food chain

table 2 below:

Supplier (e.g. fertiliser)

economies in audit, control, certification activities.

Farmer 1st Processor

SME as a "person responsible for innovation".

(e.g. mills)

However the ongoing debate on the nature and structure of the network and its impact on learning is far from a final resolution and there are many contributions that support different perspectives. Recent research has found that an open unformed network comprising of numerous and loose ties has to be particularly well-adapted to facilitate new knowledge creation, whereas the more closely and coordinated structure has been found to better facilitate the diffusion, implementation and exploitation of existing knowledge (Hallikas et al., 2009).

## **4. Research aim**

The above summarized literature studies the underlying principles of collaborative innovation at a rather abstract level or within the context of large companies (Chesbrough, 2003, 2006). Studies explicitly focusing on the SME network perspective look at advantages and opportu‐ nities for collaborations, whereas an in-depth debate about the asymmetric nature of relation‐ ships as well as the mechanisms that enable or hinder the development of effective collaboration and learning processes in SME innovation networks is yet missing. The main objective of our study is to contribute to bridge this gap.

More in detail the aim of this chapter is to provide a relationship approach to collaborative innovation in SMEs', specifically: 1) to investigate the dynamics of SMEs' relationships with partners different by size, power and resources and stock within a network 2) and exploring the barriers and facilitators to learning for Smes' innovation processes.

To address these efforts we chose to investigate in depth the food sector. We put two main points in the base of our business focus. *First*, food collaborative innovation has been analyzed so far mainly within the context of large, multinational firms (Fortuin & Omta 2008) stressing the role of this actors as transfer of formalized knowledge. *Second*, the topic of collaborative innovation of food sector SMS is particularly important as the food market is not very supportive to innovation. It is highly saturated (Sucher, 2007), consumers tend to be rather conservative concerning their food preferences (Rozin & Vollmecke, 1986), and the food industry is not extensively pushed by technical innova‐ tions (Moskowitz, 2008). Innovation is very much fraught with risk in the food sector; 60 – 80% of the new launched products fail (Grunert and Valli, 2001). To realize a success‐ ful food product innovation therefore a combined efforts of different network partners like suppliers (often SMEs) and retailers – is needed for customizing the new product to the needs of the end-consumers (Gellynck, & Molnar, 2009).

Given the difficult market situation of food sector SME as well as the necessity to cooperate for being able to create and launch food innovations, there is a need for research that deepens un‐ derstanding of how SMEs experience their relationships and configure modes of interaction with asymmetric partners. Also we want deepen the understanding of factors and barriers of food sector SME network learning, fostering integration and creation of new knowledge as an‐ tecedents and contribution to innovation and sustainable competitive advantage of all network.

#### **4.1. Selection of industry and sample**

to enable trust-based mutual communication and continuous feedback as well as that the coordination and co-operation link between the organizations must be strong and kept active (Blomqvist, 2004; Miles et al., 2000; 2004). Miles et al. (2000, 2005) pointed out that the ability to collaborate in network is a meta-capability for innovation. Similarly, Sivadas and Dwyer (2000) discussed cooperative competency as *"the ability of the partners to trust, communicate, and coordinate*" (ibid, p 40). Moller and Halinen (1999) and Ritter et al. (2002) have developed a concept of network competence to understand the capacity of firm to drive innovation success through the effectively management of actors in the network. Many others authors furthered the role of coordination or orchestrator (Dhanaraj and Parkhe, 2006; Heikkinen and Tähtinen, 2006) and discussed these aspects in term of capacity to 1) support absorptive competences among the network actors, 2) foster articulation and codification of tacit knowledge when it is reasonable and possible, and 3) develop long-term inter-firm relationships and network vision

However the ongoing debate on the nature and structure of the network and its impact on learning is far from a final resolution and there are many contributions that support different perspectives. Recent research has found that an open unformed network comprising of numerous and loose ties has to be particularly well-adapted to facilitate new knowledge creation, whereas the more closely and coordinated structure has been found to better facilitate the diffusion, implementation and exploitation of existing knowledge (Hallikas et al., 2009).

The above summarized literature studies the underlying principles of collaborative innovation at a rather abstract level or within the context of large companies (Chesbrough, 2003, 2006). Studies explicitly focusing on the SME network perspective look at advantages and opportu‐ nities for collaborations, whereas an in-depth debate about the asymmetric nature of relation‐ ships as well as the mechanisms that enable or hinder the development of effective collaboration and learning processes in SME innovation networks is yet missing. The main

More in detail the aim of this chapter is to provide a relationship approach to collaborative innovation in SMEs', specifically: 1) to investigate the dynamics of SMEs' relationships with partners different by size, power and resources and stock within a network 2) and exploring

To address these efforts we chose to investigate in depth the food sector. We put two main points in the base of our business focus. *First*, food collaborative innovation has been analyzed so far mainly within the context of large, multinational firms (Fortuin & Omta 2008) stressing the role of this actors as transfer of formalized knowledge. *Second*, the topic of collaborative innovation of food sector SMS is particularly important as the food market is not very supportive to innovation. It is highly saturated (Sucher, 2007), consumers tend to be rather conservative concerning their food preferences (Rozin & Vollmecke, 1986), and the food industry is not extensively pushed by technical innova‐

and identities for members (Hurmelinna-Laukkanen and Natti, 2007).

objective of our study is to contribute to bridge this gap.

the barriers and facilitators to learning for Smes' innovation processes.

**4. Research aim**

652 Food Industry

For the study, we decided to investigate processing food SME that innovate in network collaborations. An aspect to study is how highly different partners like SME suppliers and large retailers can cooperate for innovation despite – or because of - large power asymmetries (Gellynck and Molnar, 2009; Colurcio et al. 2012). Beside product innovation, a network is also needed for the so-called "immaterial" organizational innovations like the adoption of quality standards and methods are of tremendous importance for food SMEs (Padel, 2001). Without network partners, these innovations would be out of their reach as they require inter alia scale economies in audit, control, certification activities.

Literature suggests that the opportunities for collaborative innovation depend on the market conditions (Chen and Chen, 2002).

Our sampling strategy followed three criteria: *First*, all selected companies had to be SME, i.e. have between 1 and 250 employees. *Second*, we based our sample on the "stylized model of agri-food vertical chain" originally defined by Raynaud et al. (2005:60) which is presented in table 2 below:


**Table 2.** Stages of the agri-food chain

Within this model, we mainly focused on processors active in stages 3 and 4. We expected that these SMEs would have a high need to cooperate in innovation processes. *Third*, the accessi‐ bility of the company, i.e. the interest of the interviewee to participate in the study, has been crucial for the sample design (Merkens, 2007). The final sample consisted of interviewees from 167 Italian SME (148 small and 19 medium companies). All interviewees were indicated by the SME as a "person responsible for innovation".

#### **4.2. Methods for data gathering and analysis**

In our study, we were interested into the perspective of SME innovation managers on collaborative innovation. We particularly wanted to know what they perceive as barriers and enablers to inter-organizational collaboration and learning in innovation networks and gain detailed insights into attributes of network relations in innovation networks involving SME. We therefore decided to conduct semi-standardized interviews (Flick, 2009; p. 156). The basic assumption behind the interview format that combines open, theory-driven and confronta‐ tional questions is that the interviewees hold a subjective theory on the topic of the study. This subjective theory consists of explicit knowledge which the interviewee can easily articulate as a response to an open question but also implicit knowledge where he or she needs methodo‐ logical support in the articulation through other types of questions (Groeben, 1990). Our interview guideline therefore started with open questions on what the interviewee under‐ stands as innovation, what the major challenges of his company are in that respect and what he sees as networks. Then, interviewees where asked to describe the most important attributes of network relations in order to identified trigger and opportunities for collaboration and learning in innovation. Here, we added theory-driven sub-questions for being able to fully understand the attributes of the network relationships: If the interviewee did not mention it him- or herself, we asked for the cooperation duration and evolution, particularity, intensity, dependence, and mutuality of the relationship. These questions have been developed accord‐ ing to the theoretical framework proposed by Johnsen and Ford (2000; 2001, 2007) who identified different types of asymmetries as relevant for cooperation in business relationships. Table 3 provides an outlook on the typologies we have recourse to in order to analyze above

**Customer unilaterally influence/ Customer and**

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− Formality/Informality in setting relationship goals

− Extent of interwining of goals and interest and

− Standardization/adaptation of approach to

− Conflict resolution efforts involving higher/lower -

− Development of approaches for coping with

− Experience and inclusion of suppliers in co-

− Development of personal expectations and

− Range, level and frequency of contact between

− Extent of supplier involvement in contact and

− Strategic and operational aspects of relationship − Technical aspect of relationship and advisory roles

− Social/networking aspects of supplier's

− Development of information and knowledge − Develeopment of values built on history

− Width of suppliers' customer portfolio − Building of confidence and emotional ties in

**Supplier bilaterally influence**

− Use/purpose of writtren plans

experience

interaction

interaction

level actors

operative projects

contributions in interaction

customer and supplier

− Decision-making process

resource exchange

relationships

We analyzed data through a qualitative content analysis that is based on data from nar‐ ratives and observations that requires understanding and co-operation between the re‐ searcher and the participants, such that texts based on interviews (Kondracki et al., 2002). Specifically, we analysed and categorized consequences of each characteristic of the relationship according a pattern of analysis based on abstraction (Graneheim, Lund‐

conflict

mentioned characteristics of the relationship within the innovation network.

Mutuality Shared goals or common interests of

of interaction.

Conflict Differences between the parties over

and benefits

conflict

Intensity Level of contact and resource

exchange between firms.

Distinct types of power and

Technical, Knowledge, Social, Logistic ,

dependance exist:

Administrative.

**Table 3.** A typology for the analysis of size asymmetry

Cooperation The extent to which companies work

interaction. Extent of standardisation

the direction of the relationship or over their respective contributions

together to determne or implement a direction for the relationship Co-existence of co-operation and

firms.

Particularity Direction and uniqueness of

**Definition Consequences**

**Relationship Characteristic**

Power and dependance

The interviewee was asked both for the benefits and learning points from the cooperation but also for difficulties, conflicts, and barriers to collaboration and knowledge sharing and development. In this case, the questions have been drawn to deepen the firm's capacity, knowledge and relationships attributes as theoretically discussed at the base of learning processes in interaction.

Like this, the interviewee was confronted with the opposite of the own subjective theory regardless whether he or she was in favour or not in favour of cooperation in innovation networks.

Interviews were held via telephone. They took approximately half an hour and were then recoded and transcribed ad verbatim.

Data analysis and interpretation took several steps. We first separated the interview tran‐ scripts of small (up to 50 employees) and medium (between 51 and 250 employees) com‐ panies because we were interested whether size matters. We then created bodies of text related to the questions, for example all answers related to the question on "From your perspective, what is Innovation.

We then analyzed the question-specific data sets with a bottom-up approach and used techniques suggested by Miles & Huberman (1994). Between two and four researchers coded the material independently, then came together, noted themes and clustered them considering the relations and linkages between each other.


Table 3 provides an outlook on the typologies we have recourse to in order to analyze above mentioned characteristics of the relationship within the innovation network.

**Table 3.** A typology for the analysis of size asymmetry

**4.2. Methods for data gathering and analysis**

654 Food Industry

processes in interaction.

recoded and transcribed ad verbatim.

perspective, what is Innovation.

the relations and linkages between each other.

networks.

In our study, we were interested into the perspective of SME innovation managers on collaborative innovation. We particularly wanted to know what they perceive as barriers and enablers to inter-organizational collaboration and learning in innovation networks and gain detailed insights into attributes of network relations in innovation networks involving SME. We therefore decided to conduct semi-standardized interviews (Flick, 2009; p. 156). The basic assumption behind the interview format that combines open, theory-driven and confronta‐ tional questions is that the interviewees hold a subjective theory on the topic of the study. This subjective theory consists of explicit knowledge which the interviewee can easily articulate as a response to an open question but also implicit knowledge where he or she needs methodo‐ logical support in the articulation through other types of questions (Groeben, 1990). Our interview guideline therefore started with open questions on what the interviewee under‐ stands as innovation, what the major challenges of his company are in that respect and what he sees as networks. Then, interviewees where asked to describe the most important attributes of network relations in order to identified trigger and opportunities for collaboration and learning in innovation. Here, we added theory-driven sub-questions for being able to fully understand the attributes of the network relationships: If the interviewee did not mention it him- or herself, we asked for the cooperation duration and evolution, particularity, intensity, dependence, and mutuality of the relationship. These questions have been developed accord‐ ing to the theoretical framework proposed by Johnsen and Ford (2000; 2001, 2007) who identified different types of asymmetries as relevant for cooperation in business relationships.

The interviewee was asked both for the benefits and learning points from the cooperation but also for difficulties, conflicts, and barriers to collaboration and knowledge sharing and development. In this case, the questions have been drawn to deepen the firm's capacity, knowledge and relationships attributes as theoretically discussed at the base of learning

Like this, the interviewee was confronted with the opposite of the own subjective theory regardless whether he or she was in favour or not in favour of cooperation in innovation

Interviews were held via telephone. They took approximately half an hour and were then

Data analysis and interpretation took several steps. We first separated the interview tran‐ scripts of small (up to 50 employees) and medium (between 51 and 250 employees) com‐ panies because we were interested whether size matters. We then created bodies of text related to the questions, for example all answers related to the question on "From your

We then analyzed the question-specific data sets with a bottom-up approach and used techniques suggested by Miles & Huberman (1994). Between two and four researchers coded the material independently, then came together, noted themes and clustered them considering We analyzed data through a qualitative content analysis that is based on data from nar‐ ratives and observations that requires understanding and co-operation between the re‐ searcher and the participants, such that texts based on interviews (Kondracki et al., 2002). Specifically, we analysed and categorized consequences of each characteristic of the relationship according a pattern of analysis based on abstraction (Graneheim, Lund‐ man, 2003) since it emphasises descriptions and interpretations on a higher logical level including the creations of codes, categories and themes on varying levels. Then, we de‐ fined three different levels of intensity of the characteristic in the specific relationship: + = low level; ++ = medium level; +++ = high level.

as cooperation between processing companies and suppliers of raw material, equipment and services. Respect to the theoretical framework we adopted, in this table we didn't con‐ sider explicitly the attribute "conflict" since we investigated it through the variable "mutual‐ ity". However, although we didn't asked clearly about conflict, we will discuss it due to lateral information. The relationship with suppliers, especially with raw material and equip‐ ment suppliers looks very high cooperative to small companies are the suppliers were seen very often as source of innovation or as co-innovator partner. Suppliers act as development and implementation partners for new ideas; in some cases we even find common projects for developing innovations like new packaging solutions and new products. Suppliers also support small companies in designing and tailoring new production and logistic technology solutions for sustainable processes. Relationships to suppliers are characterized as long last‐ ing, affordable and personal. In addition, small clients and experts or specialists are men‐ tioned by small firm as important and strategic cooperative partners in some specific situation. In general collaborations judged to be important are those with specialized clients or firms that punctually provide services. Mentioned are market research companies or firms that have a high investment in R&D and don't want manufacturing or commercialize their new products or semi-finished goods by themselves. Interviewees from small compa‐ nies reported least on universities and research centers and consumer collaboration. The co‐ operation with research centers is usually aimed at solving technical problems and has been

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Interviewees from medium companies defined network mainly as cooperation with suppli‐ ers of equipment and raw material and large distributors. According their view, a network is a strong cooperation within the supply chain, based on technology and market content, allowing to face competition and to guarantee the survival on the market. Suppliers are seen as important and they enable the medium companies to get access to update technology and complementary knowledge. The development of a win-win relationship is very important for the interviewees. Relationships with suppliers aret hus in most cases very stable (longer than ten years) and characterized by trust and reliability. Also relationships with large dis‐ tributors have been recognized as very important to complement firm knowledge and de‐ mand a high management attention and regular contact. Particularly it is described as profiting when strategies are aligned, involve pear cooperation and partners can make re‐ ciprocal business deals. In that case, the company gains a profit because it can use the net‐ work of clients, take up new ideas, ask their clients to test the products with the end

Only few companies named marketing agencies and consumers as important partners for the

Generally horizontal cooperation for innovation within the same branch is not so frequent within small and medium companies. Cooperation with competitors to reach common goals or to develop the whole branch for the profit is mentioned as generally scarce and without

any effect when it comes to innovation or to a fruitful knowledge exchange.

described as project based with clear cooperation agreements.

customer and in best case deliver products in exclusivity.

development of innovation.

## **5. Findings**

The findings below describe how and in what types of networks SMEs cooperate for devel‐ oping innovation and what the interviewees identified as barriers and enables to interorganizational collaboration and learning in innovation network.

### **5.1. The collaborative innovation of SMES**

The understanding of innovation is different for interviewees from small and medium companies within the two data settings. When asked what they perceive as innovation, interviewees from medium companies often mentioned the development of new technologies for the improvement of production processes and technologies. The small firms instead associated process and technological innovation with the incremental improvement of existing products and processes. Generally they talked about product innovation as the improvement of existing products and the extension of the product range. All firms not or least associated the development of completely new products (See Table 4).


**Table 4.** What the firms understood as innovation

However, we observed a difference in the attributes of relationships depending on the size of companies. Table 5 provides a brief overview of these attributes. The general network of relationships comprises clients, suppliers, research centres, and other stakeholders. But look‐ ing specifically at innovation network it is understood by the large part of the interviewees as cooperation between processing companies and suppliers of raw material, equipment and services. Respect to the theoretical framework we adopted, in this table we didn't con‐ sider explicitly the attribute "conflict" since we investigated it through the variable "mutual‐ ity". However, although we didn't asked clearly about conflict, we will discuss it due to lateral information. The relationship with suppliers, especially with raw material and equip‐ ment suppliers looks very high cooperative to small companies are the suppliers were seen very often as source of innovation or as co-innovator partner. Suppliers act as development and implementation partners for new ideas; in some cases we even find common projects for developing innovations like new packaging solutions and new products. Suppliers also support small companies in designing and tailoring new production and logistic technology solutions for sustainable processes. Relationships to suppliers are characterized as long last‐ ing, affordable and personal. In addition, small clients and experts or specialists are men‐ tioned by small firm as important and strategic cooperative partners in some specific situation. In general collaborations judged to be important are those with specialized clients or firms that punctually provide services. Mentioned are market research companies or firms that have a high investment in R&D and don't want manufacturing or commercialize their new products or semi-finished goods by themselves. Interviewees from small compa‐ nies reported least on universities and research centers and consumer collaboration. The co‐ operation with research centers is usually aimed at solving technical problems and has been described as project based with clear cooperation agreements.

man, 2003) since it emphasises descriptions and interpretations on a higher logical level including the creations of codes, categories and themes on varying levels. Then, we de‐ fined three different levels of intensity of the characteristic in the specific relationship: +

The findings below describe how and in what types of networks SMEs cooperate for devel‐ oping innovation and what the interviewees identified as barriers and enables to inter-

The understanding of innovation is different for interviewees from small and medium companies within the two data settings. When asked what they perceive as innovation, interviewees from medium companies often mentioned the development of new technologies for the improvement of production processes and technologies. The small firms instead associated process and technological innovation with the incremental improvement of existing products and processes. Generally they talked about product innovation as the improvement of existing products and the extension of the product range. All firms not or least associated

Development of completely new products +

Innovative appearances at the market + ++

New production processes and technologies ++ +++

Incremental improvement of existing product/processes ++ ++

New packaging solution + ++

However, we observed a difference in the attributes of relationships depending on the size of companies. Table 5 provides a brief overview of these attributes. The general network of relationships comprises clients, suppliers, research centres, and other stakeholders. But look‐ ing specifically at innovation network it is understood by the large part of the interviewees

**Small Medium**

= low level; ++ = medium level; +++ = high level.

**5.1. The collaborative innovation of SMES**

**Table 4.** What the firms understood as innovation

organizational collaboration and learning in innovation network.

the development of completely new products (See Table 4).

**5. Findings**

656 Food Industry

Interviewees from medium companies defined network mainly as cooperation with suppli‐ ers of equipment and raw material and large distributors. According their view, a network is a strong cooperation within the supply chain, based on technology and market content, allowing to face competition and to guarantee the survival on the market. Suppliers are seen as important and they enable the medium companies to get access to update technology and complementary knowledge. The development of a win-win relationship is very important for the interviewees. Relationships with suppliers aret hus in most cases very stable (longer than ten years) and characterized by trust and reliability. Also relationships with large dis‐ tributors have been recognized as very important to complement firm knowledge and de‐ mand a high management attention and regular contact. Particularly it is described as profiting when strategies are aligned, involve pear cooperation and partners can make re‐ ciprocal business deals. In that case, the company gains a profit because it can use the net‐ work of clients, take up new ideas, ask their clients to test the products with the end customer and in best case deliver products in exclusivity.

Only few companies named marketing agencies and consumers as important partners for the development of innovation.

Generally horizontal cooperation for innovation within the same branch is not so frequent within small and medium companies. Cooperation with competitors to reach common goals or to develop the whole branch for the profit is mentioned as generally scarce and without any effect when it comes to innovation or to a fruitful knowledge exchange.


intense cooperation with large distributors and the less intense cooperation with small clients,

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With respect to power dependence, only three few companies declared that the power is balanced and that there are no asymmetries in resources and power between the parts involved in the relationship. In tendency we find that the bigger the processing company, the more dependent are suppliers, and the less dependent is the company from large distributors. In addition, with the size of the company, its dependence from Federal agencies increases.

Mutuality of the relationships is generally mentioned at high level respect to all partners. Mainly small firms indicated as important to create a win-win situation that enables the (incremental) development of "new" products, services, production technologies and raw

The reasons that companies provided on why cooperation for innovation is important include: 1) acquisition of know how on the market and trends, 2) the external view that helps to overcome blind spots, 3)the opportunity to enter new markets and to build up a market

Asked to medium firm for the benefits of cooperation in innovation networks, most inter‐ viewees mentioned the development of new products, new services, new production technol‐ ogies and raw material. Very often, the interviewees mentioned that cooperation creates a winwin situation where they receive complementary know-how and information from each other, exchange concepts, solve together common problems without having to re-invent the wheel or get access to new markets. In some cases, interviewees stated that cooperation enables them to build up a completely new supply chain with producers of raw material in a developing country what makes the production and the products more sustainable innovation. Some medium firms additionally mentioned the opportunity to extend the firm's vision of network and to contribute to fostering the firm's influence on other relationships and partner's collaboration commitments. For the interviewees from small firms, especially the market effectiveness has been emphasized as important benefit during the interview, i.e. how the innovation allows them to improve the quality of their offering in a way that their products

Discussing on enablers and barriers of collaboration similar results emerged among small and medium firm. Cooperation, generally, has been reported ended due to missing reciprocity of efforts, changing interests or strategies of network partners or problems with the quality of the products. Small firms detailed this aspects in the missed promise of the partner or if he strives only for own benefit, the new product has now success on the market or can not be developed or the partners do not get along well. Rarely, cooperation ends because a contract ends and partners have new plans. Rarely, cooperation ends because a contract ends and partners has new plans. Small interviewees mentioned that cooperation with large distributers is difficult because of the small market power of their own company. For medium firms the challenges they faced are related to finding enough time for cooperation and clarifying

suppliers and Federal agencies are.

materials, and to solve common problems.

better fit the changing market requests.

**5.2. Benefits and difficulties in collaborative innovation**

reputation, and 4) the possibility to join resources for radical new ideas.

+ = low level

++ = medium level

+++ = high level

\* very high

**Table 5.** Attributes of Smes Network

Regarding the particularity and evolution, interviewees reported that relationships develop and evolve over time built on increasing tied and personalised relationships. However, the particularity of the relationships of processing SMEs is described as high with small clients and research institute. With suppliers the particularity is a guarantee for the innovation since the benefit of innovation depends on the application and on the novelty of the equipment, especially for small companies. Processing SMEs however have innovation relationships with more than one supplier, so that from their side, the relationship with suppliers is less exclusive than the other way round. Relationships with large distributors are very often not particular; here, the mainly the bigger processing SMEs are usually just one innovation partners amongst many others for the distributers and often based on negotiated affair: technical know how is exchanged for marketing, knowledge on market trends for access to other markets, lower costs for product tests.

Asked about the intensity of the relationship, almost all interviewees mentioned the continuity and the frequency of exchange of information and knowledge with the main partners. Particularly, interviewees from small companies mentioned intensity mainly as team working and continuous knowledge and information sharing together with conjoint job training. Evidence shows the same dynamic in the intensity of relationship with the main partners also for medium companies. We however also find that the bigger the processing SME, the more intense cooperation with large distributors and the less intense cooperation with small clients, suppliers and Federal agencies are.

With respect to power dependence, only three few companies declared that the power is balanced and that there are no asymmetries in resources and power between the parts involved in the relationship. In tendency we find that the bigger the processing company, the more dependent are suppliers, and the less dependent is the company from large distributors. In addition, with the size of the company, its dependence from Federal agencies increases.

Mutuality of the relationships is generally mentioned at high level respect to all partners. Mainly small firms indicated as important to create a win-win situation that enables the (incremental) development of "new" products, services, production technologies and raw materials, and to solve common problems.

#### **5.2. Benefits and difficulties in collaborative innovation**

**Cooperation Particularity Intensity Power and**

Small clients +++ + +++ +++ ++ ++ +++

distributors ++ +++ ++ <sup>+</sup> ++ +++ ++ Suppliers +++\* ++ +++ ++ ++ + +++

research <sup>+</sup> ++ +++ ++ +++ <sup>+</sup> +++

Competitors + + + + + +++ ++

Agencies <sup>+</sup> ++ ++ <sup>+</sup> ++ <sup>+</sup> <sup>+</sup> +++ +++ ++

Regarding the particularity and evolution, interviewees reported that relationships develop and evolve over time built on increasing tied and personalised relationships. However, the particularity of the relationships of processing SMEs is described as high with small clients and research institute. With suppliers the particularity is a guarantee for the innovation since the benefit of innovation depends on the application and on the novelty of the equipment, especially for small companies. Processing SMEs however have innovation relationships with more than one supplier, so that from their side, the relationship with suppliers is less exclusive than the other way round. Relationships with large distributors are very often not particular; here, the mainly the bigger processing SMEs are usually just one innovation partners amongst many others for the distributers and often based on negotiated affair: technical know how is exchanged for marketing, knowledge on market trends for access to other markets, lower costs

Asked about the intensity of the relationship, almost all interviewees mentioned the continuity and the frequency of exchange of information and knowledge with the main partners. Particularly, interviewees from small companies mentioned intensity mainly as team working and continuous knowledge and information sharing together with conjoint job training. Evidence shows the same dynamic in the intensity of relationship with the main partners also for medium companies. We however also find that the bigger the processing SME, the more

experts +++ ++ ++ <sup>+</sup> ++ <sup>+</sup> <sup>+</sup> +++

Large

658 Food Industry

Universities/

Federal

Specialists and

+ = low level ++ = medium level +++ = high level \* very high

**Table 5.** Attributes of Smes Network

for product tests.

**Small Medium Small Medium Small Medium Small Medium Small Medium**

**Dependence**

**Mutuality**

The reasons that companies provided on why cooperation for innovation is important include: 1) acquisition of know how on the market and trends, 2) the external view that helps to overcome blind spots, 3)the opportunity to enter new markets and to build up a market reputation, and 4) the possibility to join resources for radical new ideas.

Asked to medium firm for the benefits of cooperation in innovation networks, most inter‐ viewees mentioned the development of new products, new services, new production technol‐ ogies and raw material. Very often, the interviewees mentioned that cooperation creates a winwin situation where they receive complementary know-how and information from each other, exchange concepts, solve together common problems without having to re-invent the wheel or get access to new markets. In some cases, interviewees stated that cooperation enables them to build up a completely new supply chain with producers of raw material in a developing country what makes the production and the products more sustainable innovation. Some medium firms additionally mentioned the opportunity to extend the firm's vision of network and to contribute to fostering the firm's influence on other relationships and partner's collaboration commitments. For the interviewees from small firms, especially the market effectiveness has been emphasized as important benefit during the interview, i.e. how the innovation allows them to improve the quality of their offering in a way that their products better fit the changing market requests.

Discussing on enablers and barriers of collaboration similar results emerged among small and medium firm. Cooperation, generally, has been reported ended due to missing reciprocity of efforts, changing interests or strategies of network partners or problems with the quality of the products. Small firms detailed this aspects in the missed promise of the partner or if he strives only for own benefit, the new product has now success on the market or can not be developed or the partners do not get along well. Rarely, cooperation ends because a contract ends and partners have new plans. Rarely, cooperation ends because a contract ends and partners has new plans. Small interviewees mentioned that cooperation with large distributers is difficult because of the small market power of their own company. For medium firms the challenges they faced are related to finding enough time for cooperation and clarifying expectations. A barrier to cooperation is also the necessity to confidentiality of new ideas. Some interviewees underlined that the number of partners involved into an innovation project should not be too big because otherwise, the process is too slow.

Again, the trust issue has been mentioned as a key driver of networking orientation of SMEs with the distinctive feature that trust is perceived to be built gradually through the continuity of cooperation among partners. A deep understanding of shared risks as well as of mutual benefits of all network partners have been identified as trigger to the openness of firms and to team working allowing to focus on common goals amongst all network members. Personal and face to face daily contacts - often within existing long standing relationships –have been

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Discussing on barrier and enabler to inter-organisational learning the main finding which is noticeable is that about all firms (there is only two exception,one for each market) declared that innovation partnerships allow them to increase their competence and knowledge assets. First of all the complementary nature of knowledge and competence predominates innovation relationships. Acquisition and upgrading of technical and technological competences have been seen as the main results of learning collaboration by about the half of investigated firms. Interviewees from the other half of firms declared that their company mainly benefits from the development of market capability and subsequent increases of the market perception of

To improve the ability to learn is also mentioned as core element of innovation relationships by about two thirds of respondents. The interviewees stated that collaborating in innovation networks allows them to i) better define what they want and what is expected by partners, ii) develop a clearer vision of their relationships, iii) gain better insights on external knowledge through understanding its meaning for the own organization. As main inter-organizational learning results medium companies valued the better understanding of causes and conse‐ quences of their actions that allows for the detection and correction of errors. Some interview‐ ees stressed the unlearning issue as an open approach to innovation. Innovation in networks is mentioned to promote the company to proactively question its older routines, assertions and

Among those interviewees who confirmed the learning results of innovation network rela‐ tionships, only a minor part identified some barriers or obstacles to their learning processes. The latter have been mainly identified as cultural and power distances between partners or low commitment of partners too. These difficulties have been often seen in relation to the different business and value chain position of partners. In addition, some interviewees stated to be not aware of competences and activities of their partners and this obviously leads to an inadequate understanding and knowledge of the competences available in the network. A common language is required to reduce the distance between partners and to reinforce social

At the opposite site, the complementarities of the partners' knowledge have been seen as the main stimulus to the learning processes. Cultural issues instead feed a contrasting debate: whereas some interviewees named cultural barriers as critical obstacles, others perceived them as a trigger allowing a different view on problem solving issues. When supported by personal and social ties, the different culture of partners has been seen as great opportunity for a more

beliefs and fostering the need of dismissing or replacing outdated knowledge.

seen as the preferred way to collaborate and to solve conflicts.

**5.3. Barriers and enabler to inter-organisational learning**

firm offerings' value.

and cognitive dimension.

Looking at the difficulties, more than half of the interviewees declared that collaboration is not always easy. More into detail, some interviewees mentioned the difficulty to share information in real time; others referred to procedural and routine problems arising from the interaction between organizations with different process rules. Technological and technical difficulties have been mentioned mainly with reference to supply chain and R&D relationships where a larger distance has been perceived with respect to knowledge and experience background of partners. One interviewee well elicited this issue indicating that it is difficult (though not impossible) to work with specialized suppliers because of their different views on time, technology and ways of working. Similarly, to work with universities or R&D agencies needs the parties to get first used to each other. Within the perception of the most of interviewees these aspects represents the major challenge of collaboration for innovation. It has been widely outlined by the interviewees that the firms really innovate if they are able to conduct and participate in exploratory activity outside of their organizational boundaries absorbing novel practices from external. In addition, a difficulty other interviewees referred to is the lack of a shared vision with the partners and missing clarity in communication and the definition of goals and expectations.

When asked to expand on the reasons of such difficulties, a majority of respondents referred to the presence of cultural, organizational and resource-related barriers. Particularly trust issues, distances (geographical, dimensional, technological and commercial) between firms and strategic competences exchange increases the risk perceived by the interviewees to integrate into and participate in innovation networks.

The lack of trust and benefits understanding have also mentioned as the main reason of the failure and interruption of long standing collaborations. Furthermore, the i) imbalanced power between cooperating parties, ii) insufficient resources and highest changes required, iii) quality problems or iiii) better alternatives have been found as reasons to break up business relation‐ ships. Finally, to avoid dependency from other firms is also mentioned; as well as the time and money investment to innovate within a network was seen as unprofitable in certain circum‐ stances. In addition it is also remarkable that more than the half of firms who disclaims problem or conflicts in collaboration are mainly the smaller ones. Surprisingly, there is a strong tendency among these managers to regard relationships in some general way as a "good thing" and there is also a common belief that all partners work towards closer and mutual relations.

A general agreement among all interviews regarded the belief that the cooperation for innovation needs openness as well as transparency on interests and on the own contribution. The partners should operate at the same eye-level and respect each other, develop together something new while building upon existing knowledge and both benefit from the coopera‐ tion. Both should be ready to invest time and efforts into cooperation. Long lasting, personal relationships and trust has been said to be essential for cooperation. Transparency and openness, collegiality and a good gut feeling have been seen by all interviewees as essential for cooperation at the same eye level and to avoid conflicts.

Again, the trust issue has been mentioned as a key driver of networking orientation of SMEs with the distinctive feature that trust is perceived to be built gradually through the continuity of cooperation among partners. A deep understanding of shared risks as well as of mutual benefits of all network partners have been identified as trigger to the openness of firms and to team working allowing to focus on common goals amongst all network members. Personal and face to face daily contacts - often within existing long standing relationships –have been seen as the preferred way to collaborate and to solve conflicts.

## **5.3. Barriers and enabler to inter-organisational learning**

expectations. A barrier to cooperation is also the necessity to confidentiality of new ideas. Some interviewees underlined that the number of partners involved into an innovation project

Looking at the difficulties, more than half of the interviewees declared that collaboration is not always easy. More into detail, some interviewees mentioned the difficulty to share information in real time; others referred to procedural and routine problems arising from the interaction between organizations with different process rules. Technological and technical difficulties have been mentioned mainly with reference to supply chain and R&D relationships where a larger distance has been perceived with respect to knowledge and experience background of partners. One interviewee well elicited this issue indicating that it is difficult (though not impossible) to work with specialized suppliers because of their different views on time, technology and ways of working. Similarly, to work with universities or R&D agencies needs the parties to get first used to each other. Within the perception of the most of interviewees these aspects represents the major challenge of collaboration for innovation. It has been widely outlined by the interviewees that the firms really innovate if they are able to conduct and participate in exploratory activity outside of their organizational boundaries absorbing novel practices from external. In addition, a difficulty other interviewees referred to is the lack of a shared vision with the partners and missing clarity in communication and the definition of

When asked to expand on the reasons of such difficulties, a majority of respondents referred to the presence of cultural, organizational and resource-related barriers. Particularly trust issues, distances (geographical, dimensional, technological and commercial) between firms and strategic competences exchange increases the risk perceived by the interviewees to

The lack of trust and benefits understanding have also mentioned as the main reason of the failure and interruption of long standing collaborations. Furthermore, the i) imbalanced power between cooperating parties, ii) insufficient resources and highest changes required, iii) quality problems or iiii) better alternatives have been found as reasons to break up business relation‐ ships. Finally, to avoid dependency from other firms is also mentioned; as well as the time and money investment to innovate within a network was seen as unprofitable in certain circum‐ stances. In addition it is also remarkable that more than the half of firms who disclaims problem or conflicts in collaboration are mainly the smaller ones. Surprisingly, there is a strong tendency among these managers to regard relationships in some general way as a "good thing" and there is also a common belief that all partners work towards closer and mutual relations.

A general agreement among all interviews regarded the belief that the cooperation for innovation needs openness as well as transparency on interests and on the own contribution. The partners should operate at the same eye-level and respect each other, develop together something new while building upon existing knowledge and both benefit from the coopera‐ tion. Both should be ready to invest time and efforts into cooperation. Long lasting, personal relationships and trust has been said to be essential for cooperation. Transparency and openness, collegiality and a good gut feeling have been seen by all interviewees as essential

should not be too big because otherwise, the process is too slow.

goals and expectations.

660 Food Industry

integrate into and participate in innovation networks.

for cooperation at the same eye level and to avoid conflicts.

Discussing on barrier and enabler to inter-organisational learning the main finding which is noticeable is that about all firms (there is only two exception,one for each market) declared that innovation partnerships allow them to increase their competence and knowledge assets. First of all the complementary nature of knowledge and competence predominates innovation relationships. Acquisition and upgrading of technical and technological competences have been seen as the main results of learning collaboration by about the half of investigated firms. Interviewees from the other half of firms declared that their company mainly benefits from the development of market capability and subsequent increases of the market perception of firm offerings' value.

To improve the ability to learn is also mentioned as core element of innovation relationships by about two thirds of respondents. The interviewees stated that collaborating in innovation networks allows them to i) better define what they want and what is expected by partners, ii) develop a clearer vision of their relationships, iii) gain better insights on external knowledge through understanding its meaning for the own organization. As main inter-organizational learning results medium companies valued the better understanding of causes and conse‐ quences of their actions that allows for the detection and correction of errors. Some interview‐ ees stressed the unlearning issue as an open approach to innovation. Innovation in networks is mentioned to promote the company to proactively question its older routines, assertions and beliefs and fostering the need of dismissing or replacing outdated knowledge.

Among those interviewees who confirmed the learning results of innovation network rela‐ tionships, only a minor part identified some barriers or obstacles to their learning processes. The latter have been mainly identified as cultural and power distances between partners or low commitment of partners too. These difficulties have been often seen in relation to the different business and value chain position of partners. In addition, some interviewees stated to be not aware of competences and activities of their partners and this obviously leads to an inadequate understanding and knowledge of the competences available in the network. A common language is required to reduce the distance between partners and to reinforce social and cognitive dimension.

At the opposite site, the complementarities of the partners' knowledge have been seen as the main stimulus to the learning processes. Cultural issues instead feed a contrasting debate: whereas some interviewees named cultural barriers as critical obstacles, others perceived them as a trigger allowing a different view on problem solving issues. When supported by personal and social ties, the different culture of partners has been seen as great opportunity for a more effective knowledge integration allowing the firm to increase flexibility and therefore its ability to seize strategic opportunities.

of Smes to innovation (Holmlund, Kock, 1996) has been proved by our results and extended to networking and learning orientation of the Smes. Cognitive and relational benefits consist of knowledge developed through "on the job" interaction: by solving together common problems Smes improve their processes without having to re-invent the wheel and partners advance their knowledge about potentiality of Smes and needs of upgrading their involvement and interactions. In addition the results show the considerable benefits from the reference effect of the relationships (Ritter and Gemünden, 2004). For the more knowledgeable Smes the interaction for innovation allows the access in a wider network of connected relationships and

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In sum, the resource and power asymmetries seem to be perceived as a trigger for network and learning interaction. This suggests that the matter of asymmetries seem to be none the most critical to innovation and learning network relationships. A general view is that innova‐ tion partnerships tend to perceived to offer a lot also to the less powerful partners mainly in

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right-balancing trust and contracting", *Technovation*,. , 25, 497-504.

research capacities", *Research Policy*, 31(5), 735-747.

to better position themselves in value networks.

terms of learning and knowledge issue.

Maria Colurcio1\* and Tiziana Russo-Spena2

2 Università Federico II of Naples, Italy

1 University Magna Graecia of Catanzaro, Italy

**Author details**

**References**

317-336.

*ment*, , 15

## **6. Discussion and conclusion**

The works aimed to advance the state of the art in research on network innovation in SMEs by developing a deep understanding of barriers and enablers to cooperation and learning. In particular, the work aimed at identifying networking attitudes, preferences and practices of food processing SMEs that are relevant to the innovation development in Italian food sector.

The main conclusions from our study are that food SMEs are orientated to collaborate with partners for innovation. Cooperation in innovation networks seems to be important to them – as long as it brings mutual benefits and partners cooperate at the same eye level. However, the innovation openness is focused on some privileged relationships with few partners often belonged to the current network of SMEs where long lasting relationship lleviates trust concerns. Like this, the results highlight the importance of trust in innovation relationships. The processes of developing collaborative innovation is little formalized and based on personal in nature and daily relationships.

We also find that size matters. We identified some differences between the partners of the collaborative relationship for innovation depending on small companies and medium companies in our sample. Small companies seems to work closer with small clients similar to their background of knowledge and routine. Medium companies are used to cooperate with universities and research institutions and like this gain access to very specific technological know-how. The stronger cooperation with the research world explains a wider opening towards the development of new knowledge and indicates that medium companies frame innovation in a long term vision. We didn't notice the same tendency for small food processing SME. This evidence highlights a critical point for Italian small companies, the difficulty to access some kinds of relationship which are not finalized to a specific project but to a wider cooperation of knowledge and development.

For all SMEs in our sample, suppliers are the most important partners with whom innovation cooperation is developed; while a strong innovation dependence characterizes the value chain relationships involving unbalanced partners. Mainly little 1st processing SME are usually more dependent on the bigger 2st processing for innovation whereas the latter are more dependent from large distributers. Like this, dependence of partners in network innovation along the agrifood supply chain always also includes effects of moving costs for innovation development down to the weakest partner. However, even in such a situation the involvement in the innovation network is of mutual benefit for both partners as the larger partner offers marketing and technological input for the improve of products. Surprisingly for small companies the matter of unbalanced power has not been mentioned as critical. The reason might be that they usually operate in a niche and grow together with small clients and suppliers in partnership.

At the basis of innovation collaborations the results highlight the research of resource and knowledge complementarities (Lampela and Kärkäinen 2009). The learn by doing approach of Smes to innovation (Holmlund, Kock, 1996) has been proved by our results and extended to networking and learning orientation of the Smes. Cognitive and relational benefits consist of knowledge developed through "on the job" interaction: by solving together common problems Smes improve their processes without having to re-invent the wheel and partners advance their knowledge about potentiality of Smes and needs of upgrading their involvement and interactions. In addition the results show the considerable benefits from the reference effect of the relationships (Ritter and Gemünden, 2004). For the more knowledgeable Smes the interaction for innovation allows the access in a wider network of connected relationships and to better position themselves in value networks.

In sum, the resource and power asymmetries seem to be perceived as a trigger for network and learning interaction. This suggests that the matter of asymmetries seem to be none the most critical to innovation and learning network relationships. A general view is that innova‐ tion partnerships tend to perceived to offer a lot also to the less powerful partners mainly in terms of learning and knowledge issue.

## **Author details**

effective knowledge integration allowing the firm to increase flexibility and therefore its ability

The works aimed to advance the state of the art in research on network innovation in SMEs by developing a deep understanding of barriers and enablers to cooperation and learning. In particular, the work aimed at identifying networking attitudes, preferences and practices of food processing SMEs that are relevant to the innovation development in Italian food sector. The main conclusions from our study are that food SMEs are orientated to collaborate with partners for innovation. Cooperation in innovation networks seems to be important to them – as long as it brings mutual benefits and partners cooperate at the same eye level. However, the innovation openness is focused on some privileged relationships with few partners often belonged to the current network of SMEs where long lasting relationship lleviates trust concerns. Like this, the results highlight the importance of trust in innovation relationships. The processes of developing collaborative innovation is little formalized and based on personal

We also find that size matters. We identified some differences between the partners of the collaborative relationship for innovation depending on small companies and medium companies in our sample. Small companies seems to work closer with small clients similar to their background of knowledge and routine. Medium companies are used to cooperate with universities and research institutions and like this gain access to very specific technological know-how. The stronger cooperation with the research world explains a wider opening towards the development of new knowledge and indicates that medium companies frame innovation in a long term vision. We didn't notice the same tendency for small food processing SME. This evidence highlights a critical point for Italian small companies, the difficulty to access some kinds of relationship which are not finalized to a specific project but to a wider

For all SMEs in our sample, suppliers are the most important partners with whom innovation cooperation is developed; while a strong innovation dependence characterizes the value chain relationships involving unbalanced partners. Mainly little 1st processing SME are usually more dependent on the bigger 2st processing for innovation whereas the latter are more dependent from large distributers. Like this, dependence of partners in network innovation along the agrifood supply chain always also includes effects of moving costs for innovation development down to the weakest partner. However, even in such a situation the involvement in the innovation network is of mutual benefit for both partners as the larger partner offers marketing and technological input for the improve of products. Surprisingly for small companies the matter of unbalanced power has not been mentioned as critical. The reason might be that they usually operate in a niche and grow together with small clients and suppliers in partnership. At the basis of innovation collaborations the results highlight the research of resource and knowledge complementarities (Lampela and Kärkäinen 2009). The learn by doing approach

to seize strategic opportunities.

662 Food Industry

**6. Discussion and conclusion**

in nature and daily relationships.

cooperation of knowledge and development.

Maria Colurcio1\* and Tiziana Russo-Spena2

1 University Magna Graecia of Catanzaro, Italy

2 Università Federico II of Naples, Italy

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**Chapter 29**

**Adding Value in Food Production**

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/53174

**1. Introduction**

Rebecca Dare, Håkan Jönsson and Hans Knutsson

tice of value adding 'authenticity' to food products is revealed.

to the value of Applied Cultural Analysis in food development.

with value adding authenticity in their food products

**1.1. Adding value – A problem definition**

This chapter investigates the practice of value adding in food production, by taking a view from a food manufacturer that has found itself in recent years increasingly integrated into the food industry: small-scale farming Producers. Specifically, their construction and prac‐

The objective of this chapter is twofold. One is to study the process of and provide a new perspective on value adding, with an emphasis towards 'authenticity' in food. This exami‐ nation delivers new knowledge and provides future direction to small scale farming Pro‐ ducers and the wider food industry. The secondary objective is to provide a demonstration

The practices of small-scale Producers will be explored through an ethnographic approach, combining participant observation and interview. This investigation intend to uncover how and what is value added by small scale Producers: in the values they infuse in their food commodities, of the value found in their way of life, and the value in their production prac‐ tices. It is an examination of the small, unconscious acts revealed through ethnographic en‐ quiry and the lens of cultural theory to reveal the practice of value adding 'authenticity' as a culturally constructed act. These findings will be demonstrated as important not only for Producers in understanding their practices, but also for the wider food industry concerned

First of all we have to establish what *value* is. When following, in a business context, the enduser of a product or service appreciates its use, he or she values the consumption. In return for the value that the business firm produces, the customer pays for the value. The *economic value* is determined by the subtraction of cost (effort) from the perceived benefit of using the

and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2013 Dare et al.; licensee InTech. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use,

© 2013 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution,

distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.


## **Adding Value in Food Production**

Rebecca Dare, Håkan Jönsson and Hans Knutsson

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/53174

## **1. Introduction**

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This chapter investigates the practice of value adding in food production, by taking a view from a food manufacturer that has found itself in recent years increasingly integrated into the food industry: small-scale farming Producers. Specifically, their construction and prac‐ tice of value adding 'authenticity' to food products is revealed.

The objective of this chapter is twofold. One is to study the process of and provide a new perspective on value adding, with an emphasis towards 'authenticity' in food. This exami‐ nation delivers new knowledge and provides future direction to small scale farming Pro‐ ducers and the wider food industry. The secondary objective is to provide a demonstration to the value of Applied Cultural Analysis in food development.

The practices of small-scale Producers will be explored through an ethnographic approach, combining participant observation and interview. This investigation intend to uncover how and what is value added by small scale Producers: in the values they infuse in their food commodities, of the value found in their way of life, and the value in their production prac‐ tices. It is an examination of the small, unconscious acts revealed through ethnographic en‐ quiry and the lens of cultural theory to reveal the practice of value adding 'authenticity' as a culturally constructed act. These findings will be demonstrated as important not only for Producers in understanding their practices, but also for the wider food industry concerned with value adding authenticity in their food products

## **1.1. Adding value – A problem definition**

First of all we have to establish what *value* is. When following, in a business context, the enduser of a product or service appreciates its use, he or she values the consumption. In return for the value that the business firm produces, the customer pays for the value. The *economic value* is determined by the subtraction of cost (effort) from the perceived benefit of using the

product in question (Peteraf and Barney, 2003). Perceived benefits, then could be anything – status, self-confidence, health, satiety, excitement or whatever the user gets from the prod‐ uct.

uct… not only does cooking mark the transition from nature to culture, but through it and

Adding Value in Food Production http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/53174 671

Focusing on the words of mediation, transformation and culture, cooking can be viewed as a process to *mediate* what and how is added in, or transited out; to *transform* into a final prod‐ uct is a practice to inscribe *cultural* meaning to the human state. It's the selection of these elements that positions the function of the cook (or food manufacturer) as a *mediator* at the conjunction of final product to the consumer and therefore places them in the position of cultural agent(s). Culture becomes an important part of the production in cooking - the com‐ bination of what cultural meaning and associations are selected and represented in this transformation *is* the challenge in 'cooking' and thus the 'value add'. Cultural processing and processes bind the selection of chosen elements that can be simplicity, rarity and tradi‐ tion. Therefore to produce a 'value added' food product, an understanding of cultural proc‐

by means of it, the human state can be defined with all its attributes" (p. 164-5).

esses is required – a complex task in which the food industry finds itself involved.

people to warrant continued distribution" (Connor & Schiek, 1997).

share who we are and what we believe in (Identity Advertising, 2007, p. 2).

in their advertising plans:

According to Mintel (2011), an astonishing 20,000 new "value added" products per month are launched in the global food industry. However, a demonstration of the complexity in‐ volved with cultural interpretation, and just how challenging creating a cultural product can be, is found in the exceptionally high failure rate, "exceeding 90 per cent for some catego‐ ries, which suggests that firms have difficulty in developing products that appeal to enough

Combined, this has created a food industry both focused on creating new added-value prod‐ ucts while at the same time, working to minimise the potential risk of failure and subse‐ quent economic loss. The sheer number of products also hints to the increasing complexity of adding value to products by the inscription of cultural values. These cultural values often take the form of ideologies, experiences, morals, mythology, magic and sometimes illusion infused within the product offer and branding, such as Coca Cola's inscription to transform a carbonated soft drink to the embodiment of the spirit and essence of America, summarised

Coke is real, authentic, honest, passionate and refreshing. It taught us to sing in perfect harmony. It even introduced us to Santa Claus. Coke is the kind of cultural fabric that unites all of us in some way. It has always encouraged us to

The creation of 'value added' inscribed in food is thus an effort to elicit emotion from con‐ sumers and entice them to spend more money in return for feeling this emotion. Value add‐ ing is a basis for economic gain via emotion, and it is emotion that becomes critical in the evaluation of how successful a value add food product is. It is also one of the more difficult to interpret – one cannot simply walk up to a consumer and ask what their emotions regard‐ ing a certain product are – they would not be able to tell you. It leaves mediators (cooks) charged with the responsibility to decode cultural meaning and charge their products with it by their practices. It also leaves the assessment of their labours as ephemeral and complex. It is information that needs to be teased out, tantalisingly revealed and then hidden, uncov‐

A simplistic view of adding value to food brings with it straightforward notions of 'adding' to raw ingredients and processing them in a way that increases economic return. A useful supporting definition of this starting view to 'value added' is provided by the United States Department of Commerce and Industry, which outlines any processing of food as a value added act in and of itself:

Processed foods are "value-added" products, referring to the fact that a raw commodity or commodities are trans‐ formed into a processed product through use of materials, labour, and technology. Any product that requires some degree of processing is referred to as a processed product, regardless of whether the amount of processing is minor, such as for canned fruit, or more complex, such as for snack foods (2008; p. 3)

However, the processing of food is not as straightforward as gathering materials, labour and technology together equals automatically producing a value added product. In recent years, a increased emphasis on the addition of *culture* as a value is an evident phenomenon in the food market today that introduces an element of complexity and requires deeper investiga‐ tion and further definition. Paul DuGay and Friedmann defines the addition of culture *as a value* that adds the "inscription of meanings and associations as they are produced and cir‐ culated in a conscious attempt to generate desire for them amongst end users" (DuGay & Friedmann, 2002, p. 7).

In close connection to the discussion of culture as value is the commercial value of *authentici‐ ty* in food products. Several large industry consultant groups refer to the importance of val‐ ue adding, with statements such as:

Key trends to impact the food and beverage market through 2012 and beyond… relate to purity, authenticity and sus‐ tainability, as consumers continue to look for products with added value. (Innova Market Insights, 2011)

Added value still matters. Despite lingering economic uncertainty and mounting scrutiny of product health claims, consumers remain willing to spend a bit more on food that does, or stands for, 'something'. (Euromonitor Internation‐ al, 2010)

Value adding could be seen as the reinvention of product for economic gain. But what is the reinvention happening - what are the processes at play? Let's continue with the idea of proc‐ essing as value adding in food. This processing of a raw commodity to product can also be described as a process of cooking. The french anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss (1994), wrote in his classical article on the culinary triangle about the processes of cooking and de‐ scribed it as an "…act of mediation, where we transform raw materials into a cooked prod‐ uct… not only does cooking mark the transition from nature to culture, but through it and by means of it, the human state can be defined with all its attributes" (p. 164-5).

product in question (Peteraf and Barney, 2003). Perceived benefits, then could be anything – status, self-confidence, health, satiety, excitement or whatever the user gets from the prod‐

A simplistic view of adding value to food brings with it straightforward notions of 'adding' to raw ingredients and processing them in a way that increases economic return. A useful supporting definition of this starting view to 'value added' is provided by the United States Department of Commerce and Industry, which outlines any processing of food as a value

Processed foods are "value-added" products, referring to the fact that a raw commodity or commodities are trans‐ formed into a processed product through use of materials, labour, and technology. Any product that requires some degree of processing is referred to as a processed product, regardless of whether the amount of processing is minor,

However, the processing of food is not as straightforward as gathering materials, labour and technology together equals automatically producing a value added product. In recent years, a increased emphasis on the addition of *culture* as a value is an evident phenomenon in the food market today that introduces an element of complexity and requires deeper investiga‐ tion and further definition. Paul DuGay and Friedmann defines the addition of culture *as a value* that adds the "inscription of meanings and associations as they are produced and cir‐ culated in a conscious attempt to generate desire for them amongst end users" (DuGay &

In close connection to the discussion of culture as value is the commercial value of *authentici‐ ty* in food products. Several large industry consultant groups refer to the importance of val‐

Key trends to impact the food and beverage market through 2012 and beyond… relate to purity, authenticity and sus‐

Added value still matters. Despite lingering economic uncertainty and mounting scrutiny of product health claims, consumers remain willing to spend a bit more on food that does, or stands for, 'something'. (Euromonitor Internation‐

Value adding could be seen as the reinvention of product for economic gain. But what is the reinvention happening - what are the processes at play? Let's continue with the idea of proc‐ essing as value adding in food. This processing of a raw commodity to product can also be described as a process of cooking. The french anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss (1994), wrote in his classical article on the culinary triangle about the processes of cooking and de‐ scribed it as an "…act of mediation, where we transform raw materials into a cooked prod‐

tainability, as consumers continue to look for products with added value. (Innova Market Insights, 2011)

such as for canned fruit, or more complex, such as for snack foods (2008; p. 3)

uct.

670 Food Industry

added act in and of itself:

Friedmann, 2002, p. 7).

al, 2010)

ue adding, with statements such as:

Focusing on the words of mediation, transformation and culture, cooking can be viewed as a process to *mediate* what and how is added in, or transited out; to *transform* into a final prod‐ uct is a practice to inscribe *cultural* meaning to the human state. It's the selection of these elements that positions the function of the cook (or food manufacturer) as a *mediator* at the conjunction of final product to the consumer and therefore places them in the position of cultural agent(s). Culture becomes an important part of the production in cooking - the com‐ bination of what cultural meaning and associations are selected and represented in this transformation *is* the challenge in 'cooking' and thus the 'value add'. Cultural processing and processes bind the selection of chosen elements that can be simplicity, rarity and tradi‐ tion. Therefore to produce a 'value added' food product, an understanding of cultural proc‐ esses is required – a complex task in which the food industry finds itself involved.

According to Mintel (2011), an astonishing 20,000 new "value added" products per month are launched in the global food industry. However, a demonstration of the complexity in‐ volved with cultural interpretation, and just how challenging creating a cultural product can be, is found in the exceptionally high failure rate, "exceeding 90 per cent for some catego‐ ries, which suggests that firms have difficulty in developing products that appeal to enough people to warrant continued distribution" (Connor & Schiek, 1997).

Combined, this has created a food industry both focused on creating new added-value prod‐ ucts while at the same time, working to minimise the potential risk of failure and subse‐ quent economic loss. The sheer number of products also hints to the increasing complexity of adding value to products by the inscription of cultural values. These cultural values often take the form of ideologies, experiences, morals, mythology, magic and sometimes illusion infused within the product offer and branding, such as Coca Cola's inscription to transform a carbonated soft drink to the embodiment of the spirit and essence of America, summarised in their advertising plans:

Coke is real, authentic, honest, passionate and refreshing. It taught us to sing in perfect harmony. It even introduced us to Santa Claus. Coke is the kind of cultural fabric that unites all of us in some way. It has always encouraged us to share who we are and what we believe in (Identity Advertising, 2007, p. 2).

The creation of 'value added' inscribed in food is thus an effort to elicit emotion from con‐ sumers and entice them to spend more money in return for feeling this emotion. Value add‐ ing is a basis for economic gain via emotion, and it is emotion that becomes critical in the evaluation of how successful a value add food product is. It is also one of the more difficult to interpret – one cannot simply walk up to a consumer and ask what their emotions regard‐ ing a certain product are – they would not be able to tell you. It leaves mediators (cooks) charged with the responsibility to decode cultural meaning and charge their products with it by their practices. It also leaves the assessment of their labours as ephemeral and complex. It is information that needs to be teased out, tantalisingly revealed and then hidden, uncov‐ ered by other means - lending qualitative research methods such as ethnology and anthro‐ pology as critical in the understanding and evaluation of value added food.

**2. Understanding value adding**

**2.1. Food and cultural studies traditions**

Mary Douglas (1996, p. 123).

reveal.

There is a long tradition in cultural and sociological food studies regarding the *consumption* or *meaning of food* and does provide a basis for understanding a consumer perspective, and how demand is created. Existing food studies credit food consumption for a vast array of cultural process from the reproduction of a stable society (Lupton, 1996; Goody, 1982), the decoder of the unconscious attitudes of a society (Levi Strauss, 1994), of nationality (Barthes, 1967), as an indicator of class (Mennell, Murcott & van Otterloo, 1992; Bourdieu, 1984), social significance (what is important in a given society) (Douglas, 1982), to the relation of food in feminist studies and body shape (Adams, 1990). Taken together, these studies point to food

Adding Value in Food Production http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/53174 673

In narrowing to the central theme of this chapter - value adding and authenticity - the cen‐ tral ideas that emerge from a consumer perspective is that consumption of small-scale, au‐ thentic food is enjoyed largely by the elite upper classes in westernised societies – the diets of the poor have remained relatively unchanged: they are excluded from this possibility (Bourdieu, 1994). However, Alan Warde (1997) argues that the emphasis is shifting from class formation towards the formation of new groups in society that share 'lifestyle' rather than social class, and the consumption of 'authentic' food is a representation of chosen life‐ style group. A study by Anthony Giddens (1991) takes a wider view, outlining that the agency of consumers is emphasised over both the social and economic structures in which they find themselves, and this is a crucial means of establishing an individual's identity. The emergence of consumption of small-scale authentic food is also evidently associated with the mitigation of food risk and potential for disease as explored by Ulrich Beck (1992) and

Further, in specific regard to the term of authenticity, a concrete definition is a little difficult to locate. It has been described as a product of shared systems of signification (Ashley et al, 2004, p. 7) and is a modern phenomenon (Appadurai, 1986). What constitutes as 'authentic' changes over time (Peterson, 1997), an example of which is exemplified with the shift in lard heavy foods recipes - such as Cassoulet - where goose fat may be substituted for cheaper and lighter alternative fat sources but still acceptably remains an authentic French dish.

In some cases, authenticity has been deciphered as an act of micro-resistance to dominant forms of cultural production (De Certeau, M; Giard, L & Mayol. P, 1998) - where one makes an appeal for authenticity in response to their perception of *in*authenticity in others. For ex‐ ample, you are what you *don't* eat. Josée Johnston & Shydon Baumann (2010, p. 70) provide a key view on authenticity with their claim that it "doesn't really exist" as it is socially con‐ structed. The definitions of authenticity are difficult to define concretely and are deliberately vague in use here, as it is the cultural construction through practice that this thesis aims to

It's important to note that the term of 'consumer' can be applied to Producers in this chap‐ ter, also - after all, as we all are when it comes to food - the small-scale producers in this

as central to culture, a suitably broad implication that requires narrowing.

For the food industry, the tension created between potential and seemingly boundless crea‐ tive transformative opportunity available in developing 'new' value added products is bal‐ anced against the underlying understanding of risk in both the emotive assessment of the culture that is infused and also in economic terms has led to, as Belasco (1989, p. 210) states, "corporate conservatism", neatly outlining a response from the food industry to address both perceived risks: there has been increased focus to consumer-directed research, in some instances as broadly to elevate its importance into the heart of day to day business opera‐ tions, while at the same time to reduce the costs in bringing a product to market. The emer‐ gence of qualitative research methods to uncover 'insight' in the food industry saw an increasing investment to understanding food consumption within a daily life context when developing value added products. This however, is a difficult task when we consider the unconsciousness of taste and how unaware we can be about the food we eat on a daily basis.

The environment in which we eat our meals also demonstrates the quiet absorption of food into the background of daily life. In a 2011 report, it was suggested that in an average per‐ son's day, 56% of the time spent eating (85 of 152 total minutes) is while engaged in another activity considered primary such as watching television, driving, preparing meals, or work‐ ing (Hamrick, 2011, p. 5). We're not even paying full attention to over half the food that goes in our mouths, yet significant amounts of time and money are invested by large food manu‐ facturers trying to get consumers to tell them why they eat what they do.

The complexity in dissecting everyday life within business constraints such as timelines / budgets in a climate of conservatism and cost reduction has conceivably led to an avoidance of radically innovative products.

The reduction of economic risk by bringing down costs in value adding is also demonstrat‐ ed with the use of materials (such as synthetic / non-food additives, flavour enhancers, thickeners, colours, stabilizers), a change in business operations such as off shore manufac‐ turing, combined actions of which have increased the length and complexity of the food chain and the distance – both geographical and mental - between the raw and the cooked. It is this distance created over the past 50 years that's had a hand in creating the demand for authentic products and places small-scale production in the position it finds itself today.

Given the ongoing involvement and importance of value adding authenticity in food by these large companies, it may seem surprising that small-scale food Producers were not run out of the industry long ago. Instead, these Producers find themselves in a strong and grow‐ ing position within the food market for value added authenticity. For example, direct to con‐ sumer sales from small scale farming production have grown 104.7% from 1997 to 2007 (Martinez, 2010), and 60% of the Swedish population prefers to buy local produce (Ekelund, Fernqvist & Tjärnemo, 2007, p. 233).

## **2. Understanding value adding**

ered by other means - lending qualitative research methods such as ethnology and anthro‐

For the food industry, the tension created between potential and seemingly boundless crea‐ tive transformative opportunity available in developing 'new' value added products is bal‐ anced against the underlying understanding of risk in both the emotive assessment of the culture that is infused and also in economic terms has led to, as Belasco (1989, p. 210) states, "corporate conservatism", neatly outlining a response from the food industry to address both perceived risks: there has been increased focus to consumer-directed research, in some instances as broadly to elevate its importance into the heart of day to day business opera‐ tions, while at the same time to reduce the costs in bringing a product to market. The emer‐ gence of qualitative research methods to uncover 'insight' in the food industry saw an increasing investment to understanding food consumption within a daily life context when developing value added products. This however, is a difficult task when we consider the unconsciousness of taste and how unaware we can be about the food we eat on a daily basis.

The environment in which we eat our meals also demonstrates the quiet absorption of food into the background of daily life. In a 2011 report, it was suggested that in an average per‐ son's day, 56% of the time spent eating (85 of 152 total minutes) is while engaged in another activity considered primary such as watching television, driving, preparing meals, or work‐ ing (Hamrick, 2011, p. 5). We're not even paying full attention to over half the food that goes in our mouths, yet significant amounts of time and money are invested by large food manu‐

The complexity in dissecting everyday life within business constraints such as timelines / budgets in a climate of conservatism and cost reduction has conceivably led to an avoidance

The reduction of economic risk by bringing down costs in value adding is also demonstrat‐ ed with the use of materials (such as synthetic / non-food additives, flavour enhancers, thickeners, colours, stabilizers), a change in business operations such as off shore manufac‐ turing, combined actions of which have increased the length and complexity of the food chain and the distance – both geographical and mental - between the raw and the cooked. It is this distance created over the past 50 years that's had a hand in creating the demand for authentic products and places small-scale production in the position it finds itself today.

Given the ongoing involvement and importance of value adding authenticity in food by these large companies, it may seem surprising that small-scale food Producers were not run out of the industry long ago. Instead, these Producers find themselves in a strong and grow‐ ing position within the food market for value added authenticity. For example, direct to con‐ sumer sales from small scale farming production have grown 104.7% from 1997 to 2007 (Martinez, 2010), and 60% of the Swedish population prefers to buy local produce (Ekelund,

facturers trying to get consumers to tell them why they eat what they do.

of radically innovative products.

672 Food Industry

Fernqvist & Tjärnemo, 2007, p. 233).

pology as critical in the understanding and evaluation of value added food.

### **2.1. Food and cultural studies traditions**

There is a long tradition in cultural and sociological food studies regarding the *consumption* or *meaning of food* and does provide a basis for understanding a consumer perspective, and how demand is created. Existing food studies credit food consumption for a vast array of cultural process from the reproduction of a stable society (Lupton, 1996; Goody, 1982), the decoder of the unconscious attitudes of a society (Levi Strauss, 1994), of nationality (Barthes, 1967), as an indicator of class (Mennell, Murcott & van Otterloo, 1992; Bourdieu, 1984), social significance (what is important in a given society) (Douglas, 1982), to the relation of food in feminist studies and body shape (Adams, 1990). Taken together, these studies point to food as central to culture, a suitably broad implication that requires narrowing.

In narrowing to the central theme of this chapter - value adding and authenticity - the cen‐ tral ideas that emerge from a consumer perspective is that consumption of small-scale, au‐ thentic food is enjoyed largely by the elite upper classes in westernised societies – the diets of the poor have remained relatively unchanged: they are excluded from this possibility (Bourdieu, 1994). However, Alan Warde (1997) argues that the emphasis is shifting from class formation towards the formation of new groups in society that share 'lifestyle' rather than social class, and the consumption of 'authentic' food is a representation of chosen life‐ style group. A study by Anthony Giddens (1991) takes a wider view, outlining that the agency of consumers is emphasised over both the social and economic structures in which they find themselves, and this is a crucial means of establishing an individual's identity. The emergence of consumption of small-scale authentic food is also evidently associated with the mitigation of food risk and potential for disease as explored by Ulrich Beck (1992) and Mary Douglas (1996, p. 123).

Further, in specific regard to the term of authenticity, a concrete definition is a little difficult to locate. It has been described as a product of shared systems of signification (Ashley et al, 2004, p. 7) and is a modern phenomenon (Appadurai, 1986). What constitutes as 'authentic' changes over time (Peterson, 1997), an example of which is exemplified with the shift in lard heavy foods recipes - such as Cassoulet - where goose fat may be substituted for cheaper and lighter alternative fat sources but still acceptably remains an authentic French dish.

In some cases, authenticity has been deciphered as an act of micro-resistance to dominant forms of cultural production (De Certeau, M; Giard, L & Mayol. P, 1998) - where one makes an appeal for authenticity in response to their perception of *in*authenticity in others. For ex‐ ample, you are what you *don't* eat. Josée Johnston & Shydon Baumann (2010, p. 70) provide a key view on authenticity with their claim that it "doesn't really exist" as it is socially con‐ structed. The definitions of authenticity are difficult to define concretely and are deliberately vague in use here, as it is the cultural construction through practice that this thesis aims to reveal.

It's important to note that the term of 'consumer' can be applied to Producers in this chap‐ ter, also - after all, as we all are when it comes to food - the small-scale producers in this study are consumers, too. There is argument that Producers are developing products they personally consume.

ers develop to sell their products are in part to create emotion further embeds them in the

Adding Value in Food Production http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/53174 675

It is here that I position small-scale Producers - within the New and Experience Economies, producing products inscribed with cultural values: but as will be shown, the inscriptions made utilise previously held cultural knowledge. The role of those who create cultural in‐

This process, they argue has been accompanied by the increased influence of what are often termed the 'cultural inter‐ mediary occupations' of advertising, designing and marketing; those practitioners who play a pivotal role in articulat‐ ing production with consumption by attempting to associate goods and services with particular cultural meanings and to address those values to prospective buyers… these signifying practices in doing business is evident not only in the production, design and marketing of goods and services, but also the internal life of organisations as well (as quoted in

This further embeds the position of cooks as 'cultural intermediaries'. Another key support‐ ing element of Lash & Urry's description is the increased importance accorded to signifying practices that create symbolic value in the production of goods and services, such as those of small-scale Producers under investigation here. It also calls into account for the wider food industry to understand that it's not only the communication messages that are interpreted

Accordingly, an investigation of understood cultural values and production processes over time provides foundational information in understanding the context of value adding in the New Economy. Searching the historical roots of the emergence of late modern value added food production, Warren Belasco stress the importance of the radical counter cuisine against mainstream food ways that began to emerge from 1966. Some of the more important ele‐

**•** A consumerist component offered survivalist advice and suggested what to avoid, espe‐

**•** New ways to make food more fun - e.g. through the delight of improvisation, craftsman‐

**•** The organic paradigm, which posited a radically decentralised infrastructure consisting of communal farms, cooperative groceries, and hip restaurants (Belasco, 1989, p. 4).

While the countercuisine initially was interpreted as a threat by the major food companies, the ideas soon became the main inspiration source for product development. The wide range of rural, authentic, hand made, old-fashioned, ethnic and light products launched the last decades owe a lot to the counterculture of the 1960s and supports the use of this theory

Further support that these elements are still in demand today is an appreciation that the de‐ centralised infrastructure Belasco refers also includes Farmers Markets, Farm Shops and

experience economy.

duGay & Pryke, 2002, p. 7).

ments were:

cially processed 'plastic' food.

ship, ethnic and regional cooking.

as still applicable in the food industry today.

scriptions is continued by Lash & Urry:

here: it is the reading of the entire production process.

#### **2.2. A new food economy**

The increasing intertwinement of "culture" and "economy" is a focal point in both cultural studies and economics during recent years (duGay & Pryke (2002), Pine & Gilmore (1993), Lash & Urry (2002)). The framework of a "New Economy" based on cultural values with la‐ bels such as Experience Economy or Dream Society has been launched during the last deca‐ des. We will discuss some of the major writings in order to define their usefulness for understanding an emerging "New Food Economy" with cultural production of added value as a common denominator. Firstly, the definition of New Economy in use here is reference to the increasing intertwinement of symbolic cultural messages and economic processes, the desired outcome of which is economic gain. The use of symbolic cultural messages is a key element in the New Economy, as it involves the responsibility for consumers to develop skills in 'reading' cultural values and, as Lash & Urry (2002) and duGay & Pryke (2002) point out, brings in references to the New Economy as being an 'economy of signs'. DuGay & Pryke's argument also outlines that there are an increasing number of goods and services that can be regarded as 'cultural' goods. Their use of 'cultural' goods refers to the inscription of meanings and associations to elicit consumer desire for their purchase - exactly what our cooks are trying to achieve - but from this view it is unclear if food is part of the basket of 'cultural' goods in the New Economy. They further describe that:

There is a growing aestheticization or 'fashioning' of seemingly banal products whereby they are marketed to consum‐ ers in terms of particular clusters of meaning, often linked to 'lifestyles' and this is taken as an indication of the impor‐ tance of 'culture' to the production and circulation of a multitude of goods and services (as quoted in duGay & Prkye, 2002, p. 7)

The inclusion of 'banality' would seem to infer that food is indeed inclusive; as Jönsson (2005) outlines in his discussion of milk, he demonstrates an obvious connection in the New Economy due to rapid development pace and inclusion of cultural messages in add‐ ed value products in the dairy counter. While the mention of rapid development would seem to indicate the there is something *new* happening with the 'fashioning' of meanings embedded in (banal) food products in the New Economy, Jönsson continues that this may not necessarily be the case. As he outlines, "the production of such "value-added prod‐ ucts" can be seen as a part of a general conversion (to the New Economy), but it is sug‐ gested that it can just as well be that the economy is increasingly bent on trying to capture experiences that have always been conveyed via food" (2005). In other words, the meanings inscribed in value added food are an amplification of information that is al‐ ready known, and communicated via experiences, bringing in an inclusion to the 'Experi‐ ence Economy' as well. A concept discussed by Pine & Gilmore in 1993, they outline the construction of experience 'spaces' as key in the eliciting of emotion for economic gain. In this world, no one sells mere commodities … they sell 'lifestyles'. That the spaces Produc‐ ers develop to sell their products are in part to create emotion further embeds them in the experience economy.

study are consumers, too. There is argument that Producers are developing products they

The increasing intertwinement of "culture" and "economy" is a focal point in both cultural studies and economics during recent years (duGay & Pryke (2002), Pine & Gilmore (1993), Lash & Urry (2002)). The framework of a "New Economy" based on cultural values with la‐ bels such as Experience Economy or Dream Society has been launched during the last deca‐ des. We will discuss some of the major writings in order to define their usefulness for understanding an emerging "New Food Economy" with cultural production of added value as a common denominator. Firstly, the definition of New Economy in use here is reference to the increasing intertwinement of symbolic cultural messages and economic processes, the desired outcome of which is economic gain. The use of symbolic cultural messages is a key element in the New Economy, as it involves the responsibility for consumers to develop skills in 'reading' cultural values and, as Lash & Urry (2002) and duGay & Pryke (2002) point out, brings in references to the New Economy as being an 'economy of signs'. DuGay & Pryke's argument also outlines that there are an increasing number of goods and services that can be regarded as 'cultural' goods. Their use of 'cultural' goods refers to the inscription of meanings and associations to elicit consumer desire for their purchase - exactly what our cooks are trying to achieve - but from this view it is unclear if food is part of the basket of

There is a growing aestheticization or 'fashioning' of seemingly banal products whereby they are marketed to consum‐ ers in terms of particular clusters of meaning, often linked to 'lifestyles' and this is taken as an indication of the impor‐ tance of 'culture' to the production and circulation of a multitude of goods and services (as quoted in duGay & Prkye,

The inclusion of 'banality' would seem to infer that food is indeed inclusive; as Jönsson (2005) outlines in his discussion of milk, he demonstrates an obvious connection in the New Economy due to rapid development pace and inclusion of cultural messages in add‐ ed value products in the dairy counter. While the mention of rapid development would seem to indicate the there is something *new* happening with the 'fashioning' of meanings embedded in (banal) food products in the New Economy, Jönsson continues that this may not necessarily be the case. As he outlines, "the production of such "value-added prod‐ ucts" can be seen as a part of a general conversion (to the New Economy), but it is sug‐ gested that it can just as well be that the economy is increasingly bent on trying to capture experiences that have always been conveyed via food" (2005). In other words, the meanings inscribed in value added food are an amplification of information that is al‐ ready known, and communicated via experiences, bringing in an inclusion to the 'Experi‐ ence Economy' as well. A concept discussed by Pine & Gilmore in 1993, they outline the construction of experience 'spaces' as key in the eliciting of emotion for economic gain. In this world, no one sells mere commodities … they sell 'lifestyles'. That the spaces Produc‐

'cultural' goods in the New Economy. They further describe that:

personally consume.

674 Food Industry

2002, p. 7)

**2.2. A new food economy**

It is here that I position small-scale Producers - within the New and Experience Economies, producing products inscribed with cultural values: but as will be shown, the inscriptions made utilise previously held cultural knowledge. The role of those who create cultural in‐ scriptions is continued by Lash & Urry:

This process, they argue has been accompanied by the increased influence of what are often termed the 'cultural inter‐ mediary occupations' of advertising, designing and marketing; those practitioners who play a pivotal role in articulat‐ ing production with consumption by attempting to associate goods and services with particular cultural meanings and to address those values to prospective buyers… these signifying practices in doing business is evident not only in the production, design and marketing of goods and services, but also the internal life of organisations as well (as quoted in duGay & Pryke, 2002, p. 7).

This further embeds the position of cooks as 'cultural intermediaries'. Another key support‐ ing element of Lash & Urry's description is the increased importance accorded to signifying practices that create symbolic value in the production of goods and services, such as those of small-scale Producers under investigation here. It also calls into account for the wider food industry to understand that it's not only the communication messages that are interpreted here: it is the reading of the entire production process.

Accordingly, an investigation of understood cultural values and production processes over time provides foundational information in understanding the context of value adding in the New Economy. Searching the historical roots of the emergence of late modern value added food production, Warren Belasco stress the importance of the radical counter cuisine against mainstream food ways that began to emerge from 1966. Some of the more important ele‐ ments were:


While the countercuisine initially was interpreted as a threat by the major food companies, the ideas soon became the main inspiration source for product development. The wide range of rural, authentic, hand made, old-fashioned, ethnic and light products launched the last decades owe a lot to the counterculture of the 1960s and supports the use of this theory as still applicable in the food industry today.

Further support that these elements are still in demand today is an appreciation that the de‐ centralised infrastructure Belasco refers also includes Farmers Markets, Farm Shops and specialist stores - all of which are preferred sales channels of Producers in this study. The emergence of the Farmers markets as an alternative food channel became evident during this cross over period between the second and third food regimes. The first Farmers Markets were reported in the US during the 1970's, with a slow expansion over the subsequent twen‐ ty to thirty years - however increasing at a faster rate in more recent years. The market in observation for this study has been in operation since 2000. As shown on the chart below, the number of operating Farmers Markets in the US grew by seventeen per cent to 7,175 from 2010 to 2011 alone.

The success evident in relevant consumer re-positioning, demonstrated below with organic retail sales - even with potential drawbacks of its use, particularly when deception or excess 'glossing over' is involved - has lead to virtually an entire industry shift to how food prod‐

Adding Value in Food Production http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/53174 677

**Chart 2.** Retail Sales Growth of Organic Food Products. Source: Dimitri & Oberholtzer (2009, p. 13)

ing a picture of a tractor on a green field is a farm, is completely lost.

ers in this study are unconsciously just doing what they do.

Products and their messages began to transform from functional communication style into symbolic lifestyle and experience messages - and it is this process of how consumers read these messages that underpins Belasco's argument in how the counter became mainstream, for without the culturally held knowledge to 'read' the message conveyed, for instance, us‐

It is the process of developing symbolic representation and cultural construction of small scale Farmers through their production and selling methods that allows a simple under‐ standing and competitive advantage in a confusing food landscape. This occurrence is made all the more interesting in a wider food industry of careful, researched product positioning and communication from larger scale manufacturers: to achieve this, the small scale Produc‐

ucts are communicated to consumers.

**Chart 1.** Number of Operating Farmers Markets, Total US Source: United States Department of Agriculture, 2011

Richard Wilk (2012), in his description of the contemporary food movement, also points to the growth of Farmers Markets, local food councils, regional food alliances, school food ini‐ tiatives, community gardens and orchards, and popular interest in the quality of food over the past five years… and like Belasco, wonders if these will be exploited as a marketing op‐ portunity or turned into an ideological foundation for change in the food landscape.

This counter also marked the emergence of the consumer as a voice of influence in the food industry, after the focus to internationalisation and mass industrialisation in the first and second regimes. A key point of Belasco's analysis is his argument that marketers who 'abused' the process turned this counter into mainstream belief. To what process does he refer? He describes the way in which marketers turned these beliefs into profitable prod‐ ucts was by turning food messages to meet desired consumer lifestyle and identity val‐ ues, and it was this focus to meeting consumer lifestyle needs that created their voice of influence. In order to communicate to identified values, marketers *repositioned* food add‐ ed values. Belasco describes a deceptive 'picking and choosing' process where 'good' ele‐ ments of products were chosen to anchor repositioning in lifestyle values, and the 'bad' elements were ignored or glossed over - for example, carbonated soft drink became 'low in fat' to embody consumer desire for a healthier lifestyle (Belasco, 1989, p.212).

The success evident in relevant consumer re-positioning, demonstrated below with organic retail sales - even with potential drawbacks of its use, particularly when deception or excess 'glossing over' is involved - has lead to virtually an entire industry shift to how food prod‐ ucts are communicated to consumers.

specialist stores - all of which are preferred sales channels of Producers in this study. The emergence of the Farmers markets as an alternative food channel became evident during this cross over period between the second and third food regimes. The first Farmers Markets were reported in the US during the 1970's, with a slow expansion over the subsequent twen‐ ty to thirty years - however increasing at a faster rate in more recent years. The market in observation for this study has been in operation since 2000. As shown on the chart below, the number of operating Farmers Markets in the US grew by seventeen per cent to 7,175

**Chart 1.** Number of Operating Farmers Markets, Total US Source: United States Department of Agriculture, 2011

portunity or turned into an ideological foundation for change in the food landscape.

in fat' to embody consumer desire for a healthier lifestyle (Belasco, 1989, p.212).

Richard Wilk (2012), in his description of the contemporary food movement, also points to the growth of Farmers Markets, local food councils, regional food alliances, school food ini‐ tiatives, community gardens and orchards, and popular interest in the quality of food over the past five years… and like Belasco, wonders if these will be exploited as a marketing op‐

This counter also marked the emergence of the consumer as a voice of influence in the food industry, after the focus to internationalisation and mass industrialisation in the first and second regimes. A key point of Belasco's analysis is his argument that marketers who 'abused' the process turned this counter into mainstream belief. To what process does he refer? He describes the way in which marketers turned these beliefs into profitable prod‐ ucts was by turning food messages to meet desired consumer lifestyle and identity val‐ ues, and it was this focus to meeting consumer lifestyle needs that created their voice of influence. In order to communicate to identified values, marketers *repositioned* food add‐ ed values. Belasco describes a deceptive 'picking and choosing' process where 'good' ele‐ ments of products were chosen to anchor repositioning in lifestyle values, and the 'bad' elements were ignored or glossed over - for example, carbonated soft drink became 'low

from 2010 to 2011 alone.

676 Food Industry

**Chart 2.** Retail Sales Growth of Organic Food Products. Source: Dimitri & Oberholtzer (2009, p. 13)

Products and their messages began to transform from functional communication style into symbolic lifestyle and experience messages - and it is this process of how consumers read these messages that underpins Belasco's argument in how the counter became mainstream, for without the culturally held knowledge to 'read' the message conveyed, for instance, us‐ ing a picture of a tractor on a green field is a farm, is completely lost.

It is the process of developing symbolic representation and cultural construction of small scale Farmers through their production and selling methods that allows a simple under‐ standing and competitive advantage in a confusing food landscape. This occurrence is made all the more interesting in a wider food industry of careful, researched product positioning and communication from larger scale manufacturers: to achieve this, the small scale Produc‐ ers in this study are unconsciously just doing what they do.

I am a farmer's daughter, and my mother, she cooked jam and juice and all this that we also do, but she was never paid for it, but we are… and that is the difference between the 20th and 21st century! (Skåne Producer, November 2011).

Additional ethnographic observations were made during farm visits, and hour long depth interviews were also conducted with four producers during October and November 2011, in addition to an online questionnaire circulated to farmers in attendance at the market, of which fifteen responded. The online questionnaire, which participants were able to respond anonymously is a recognised departure from ethnographic methods, however was circulat‐

Adding Value in Food Production http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/53174 679

However, the understanding of *why* certain questions were answered as they did in the questionnaire revealed again that qualitative methods uncovered much more about Produc‐ er value adding practices than straightforward quantitative line of questioning, and adds further support for the use of a cultural analysis approach in the articulation of meaning. All of the depth interviews were conducted with the use of an interview guide allowing to focus the majority of attention to the subtle emotions the became evident during discussions. What subjects created the most emotion? These subjects became focus for later analysis. In addition, web ethnography was also undertaken of Producers at market to understand their representations of self and product online, and was also taken into account during analysis

Of the four depth interviews conducted, three were held on the site of farming production – which usually also housed home, office and Farm Shop where their produce was sold. This gave an opportunity to view participants in the scene of their day-to-day lives, which often

The main field work was conducted at the Farmer's market in Malmö in the South of Swe‐ den. As other Farmer's markets throughout the world, it was built around a specific regional provenance (in this case Skane, the most southern part of Sweden, which produces around 50 % of the Swedish food production) the number of stalls selling produce that had been mediated and transformed in some way (such jams, smallgoods, rapeseed oils, breads,

Johnston & Baumann (2010, p. 70) have tried to decode the elements of Authenticity that consumers demand in high-value food. They claim that geographic specificity, simplicity, personal connection, tradition, or 'ethnic' connections are the manin elements of authentici‐ ty. They report that from a consumer perspective, a 'good' authentic product does not need to have all these elements, perhaps one or two… but a *really* authentic product from a con‐ sumer perspective has elements of all five. This market communicated most, if not all of

While watching Producers carefully setting up their stalls to display their product in a way they deemed the most appealing, and engaged in passionate descriptions about the product they sold with consumers, it became obvious that there was a very close connection they made with their product. Their products were tended with almost maternal care. Jars were carefully and individually placed, labels facing forward… not too cluttered, each jar having a right to stand on it's own. Esteemed flavours stood centrally, close to where the stallholder could easily access for offering tastings and making serving recommendations. It was ex‐ plained that this set up and staging was taken very seriously, with the utmost 'attention that

cheeses), and the stallholders were also the producers of the products that they sold.

ed primarily as a way of locating participants for deeper investigation.

and depth interview guide preparation as required.

involved family.

these elements.

## **3. Method and materials**

For this investigation a specific empirical study involving small-scale value-added produc‐ ers in the Skåne region of Sweden was undertaken.1 Taking an ethnographic research ap‐ proach, observation and participant consumer observations were undertaken at a periodic Farmer's Market held in Malmo, Southern Sweden, over six Saturday mornings during 27 August 2011 to 15 October 2011. Ethnographic enquiry in this instance is a method to inves‐ tigate value adding due to the focus on consumer / producer interactions and the evaluation of signs inscribed in products and material items used in display. It is also a relevant meth‐ odology to 'move the conversation forward' regarding value adding, as common industry methods such as quantitative surveys have apparently failed to provide underlying and un‐ conscious motivations in their subjects of study. This particular market is advertised with an express requirement that all produce for sale there is made and sold by local Skåne smallscale farmers. As such it is a good market to begin investigation of producers and also ana‐ lyse the material representation of space at the market, as each stall was under control of the individual producers themselves. Notes were taken directly after each of the six visits to the market (it is difficult to write while standing up in a crowd of people), in a nearby café, with a focus to the salient events from each visit to the market. Each visit on average lasted fortyfive minutes to one hour.

Each visit to the market had specific item to review. In week one, which was also the first market day of the market season, the organiser of the market was interviewed, and intro‐ ductory contacts with all twenty one stall-holders present on that day. The attention on this day was drawn to the ways in which the organiser the perceived competitive advantage of the Farmer's Market, the type of consumers she believes shops at the market, expectations of the coming weeks' market sales and also the best way to market Producers' product to con‐ sumers, (particularly for newcomers to the market, of which there were two). The second week the investigation of the market were directed to the specific intention to review the material representation of space – display items outside the products themselves and sig‐ nage that producers commonly use.

The third week, focus was to body language and behaviour between stallholder and con‐ sumer while tasting and/or buying products. Week four was focused to obvious advertising promotional or 'special' deals available at the market. Week five required another review of material representation (a repeat of week two), and the final week was spent looking for de‐ tails missed on the previous weeks.

<sup>1</sup> The field work was undertaken by Rebecca Dare, for her Master's thesis in Applied Cultural Analysis at Lund Uni‐ versity. This article is a revised version of the main parts of the thesis.

Additional ethnographic observations were made during farm visits, and hour long depth interviews were also conducted with four producers during October and November 2011, in addition to an online questionnaire circulated to farmers in attendance at the market, of which fifteen responded. The online questionnaire, which participants were able to respond anonymously is a recognised departure from ethnographic methods, however was circulat‐ ed primarily as a way of locating participants for deeper investigation.

I am a farmer's daughter, and my mother, she cooked jam and juice and all this that we also do, but she was never paid for it, but we are… and that is the difference between the 20th and 21st century! (Skåne Producer, November 2011).

For this investigation a specific empirical study involving small-scale value-added produc‐

proach, observation and participant consumer observations were undertaken at a periodic Farmer's Market held in Malmo, Southern Sweden, over six Saturday mornings during 27 August 2011 to 15 October 2011. Ethnographic enquiry in this instance is a method to inves‐ tigate value adding due to the focus on consumer / producer interactions and the evaluation of signs inscribed in products and material items used in display. It is also a relevant meth‐ odology to 'move the conversation forward' regarding value adding, as common industry methods such as quantitative surveys have apparently failed to provide underlying and un‐ conscious motivations in their subjects of study. This particular market is advertised with an express requirement that all produce for sale there is made and sold by local Skåne smallscale farmers. As such it is a good market to begin investigation of producers and also ana‐ lyse the material representation of space at the market, as each stall was under control of the individual producers themselves. Notes were taken directly after each of the six visits to the market (it is difficult to write while standing up in a crowd of people), in a nearby café, with a focus to the salient events from each visit to the market. Each visit on average lasted forty-

Each visit to the market had specific item to review. In week one, which was also the first market day of the market season, the organiser of the market was interviewed, and intro‐ ductory contacts with all twenty one stall-holders present on that day. The attention on this day was drawn to the ways in which the organiser the perceived competitive advantage of the Farmer's Market, the type of consumers she believes shops at the market, expectations of the coming weeks' market sales and also the best way to market Producers' product to con‐ sumers, (particularly for newcomers to the market, of which there were two). The second week the investigation of the market were directed to the specific intention to review the material representation of space – display items outside the products themselves and sig‐

The third week, focus was to body language and behaviour between stallholder and con‐ sumer while tasting and/or buying products. Week four was focused to obvious advertising promotional or 'special' deals available at the market. Week five required another review of material representation (a repeat of week two), and the final week was spent looking for de‐

1 The field work was undertaken by Rebecca Dare, for her Master's thesis in Applied Cultural Analysis at Lund Uni‐

Taking an ethnographic research ap‐

**3. Method and materials**

678 Food Industry

five minutes to one hour.

nage that producers commonly use.

tails missed on the previous weeks.

versity. This article is a revised version of the main parts of the thesis.

ers in the Skåne region of Sweden was undertaken.1

However, the understanding of *why* certain questions were answered as they did in the questionnaire revealed again that qualitative methods uncovered much more about Produc‐ er value adding practices than straightforward quantitative line of questioning, and adds further support for the use of a cultural analysis approach in the articulation of meaning. All of the depth interviews were conducted with the use of an interview guide allowing to focus the majority of attention to the subtle emotions the became evident during discussions. What subjects created the most emotion? These subjects became focus for later analysis. In addition, web ethnography was also undertaken of Producers at market to understand their representations of self and product online, and was also taken into account during analysis and depth interview guide preparation as required.

Of the four depth interviews conducted, three were held on the site of farming production – which usually also housed home, office and Farm Shop where their produce was sold. This gave an opportunity to view participants in the scene of their day-to-day lives, which often involved family.

The main field work was conducted at the Farmer's market in Malmö in the South of Swe‐ den. As other Farmer's markets throughout the world, it was built around a specific regional provenance (in this case Skane, the most southern part of Sweden, which produces around 50 % of the Swedish food production) the number of stalls selling produce that had been mediated and transformed in some way (such jams, smallgoods, rapeseed oils, breads, cheeses), and the stallholders were also the producers of the products that they sold.

Johnston & Baumann (2010, p. 70) have tried to decode the elements of Authenticity that consumers demand in high-value food. They claim that geographic specificity, simplicity, personal connection, tradition, or 'ethnic' connections are the manin elements of authentici‐ ty. They report that from a consumer perspective, a 'good' authentic product does not need to have all these elements, perhaps one or two… but a *really* authentic product from a con‐ sumer perspective has elements of all five. This market communicated most, if not all of these elements.

While watching Producers carefully setting up their stalls to display their product in a way they deemed the most appealing, and engaged in passionate descriptions about the product they sold with consumers, it became obvious that there was a very close connection they made with their product. Their products were tended with almost maternal care. Jars were carefully and individually placed, labels facing forward… not too cluttered, each jar having a right to stand on it's own. Esteemed flavours stood centrally, close to where the stallholder could easily access for offering tastings and making serving recommendations. It was ex‐ plained that this set up and staging was taken very seriously, with the utmost 'attention that must be paid to the small details in a display' – right down to the pattern on a table cloth used to conceal a rickety, aged wooden table. The care and thought placed into the display interestingly revealed a pattern of placing the stallholders themselves as co-stars and leads to the first Producer practice in adding value.

This piece of information on its own is a little bit 'nice to know' as it fits with the preferred chan‐ nels of the counter movement outlined previously. When asked about why Farmers Market or Farm Shop is preferred, most participants indicated it was personal selling and consumer con‐ tact that they like the most about these channels. There was a consensus that selling in this way was intensive work, but it was 'worth it' - there was significant return for labour. Which begs

Adding Value in Food Production http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/53174 681

Evident from the exchanges observed at the Farmer's market and discussed in later depth interviews indicated this return contained multiple components. A key component was one of education. Producers and consumers educate *each other* about the meaning infused in the food (consumers commonly rewarded the product for being *hand*-made), new ways of con‐ sumption and suggested occasions (try this with blue cheese, perfect for a summer party!) important in meeting the consumer *and* Producer need in identity building and class positioning through cultural capital. As Producers spoke about their product, they educated consumers about varieties of produce included in the food (i.e.; The tomato used is Roma, best suited for this type of relish), and also, importantly, Producers gained ideas for new product development through suggestions from consumers. The drawing of new products into the discussion may at first seem a little offensive, but later discussions with Producers revealed that this type of communication is invaluable information for new product genera‐ tion and development, and has been credited with sparking ideas for product and also ma‐ terial displays of space. Two examples of this involved a recent award-winning product with the unusual inclusion of a savoury, exotic spice to a sweet condiment – tapping into an emergent consumer trend for food exoticism. The second example regarded the co-creation

When I started, I wrote by hand (the signage) and I do not know how many times I bowed and curtsied for customers and apologised, how it was awful and all of that. And then a lady comes and she says to me like this: 'But, it is proof it

It was also revealed during depth interviews that disagreements with consumers may occur (usually regarding their 'confusion', or as one Producer referred 'blasé and spoilt', when talking of one discussion over the use of plastic wrapping around a herb plant, the consum‐ er thought this meant it was not grown at site and objected to its use), however Producer position was always made in reference to their relation as the solution to confusion rather than the cause of it. It was also revealed that Producers rarely discuss new product ideas with other producers, as 'the market in small in Sweden - you have to learn to stand on your own', indicating that there are limits to the farming community in Skåne. Exceptions to this were evident, however only when a philosophical connection and strong friendship had

These exchanges with consumers are very much a two-way communications process, and, to reference to Prahalad & Ramasway, an exchange "between the firm (Producer) and the consumer (in) becoming the locus of value creation and value extraction" (2004, p. 6) and is

the question: What is it that they are getting in return? Is it purely economic gain?

of one producer's use of the ubiquitous 'chalkboard' sign:

been formed over a number of years.

is handmade'. Huh! (*Laughs*)... Sigh! It was, of course! (Skåne Food Producer, November 2011).

Observing the interaction between consumers and producers at the market, it became evi‐ dent that exchanges were based not only on direct economic issues such a price. There was much more under discussion underway. Even though the elements of authenticitiy descri‐ bed by Johnston & Baumann were found at the market, the elements as such does not give full credit to the practices involved. And they certainly do not answer the question why cer‐ tain producers and products seem much more authentic than others, although they share the same elements.

The study of the actual practices of value making made some new themes emerge. They are summarized under four headings; Co-creation, The farmer myth, Art and Magic.

#### **3.1. Co-creation**

The online questionnaire circulated to locate participants for this research included a question that asked: 'of your current distribution channels, which do you prefer? Please select one from below'. The majority of respondents (66.6%) indicated Farm Shop or Farmers Market.

**Chart 3.** Preferred Sales Channel, Producers in Skåne, Sweden. Source: Online Questionnaire, August 2011. (Note: 'Other' is predominately 'Restaurants' )

This piece of information on its own is a little bit 'nice to know' as it fits with the preferred chan‐ nels of the counter movement outlined previously. When asked about why Farmers Market or Farm Shop is preferred, most participants indicated it was personal selling and consumer con‐ tact that they like the most about these channels. There was a consensus that selling in this way was intensive work, but it was 'worth it' - there was significant return for labour. Which begs the question: What is it that they are getting in return? Is it purely economic gain?

must be paid to the small details in a display' – right down to the pattern on a table cloth used to conceal a rickety, aged wooden table. The care and thought placed into the display interestingly revealed a pattern of placing the stallholders themselves as co-stars and leads

Observing the interaction between consumers and producers at the market, it became evi‐ dent that exchanges were based not only on direct economic issues such a price. There was much more under discussion underway. Even though the elements of authenticitiy descri‐ bed by Johnston & Baumann were found at the market, the elements as such does not give full credit to the practices involved. And they certainly do not answer the question why cer‐ tain producers and products seem much more authentic than others, although they share

The study of the actual practices of value making made some new themes emerge. They are

The online questionnaire circulated to locate participants for this research included a question that asked: 'of your current distribution channels, which do you prefer? Please select one from below'. The majority of respondents (66.6%) indicated Farm Shop or

**Chart 3.** Preferred Sales Channel, Producers in Skåne, Sweden. Source: Online Questionnaire, August 2011. (Note:

summarized under four headings; Co-creation, The farmer myth, Art and Magic.

to the first Producer practice in adding value.

the same elements.

680 Food Industry

**3.1. Co-creation**

Farmers Market.

'Other' is predominately 'Restaurants' )

Evident from the exchanges observed at the Farmer's market and discussed in later depth interviews indicated this return contained multiple components. A key component was one of education. Producers and consumers educate *each other* about the meaning infused in the food (consumers commonly rewarded the product for being *hand*-made), new ways of con‐ sumption and suggested occasions (try this with blue cheese, perfect for a summer party!) important in meeting the consumer *and* Producer need in identity building and class positioning through cultural capital. As Producers spoke about their product, they educated consumers about varieties of produce included in the food (i.e.; The tomato used is Roma, best suited for this type of relish), and also, importantly, Producers gained ideas for new product development through suggestions from consumers. The drawing of new products into the discussion may at first seem a little offensive, but later discussions with Producers revealed that this type of communication is invaluable information for new product genera‐ tion and development, and has been credited with sparking ideas for product and also ma‐ terial displays of space. Two examples of this involved a recent award-winning product with the unusual inclusion of a savoury, exotic spice to a sweet condiment – tapping into an emergent consumer trend for food exoticism. The second example regarded the co-creation of one producer's use of the ubiquitous 'chalkboard' sign:

When I started, I wrote by hand (the signage) and I do not know how many times I bowed and curtsied for customers and apologised, how it was awful and all of that. And then a lady comes and she says to me like this: 'But, it is proof it is handmade'. Huh! (*Laughs*)... Sigh! It was, of course! (Skåne Food Producer, November 2011).

It was also revealed during depth interviews that disagreements with consumers may occur (usually regarding their 'confusion', or as one Producer referred 'blasé and spoilt', when talking of one discussion over the use of plastic wrapping around a herb plant, the consum‐ er thought this meant it was not grown at site and objected to its use), however Producer position was always made in reference to their relation as the solution to confusion rather than the cause of it. It was also revealed that Producers rarely discuss new product ideas with other producers, as 'the market in small in Sweden - you have to learn to stand on your own', indicating that there are limits to the farming community in Skåne. Exceptions to this were evident, however only when a philosophical connection and strong friendship had been formed over a number of years.

These exchanges with consumers are very much a two-way communications process, and, to reference to Prahalad & Ramasway, an exchange "between the firm (Producer) and the consumer (in) becoming the locus of value creation and value extraction" (2004, p. 6) and is an invitational act of co-creation. The co-creation is the centre of value extraction and knowl‐ edge for Producers to build their producer offer and the way they sell their product, and as such is held at a high level of importance.

utilise cues for 'authenticity', and for discussion of this I'll elaborate on what I am calling the

Adding Value in Food Production http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/53174 683

One of Barthes "lasting contributions… was the identification and interpretation of certain 'mythologies' that he drew from everyday life in France" (as quoted in Atkins & Bowler, 2001, p.6). Barthes utilises semiology as a tool to understand the basis for myth creation, and relates the expression of myths as inherent in food. As Barthes stated: "for who would claim in France that wine is only wine?" (1997, p.20) relating wine as a symbol *of* France and to the myth of what it means to be 'French'. Likewise, in the current food regime of counter-values to mass industrialisation, the myth of farming is utilised in small-scale food production to

The Producers are met with a challenge, though: this use of these 'return to farm' signs is not a unique in the food industry today, as Belasco previously outlined in discussion of the emergence of the food counter culture. Most of the items in use here to symbolise the return to farm can also be found represented on numerous food packaging, and in virtually every food distribution channel, including mass supermarkets and speciality stores. Items such as chalkboards, wooden crates, wicker baskets, striped awnings, are in common use in super‐

But what of our Producers in this, using the same material items, yet successfully inviting co-creation with consumers? With this proliferation of material displays in use in the market today, why are these displays not approached with cynicism, disbelief, or just plain dismiss‐ al? Here Baudrillard makes a contribution with the outline of two distinctive features of mythology to be drawn as relevant: "firstly the nostalgia for origins, and secondly the obses‐ sion with authenticity" (1996, p. 76). Baudrillard outlines that the obsession with authentici‐ ty is reflected with an obsession with certainty - specifically, certainty as to the origins, date,

The fascination of handicraft derives form having passed through the hands of someone the markers of whose labour are still inscribed thereupon: we are fascinated by what has been created, and is therefore unique, because that mo‐

In co-creation the feature of *certainty in myth* here is a distinct element in invitation: the cer‐ tainty that in a confusing food landscape and the new economy of signs, where authenticity is hinted at almost every turn, that the Producers *are* farmers. There is certainty created in regards to the origins of the food, as the author and signature to the work, often accompa‐ nied by undeniable physical presence. What could be more certain than that? This invita‐ tional certainty is in direct contrast to Prahalad & Ramasway's theory where they propose that 'trust' (or certainty) is an outcome of co-creation (2004, p. 13). Here we propose it is a central element in use at the beginning of the co-creation process. It's the certainty that Pro‐

ducers can truthfully and safely take consumers from myth and into reality.

embody a 'return to the farm' in support of their authenticity.

markets and speciality stores around the world.

author and signature of a work, continuing:

ment cannot be reproduced (1996, p. 76).

Farmer 'myth' utilising Barthes.

While Prahalad & Ramasway's (2004) investigation examples primarily involve larger cor‐ porations, such as car manufacturing giant General Motors – what stuck with the discourse with consumers was that small-scale Producers are routinely in a position that larger busi‐ ness pay large amounts of research money for… in direct contact with individual consumers who are eagerly sampling their products, freely offering feedback, sharing tips from other sources, with the added bonus that the consumer is speaking with a person that has a level of influence within the business structure to initiate change. Small-scale producers are very close to the consumer via their preferred distribution methods, and in a position where they can respond relatively quickly to changing consumer demand. However, as Prahalad & Ramasway articulate, this is achieved not by only just 'showing up' at the Farmer's Market or opening a Farm Shop. To do so, Producers must invite feedback. Do they? If so, how?

Exploring the practices that Producers engage to begin the co-creation process at market started to tease out more information. The approach to addressing this question firstly lay not by observing Producers that appeared to be engaging in a co-creation with consumers, but by observing Producers that were *not*. There were two stalls at the market during field‐ work, both of which consistently had uncrowded stalls while the remainder of the market teemed with activity (one sold shiitake mushrooms, the other corn).

There were two common denominators between these stalls: 1. Their product offer was not im‐ mediately apparent it was 'value added' and 2. Their stalls featured little to no elaboration in their stall displays – no or very limited signage, no extra items to add visual appeal, and sym‐ bolically represent a return to the farm / authenticity such as the previously mentioned flower arrangements or wooden crates. There was no elaboration in the space to communicate their values, which as discussed earlier, are important in the social construction of authenticity.

The absence of continuous consumer - producer dialogue at these stalls would seem to indicate that consumer feedback and discourse is in support of Prahalad & Ramasaway's theory in that it is *invitational*. This occurrence implies that there is prerequisites involved the staging of experi‐ ence in order to co-create with consumers. The invitation extended by a Producer must material‐ ly demonstrate their authenticity by the use of symbolically loaded material objects, and further offer an experience such as tasting plates before consumers will engage in discourse. It would al‐ so seem to indicate that non-value added products are perhaps not necessarily seen as some‐ thing in which to discuss in greater detail than necessary to complete a financial transaction again bringing to mind Levi Strauss with his cooking as a mark of culture.

#### **3.2. The farmer myth**

The symbolic meaning communicated by the material display items in use is a key point here. As the symbolic loading in these items is culturally held, unconscious knowledge, fur‐ ther analysis is required. After all, the person that builds the displays first imagined it in their mind - perhaps they didn't realise how those images got there. The displays heavily utilise cues for 'authenticity', and for discussion of this I'll elaborate on what I am calling the Farmer 'myth' utilising Barthes.

an invitational act of co-creation. The co-creation is the centre of value extraction and knowl‐ edge for Producers to build their producer offer and the way they sell their product, and as

While Prahalad & Ramasway's (2004) investigation examples primarily involve larger cor‐ porations, such as car manufacturing giant General Motors – what stuck with the discourse with consumers was that small-scale Producers are routinely in a position that larger busi‐ ness pay large amounts of research money for… in direct contact with individual consumers who are eagerly sampling their products, freely offering feedback, sharing tips from other sources, with the added bonus that the consumer is speaking with a person that has a level of influence within the business structure to initiate change. Small-scale producers are very close to the consumer via their preferred distribution methods, and in a position where they can respond relatively quickly to changing consumer demand. However, as Prahalad & Ramasway articulate, this is achieved not by only just 'showing up' at the Farmer's Market or opening a Farm Shop. To do so, Producers must invite feedback. Do they? If so, how?

Exploring the practices that Producers engage to begin the co-creation process at market started to tease out more information. The approach to addressing this question firstly lay not by observing Producers that appeared to be engaging in a co-creation with consumers, but by observing Producers that were *not*. There were two stalls at the market during field‐ work, both of which consistently had uncrowded stalls while the remainder of the market

There were two common denominators between these stalls: 1. Their product offer was not im‐ mediately apparent it was 'value added' and 2. Their stalls featured little to no elaboration in their stall displays – no or very limited signage, no extra items to add visual appeal, and sym‐ bolically represent a return to the farm / authenticity such as the previously mentioned flower arrangements or wooden crates. There was no elaboration in the space to communicate their values, which as discussed earlier, are important in the social construction of authenticity.

The absence of continuous consumer - producer dialogue at these stalls would seem to indicate that consumer feedback and discourse is in support of Prahalad & Ramasaway's theory in that it is *invitational*. This occurrence implies that there is prerequisites involved the staging of experi‐ ence in order to co-create with consumers. The invitation extended by a Producer must material‐ ly demonstrate their authenticity by the use of symbolically loaded material objects, and further offer an experience such as tasting plates before consumers will engage in discourse. It would al‐ so seem to indicate that non-value added products are perhaps not necessarily seen as some‐ thing in which to discuss in greater detail than necessary to complete a financial transaction -

The symbolic meaning communicated by the material display items in use is a key point here. As the symbolic loading in these items is culturally held, unconscious knowledge, fur‐ ther analysis is required. After all, the person that builds the displays first imagined it in their mind - perhaps they didn't realise how those images got there. The displays heavily

teemed with activity (one sold shiitake mushrooms, the other corn).

again bringing to mind Levi Strauss with his cooking as a mark of culture.

**3.2. The farmer myth**

such is held at a high level of importance.

682 Food Industry

One of Barthes "lasting contributions… was the identification and interpretation of certain 'mythologies' that he drew from everyday life in France" (as quoted in Atkins & Bowler, 2001, p.6). Barthes utilises semiology as a tool to understand the basis for myth creation, and relates the expression of myths as inherent in food. As Barthes stated: "for who would claim in France that wine is only wine?" (1997, p.20) relating wine as a symbol *of* France and to the myth of what it means to be 'French'. Likewise, in the current food regime of counter-values to mass industrialisation, the myth of farming is utilised in small-scale food production to embody a 'return to the farm' in support of their authenticity.

The Producers are met with a challenge, though: this use of these 'return to farm' signs is not a unique in the food industry today, as Belasco previously outlined in discussion of the emergence of the food counter culture. Most of the items in use here to symbolise the return to farm can also be found represented on numerous food packaging, and in virtually every food distribution channel, including mass supermarkets and speciality stores. Items such as chalkboards, wooden crates, wicker baskets, striped awnings, are in common use in super‐ markets and speciality stores around the world.

But what of our Producers in this, using the same material items, yet successfully inviting co-creation with consumers? With this proliferation of material displays in use in the market today, why are these displays not approached with cynicism, disbelief, or just plain dismiss‐ al? Here Baudrillard makes a contribution with the outline of two distinctive features of mythology to be drawn as relevant: "firstly the nostalgia for origins, and secondly the obses‐ sion with authenticity" (1996, p. 76). Baudrillard outlines that the obsession with authentici‐ ty is reflected with an obsession with certainty - specifically, certainty as to the origins, date, author and signature of a work, continuing:

The fascination of handicraft derives form having passed through the hands of someone the markers of whose labour are still inscribed thereupon: we are fascinated by what has been created, and is therefore unique, because that mo‐ ment cannot be reproduced (1996, p. 76).

In co-creation the feature of *certainty in myth* here is a distinct element in invitation: the cer‐ tainty that in a confusing food landscape and the new economy of signs, where authenticity is hinted at almost every turn, that the Producers *are* farmers. There is certainty created in regards to the origins of the food, as the author and signature to the work, often accompa‐ nied by undeniable physical presence. What could be more certain than that? This invita‐ tional certainty is in direct contrast to Prahalad & Ramasway's theory where they propose that 'trust' (or certainty) is an outcome of co-creation (2004, p. 13). Here we propose it is a central element in use at the beginning of the co-creation process. It's the certainty that Pro‐ ducers can truthfully and safely take consumers from myth and into reality.

In the next section, the displays used at the Farmer's Market is contrasted to the spaces con‐ structed at Farm Shops - with the consumer on the farm, the invitational space to co-create becomes something else entirely.

non-food items, and set up in a maze of stalls to encourage exploration and discovery. An‐ other Producer housed several buildings, one of which featured a café with soaring cathe‐ dral ceilings, artwork on the walls, and with their produce barely visible in - again - a beautifully constructed space. The farm shop was located in the same building where the produce was 'cooked', separate to the main house that was a short distance away, however all cooking space was off limits and invisible to regular custom in the shop, as were all of the

Adding Value in Food Production http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/53174 685

In guided tours with Producers at their farm shops, there was always a respectable distance kept from the Product in store, to allow the viewer to take the entire scene in. The lighting scheme shined directly on produce, to illuminate its form. The display of goods was unclut‐ tered, so as not to catch a wandering eye's attention from the main event. Discussions com‐ menced about why the products on display were chosen with slightly hushed tones, even if we were the only people in the store. These actions struck as being very similar to behaviour that would be found in art galleries - here, a discussion was ongoing with an Artist. An ar‐

The construction of these spaces to resemble art galleries attracts the use of the term 'Experi‐ ence Economy' as introduced in theoretical framework to elaborate and further embeds Pro‐ ducers as active participants in the Experience Economy. The art gallery spaces are carefully staged for consumption and construction - consumption of the producer, consumption of myth, consumption of art…and hopefully for our Producers, what follows is the consump‐

Tom O'Dell & Peter Billing (2010) outline a useful interpretation regarding spaces that are stag‐ ed for consumption using a theoretical framework that combines the conceptual tools of Arjun Appadurai's (1996) 'scapes' and Henri Lefebvre's (1991) production of space. Herein they have developed an understanding that spaces where experiences are manufactured for consumption can be interpreted as "places in which the global and the local are entwined and where power re‐ lations played out, political interests are material interests are materialised, cultural identities are contested and dreams are redefined" (O'Dell & Billing, 2010, p.18). The building of produc‐ er's identity through practice is a key function of the space created. The environment feels very much staged for artistic expression and exploration… a space has been created that Pine & Gil‐ more (1993) could interpret as a carefully staged production to create experiences such as those

A main criticism of Pine & Gilmore's description of the 'Experience Economy' is that the spaces as provided as examples (such as Disneyland and the Ritz Carlton) are created with the assumption of a passive receptivity – consumers have no hand in creating the space and limited opportunity to personally shape it. However, as is known from the pre‐ vious research finding, co-creation is a key element to Producer practices and the impact of consumer feedback on the construction of this space cannot be underestimated - re‐ gardless if the Producer is conscious of this or not. The inclusion of art indicates a desire for the accumulation of cultural capital in identity construction, not only for Producers, but for their consumers, also. The construction of this space seeks to confirm Producer po‐ sition within upper 'cultural capital' class, and the investment of time, money and plan‐

cooking spaces in the farm shops visited as part of this study.

tist creates. What are these spaces creating?

tion of authentic 'special' food products.

available at Disney or the Ritz Carlton.

#### **3.3. Art**

When discussing five-year plans, most Producers indicated a desire to increase business through their on-site Farm Shops - all of the depth interviewees had a Farm Shop, and thir‐ teen of the fifteen respondents to the online questionnaire did also. These shops are under their full control, and thus ideal to explore the more permanent environment (compared to the Farmers Market) in which they have constructed to sell their product. All the producers referred in depth interviews to a desire to elicit positive emotion from consumers from their Farm Shops, something they felt that large supermarkets could not do2 .

One Producer spoke about their delight with their shop layout creating happiness, astonish‐ ment and surprise emotional reactions from consumers:

In my farm shop I don't stock these types of everyday products (*sold at ICA, a large supermarket chain in Sweden*). No, what I have here has nothing to do with everyday commerce. There is no milk… I do not have those types of products, this is really speciality items… I really take it to myself, how I have been thinking when I planned the store. "What should it look like in the shop to make it inviting to the customer, inviting to enter and to have a look?" Often I say… (*Pauses: body language changes, pulling away a little bit - it's like a self reprimand for becoming a lit‐ tle too pleased with oneself, quickly decides on an acceptable rephrase, leans forward again*) …the customers usually stand in the door and say. "OOOOH what a lot of, AHHHH how nice!" Then they are of course happy, I think! (*Laugh‐ ing*). Yes indeed! Most of them are perhaps a little astonished and surprised, because they don't expect anything more. (Skåne Food Producer, November 2011).

Arguably this is an effort to create a unique positioning and distance to the dominant food sales channel today (supermarkets), however the exclusion of what is perceived to be every‐ day products raises some important questions regarding the 'specialness' infused their products and reveals beliefs about the work they do. Why is an everyday food item such as milk not considered 'special', particularly when considering that a number of products for sale in this store could be considered as 'everyday' use items such as jams and mustards? Consideration of the space implies an effort to raise their product above the everyday and into a form of art, and in doing reveals Producer cultural capital and class aspirations.

To communicate their perception to the specialness, non-everyday, uniqueness of their products, Producers reveal a tacit, cultural understanding to their construction of space, and have turned their Farm Shops into spaces resembling Art Galleries. The Producer quoted earlier in this chapter created a large space, beautiful to look at, with a significant amount of

<sup>2</sup> In the online questionnaire, Producers were asked to nominate the emotion they felt consumers experienced in differ‐ ent sales channels. 80% of participants believe customers feel 'negative' emotions such as neutral, bored or confused in Supermarkets.

non-food items, and set up in a maze of stalls to encourage exploration and discovery. An‐ other Producer housed several buildings, one of which featured a café with soaring cathe‐ dral ceilings, artwork on the walls, and with their produce barely visible in - again - a beautifully constructed space. The farm shop was located in the same building where the produce was 'cooked', separate to the main house that was a short distance away, however all cooking space was off limits and invisible to regular custom in the shop, as were all of the cooking spaces in the farm shops visited as part of this study.

In the next section, the displays used at the Farmer's Market is contrasted to the spaces con‐ structed at Farm Shops - with the consumer on the farm, the invitational space to co-create

When discussing five-year plans, most Producers indicated a desire to increase business through their on-site Farm Shops - all of the depth interviewees had a Farm Shop, and thir‐ teen of the fifteen respondents to the online questionnaire did also. These shops are under their full control, and thus ideal to explore the more permanent environment (compared to the Farmers Market) in which they have constructed to sell their product. All the producers referred in depth interviews to a desire to elicit positive emotion from consumers from their

One Producer spoke about their delight with their shop layout creating happiness, astonish‐

In my farm shop I don't stock these types of everyday products (*sold at ICA, a large supermarket chain in Sweden*). No, what I have here has nothing to do with everyday commerce. There is no milk… I do not have those types of products, this is really speciality items… I really take it to myself, how I have been thinking when I planned the store. "What should it look like in the shop to make it inviting to the customer, inviting to enter and to have a look?" Often I say… (*Pauses: body language changes, pulling away a little bit - it's like a self reprimand for becoming a lit‐ tle too pleased with oneself, quickly decides on an acceptable rephrase, leans forward again*) …the customers usually stand in the door and say. "OOOOH what a lot of, AHHHH how nice!" Then they are of course happy, I think! (*Laugh‐ ing*). Yes indeed! Most of them are perhaps a little astonished and surprised, because they don't expect anything

Arguably this is an effort to create a unique positioning and distance to the dominant food sales channel today (supermarkets), however the exclusion of what is perceived to be every‐ day products raises some important questions regarding the 'specialness' infused their products and reveals beliefs about the work they do. Why is an everyday food item such as milk not considered 'special', particularly when considering that a number of products for sale in this store could be considered as 'everyday' use items such as jams and mustards? Consideration of the space implies an effort to raise their product above the everyday and into a form of art, and in doing reveals Producer cultural capital and class aspirations.

To communicate their perception to the specialness, non-everyday, uniqueness of their products, Producers reveal a tacit, cultural understanding to their construction of space, and have turned their Farm Shops into spaces resembling Art Galleries. The Producer quoted earlier in this chapter created a large space, beautiful to look at, with a significant amount of

2 In the online questionnaire, Producers were asked to nominate the emotion they felt consumers experienced in differ‐ ent sales channels. 80% of participants believe customers feel 'negative' emotions such as neutral, bored or confused in

.

Farm Shops, something they felt that large supermarkets could not do2

ment and surprise emotional reactions from consumers:

more. (Skåne Food Producer, November 2011).

Supermarkets.

becomes something else entirely.

**3.3. Art**

684 Food Industry

In guided tours with Producers at their farm shops, there was always a respectable distance kept from the Product in store, to allow the viewer to take the entire scene in. The lighting scheme shined directly on produce, to illuminate its form. The display of goods was unclut‐ tered, so as not to catch a wandering eye's attention from the main event. Discussions com‐ menced about why the products on display were chosen with slightly hushed tones, even if we were the only people in the store. These actions struck as being very similar to behaviour that would be found in art galleries - here, a discussion was ongoing with an Artist. An ar‐ tist creates. What are these spaces creating?

The construction of these spaces to resemble art galleries attracts the use of the term 'Experi‐ ence Economy' as introduced in theoretical framework to elaborate and further embeds Pro‐ ducers as active participants in the Experience Economy. The art gallery spaces are carefully staged for consumption and construction - consumption of the producer, consumption of myth, consumption of art…and hopefully for our Producers, what follows is the consump‐ tion of authentic 'special' food products.

Tom O'Dell & Peter Billing (2010) outline a useful interpretation regarding spaces that are stag‐ ed for consumption using a theoretical framework that combines the conceptual tools of Arjun Appadurai's (1996) 'scapes' and Henri Lefebvre's (1991) production of space. Herein they have developed an understanding that spaces where experiences are manufactured for consumption can be interpreted as "places in which the global and the local are entwined and where power re‐ lations played out, political interests are material interests are materialised, cultural identities are contested and dreams are redefined" (O'Dell & Billing, 2010, p.18). The building of produc‐ er's identity through practice is a key function of the space created. The environment feels very much staged for artistic expression and exploration… a space has been created that Pine & Gil‐ more (1993) could interpret as a carefully staged production to create experiences such as those available at Disney or the Ritz Carlton.

A main criticism of Pine & Gilmore's description of the 'Experience Economy' is that the spaces as provided as examples (such as Disneyland and the Ritz Carlton) are created with the assumption of a passive receptivity – consumers have no hand in creating the space and limited opportunity to personally shape it. However, as is known from the pre‐ vious research finding, co-creation is a key element to Producer practices and the impact of consumer feedback on the construction of this space cannot be underestimated - re‐ gardless if the Producer is conscious of this or not. The inclusion of art indicates a desire for the accumulation of cultural capital in identity construction, not only for Producers, but for their consumers, also. The construction of this space seeks to confirm Producer po‐ sition within upper 'cultural capital' class, and the investment of time, money and plan‐ ning into the ongoing operation of their galleries demonstrates a long-term desire to retain this class positioning.

While another in responding to a question asked in the online questionnaire: '*If your favour‐ ite product could talk, what would it say to consumers?*' The response neatly stating: 'I am spe‐

Adding Value in Food Production http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/53174 687

Additional theory to view producer practices using Magic is provided by Mauss in '*A Gener‐ al Theory of Magic'* (2001), which is that of a social phenomenon containing belief and rites.There must be a magician to produce an act of magic, and an audience to believe in this act. Rites are developed to enact and perform the magic. Magic is not a one-time occurrence; magical performances are repeated patterns of behaviour and when at it's most successful, refer to "those things that society as a whole considers magical" (Mauss, 2001, p. 22). As O'Dell (2010) describes, the inclusion of belief in this theory provides 'special problems' that

Magic is an institution only in the most weak sense, it is a kind of totality of actions and beliefs, poorly defined, poorly organised even as far as those who practice it… It's existence necessitated two different forms of belief that he (Mauss)

The problem being, for acts of magic (or influence at distance) to be *not* seen as trickery, they require collective belief by *all* actors involved, with each actor having a role to play. The magician in this act is the Producers and it is here where belief does exist - but it is not without tension. Present and seemingly unwelcome is a level of uncertainty about their own skill and knowledge in their practice, that in conversation betrayed an oscilla‐ tion between a 'will to believe' and 'actual belief'. This tension was managed by the de‐ velopment of magical rites, and as far as they could possibly manage, a self-imposed 'no-

These rites specifically managed the symbolic values they use to describe their products as authentic - themselves in the product made it *hand-*made, *home-*made, *crafted*. The translation to practice is rather literal: to be *home* made, the production practice must be either in their home or in a nearby building as part of their faming complex, never in a removed and dis‐ tant facility. To be *hand* made, their own hand must be involved in making the product, and they must perceive a level of craftsmanship involved in the transformational cooking proc‐ ess. One Producer described the importance of seeing and inspecting each individual raw main ingredient with his or her *own* eyes. Another Producer describes the importance of the cook (themselves) to be directly involved in the cooking, cooking in low batch volumes and

I stir the pot myself. I never use a pot that does not sit on the stove. I never cook in volumes that are larger than 25

cial, unique and wonderful. And you?'

called a 'will to believe' and 'actual belief' (p. 57)

cheating' policy on these rites.

will be revealed as particular relevant for this discussion:

never on a stove that could be considered 'industrial':

litres. No, no, no. Not ever. (Skåne Food Producer, November 2011).

#### **3.4. Magic**

Magic, the art of influencing through supernatural means, could infer secret, hidden and disappeared acts in production practices without clarification of its use. Here, magic is de‐ scribed and applied using two references from the social sciences - Sir James George Frazer (Social Anthropology) and Marcel Mauss (Sociology).

In '*The Golden Bough'* first published in 1890*,* Frazer notes magic generally falls into two categories: the Law of Similarities and the Law of Contact or contagious magic. The for‐ mer applies to the belief that like produces like - an example used was "the then current belief in among peasants in the Balkans that swallowing gold could relieve the symptoms of jaundice" (Barnard & Spencer, 1996, p. 341). The Law of Contact or contagious magic was causal idea of things that had once been in contact continued to influence on each other at a distance.

In describing themselves in their products, Producers emphasise 'them' as integral to the product offer. This introduces a belief that they hold continued influence in and over their product before, during and after consumer purchase, to continue the communication of their authenticity, thus asserting their influence at a distance via magical means. In discussions with Producers, the appeared to be little separation between Producers and their products … the way their products were referred was often in the same way that you would refer a person. The extension of themselves as represented in their products created a desire for their products to be treated as how they would personally like to be treated. For example, it encouraged a slight concern about selling in delicatessens where there is a perception con‐ sumers are particularly discerning and demanding, which means the chance of product re‐ jection (and thus, themselves) is higher. Producers also held a strong resistance to sell in supermarkets where their product could become the 'little' with scant consumer attention (a bit like going to a crowded party and standing alone in the corner), or face the potential of having their product abused in store by careless staff.

The Contagious Magic in use by Producers is a practice to infuse a competitive advantage they believe to be what no one else has into their products: themselves. Producers are the magicians in their kitchen, infusing themselves in their products. Two quotes from research summarise this belief in infusion of self very well. One Producer mentioned that their soul must be in the product:

I have nothing to sell if there is no soul in my product… then I find it difficult to justify why the customer should buy my (product), then he can buy another, because what's unique in mine is that *I* cultivate it. It should be something that no one else has. (Skåne Food Producer, November 2011).

While another in responding to a question asked in the online questionnaire: '*If your favour‐ ite product could talk, what would it say to consumers?*' The response neatly stating: 'I am spe‐ cial, unique and wonderful. And you?'

ning into the ongoing operation of their galleries demonstrates a long-term desire to

Magic, the art of influencing through supernatural means, could infer secret, hidden and disappeared acts in production practices without clarification of its use. Here, magic is de‐ scribed and applied using two references from the social sciences - Sir James George Frazer

In '*The Golden Bough'* first published in 1890*,* Frazer notes magic generally falls into two categories: the Law of Similarities and the Law of Contact or contagious magic. The for‐ mer applies to the belief that like produces like - an example used was "the then current belief in among peasants in the Balkans that swallowing gold could relieve the symptoms of jaundice" (Barnard & Spencer, 1996, p. 341). The Law of Contact or contagious magic was causal idea of things that had once been in contact continued to influence on each

In describing themselves in their products, Producers emphasise 'them' as integral to the product offer. This introduces a belief that they hold continued influence in and over their product before, during and after consumer purchase, to continue the communication of their authenticity, thus asserting their influence at a distance via magical means. In discussions with Producers, the appeared to be little separation between Producers and their products … the way their products were referred was often in the same way that you would refer a person. The extension of themselves as represented in their products created a desire for their products to be treated as how they would personally like to be treated. For example, it encouraged a slight concern about selling in delicatessens where there is a perception con‐ sumers are particularly discerning and demanding, which means the chance of product re‐ jection (and thus, themselves) is higher. Producers also held a strong resistance to sell in supermarkets where their product could become the 'little' with scant consumer attention (a bit like going to a crowded party and standing alone in the corner), or face the potential of

The Contagious Magic in use by Producers is a practice to infuse a competitive advantage they believe to be what no one else has into their products: themselves. Producers are the magicians in their kitchen, infusing themselves in their products. Two quotes from research summarise this belief in infusion of self very well. One Producer mentioned that their soul

I have nothing to sell if there is no soul in my product… then I find it difficult to justify why the customer should buy my (product), then he can buy another, because what's unique in mine is that *I* cultivate it. It should be something that

retain this class positioning.

(Social Anthropology) and Marcel Mauss (Sociology).

having their product abused in store by careless staff.

no one else has. (Skåne Food Producer, November 2011).

**3.4. Magic**

686 Food Industry

other at a distance.

must be in the product:

Additional theory to view producer practices using Magic is provided by Mauss in '*A Gener‐ al Theory of Magic'* (2001), which is that of a social phenomenon containing belief and rites.There must be a magician to produce an act of magic, and an audience to believe in this act. Rites are developed to enact and perform the magic. Magic is not a one-time occurrence; magical performances are repeated patterns of behaviour and when at it's most successful, refer to "those things that society as a whole considers magical" (Mauss, 2001, p. 22). As O'Dell (2010) describes, the inclusion of belief in this theory provides 'special problems' that will be revealed as particular relevant for this discussion:

Magic is an institution only in the most weak sense, it is a kind of totality of actions and beliefs, poorly defined, poorly organised even as far as those who practice it… It's existence necessitated two different forms of belief that he (Mauss) called a 'will to believe' and 'actual belief' (p. 57)

The problem being, for acts of magic (or influence at distance) to be *not* seen as trickery, they require collective belief by *all* actors involved, with each actor having a role to play. The magician in this act is the Producers and it is here where belief does exist - but it is not without tension. Present and seemingly unwelcome is a level of uncertainty about their own skill and knowledge in their practice, that in conversation betrayed an oscilla‐ tion between a 'will to believe' and 'actual belief'. This tension was managed by the de‐ velopment of magical rites, and as far as they could possibly manage, a self-imposed 'nocheating' policy on these rites.

These rites specifically managed the symbolic values they use to describe their products as authentic - themselves in the product made it *hand-*made, *home-*made, *crafted*. The translation to practice is rather literal: to be *home* made, the production practice must be either in their home or in a nearby building as part of their faming complex, never in a removed and dis‐ tant facility. To be *hand* made, their own hand must be involved in making the product, and they must perceive a level of craftsmanship involved in the transformational cooking proc‐ ess. One Producer described the importance of seeing and inspecting each individual raw main ingredient with his or her *own* eyes. Another Producer describes the importance of the cook (themselves) to be directly involved in the cooking, cooking in low batch volumes and never on a stove that could be considered 'industrial':

I stir the pot myself. I never use a pot that does not sit on the stove. I never cook in volumes that are larger than 25 litres. No, no, no. Not ever. (Skåne Food Producer, November 2011).

…And also describes readying themselves psychologically as to not infuse the products with stress, which might negatively taint the flavour:

'I do this to delight my clients'

'I can't sell anything unless the customer is satisfied directly'

tion and Certainty of Myth' finding.

come a central concern.

The importance of bringing consumer satisfaction - and by extension, belief - through their produce underpins and adds meaning and reinforces *their* belief in their rites of magic. Feedback from consumers is actively gained from Producers when possible, and it is this in‐ formation that is actively sought and helps guide further practices, as discussed 'Co-Crea‐

Adding Value in Food Production http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/53174 689

The execution of these magical rites also brings small-scale food production to more close‐ ly resemble a creative processes (such as art or fashion) rather than a production process (such as Fordist production methods), and again brings food production to in closer align‐ ment within the New Economy. In order to execute their magical rites, Producers must manage themselves, their lives and their work in a way that optimises their creativity and mood to enact their magical acts, which blurs the line between 'work' and 'play'. Here, Löfgren and Willim (2005) refer to the use of magic as central to emergent people and self-management methods in the New Economy, where the introduction of 'fun' has be‐

This management of self is referred to as 'reflexivity' by Lash and Urry (2002) and described by McRobbie (2002) "as a form of self disciplining where subjects… are increasingly called upon to inspect themselves and their practices, in the absence of structures of support… re‐ flexivity marks the space of self responsibility, self blame" (p. 522). Producers are highly cognizant in the requirement for individual responsibility in their rites, as I was informed 'you are held accountable for what you do'. Giddens' and Becks description of the concept as undertaking self monitoring activities' (McRobbie 2002, p. 522), is relevant in describing

Social agents are increasingly 'set free' from heteronomous control or monitoring of social structures in order to be self-monitoring or self-reflexive. This accelerating individualisation process is a process in which agency is set free from structure; a process which, further, it is structural change itself in modernisation that so to speak forces agency to take on powers that heretofore lay in social structures themselves. Hence for example structural change in the econo‐ my forces individuals to be freed from the structural rigidity of the Fordist labour process. That is, it is increasingly a pre-requisite… that the labour force becomes increasingly self-monitoring as well as develops an even greater reflexiv‐

In this instance, the use of magic to add symbolic value of Authenticity in production meth‐ ods has transferred Producer association away from the Fordist economic labour process, but embedded them more closely with the counter-structure that has developed in resist‐

this accountability here and is further articulated by Lash and Urry:

ity with respect to the rules and resources of the workplace" (2002, p. 5)

It is an experience, every day, every batch that is made; you do not always get the same batch or the next batch exactly the same with the same products. It depends on your peace of mind, on how much you put in your measuring cup. It has to do with… well, if you are under stress… all those things matter (to the final product). (Skåne Food Producer, November 2011).

However, these assertions were made at the same time limitations and exceptions were made obvious, and showed clearly the edges between a 'will to believe', 'actual belief' and deceit. It and also showed differences of opinion and poor definition where these edges actually lay between the Producers involved in this study - there was no common approach. Individuals had determined what fit with their magical act. For example, it's understandably difficult to grow all of the required raw ingredients for a product on the one farm, so while it is important that they farmed the 'star' ingredient in their products, it appears that consideration to all origins of the ingredients in use are not considered as heavily - one Producer mentioned popping into the local ICA store whenever an ingredi‐ ent was needed, and had never checked the provenance of the product bought there for that purpose; while another mentioned checking provenance of all the ingredients they use. Another mentioned the recipe for one product was something they looked up on the Internet, hardly conjuring images of *crafted*, while a different Producer claimed that all recipes they used were the result of experimentation in their home kitchen. Another men‐ tioned that they had employed Polish workers to pick their raw ingredients as a cost sav‐ ing, and wondered if this were doing the 'right thing' in terms of authenticity. In this instance they looked but did not find an exception to the rules of hand and home made, as they were selecting the produce to cook from the yields themselves - but this Producer conveyed feelings of unease and insecurity about their decision. It appeared to be a com‐ promise in their hand made claims.

As these edges are indistinct, blurry, and left to the Producers themselves to navigate, the inclusion of magic rites to infuse themselves in their products brings a host of anxieties in addition to an immense sense of pride. It has also turned their attention to and creates a high level of reliance on consumer approval. The consumer is seen as the ultimate judge of magical efforts, and also aligns with Mauss's outline of magic as an act that "society considers magical" (2001, p. 23) - everybody has to believe in the act of magic to be true. In this case, consumers are representations of society. When Producers are asked *why* they engaged in the business that they do, this is commonly the first aspect mentioned - it's a checking of consumer belief in their magic, expressed in a desire to please:

<sup>&#</sup>x27;(I make this) for the customer to enjoy!'

'I do this to delight my clients'

…And also describes readying themselves psychologically as to not infuse the products

It is an experience, every day, every batch that is made; you do not always get the same batch or the next batch exactly the same with the same products. It depends on your peace of mind, on how much you put in your measuring cup. It has to do with… well, if you are under stress… all those things matter (to the final product). (Skåne Food Producer,

However, these assertions were made at the same time limitations and exceptions were made obvious, and showed clearly the edges between a 'will to believe', 'actual belief' and deceit. It and also showed differences of opinion and poor definition where these edges actually lay between the Producers involved in this study - there was no common approach. Individuals had determined what fit with their magical act. For example, it's understandably difficult to grow all of the required raw ingredients for a product on the one farm, so while it is important that they farmed the 'star' ingredient in their products, it appears that consideration to all origins of the ingredients in use are not considered as heavily - one Producer mentioned popping into the local ICA store whenever an ingredi‐ ent was needed, and had never checked the provenance of the product bought there for that purpose; while another mentioned checking provenance of all the ingredients they use. Another mentioned the recipe for one product was something they looked up on the Internet, hardly conjuring images of *crafted*, while a different Producer claimed that all recipes they used were the result of experimentation in their home kitchen. Another men‐ tioned that they had employed Polish workers to pick their raw ingredients as a cost sav‐ ing, and wondered if this were doing the 'right thing' in terms of authenticity. In this instance they looked but did not find an exception to the rules of hand and home made, as they were selecting the produce to cook from the yields themselves - but this Producer conveyed feelings of unease and insecurity about their decision. It appeared to be a com‐

As these edges are indistinct, blurry, and left to the Producers themselves to navigate, the inclusion of magic rites to infuse themselves in their products brings a host of anxieties in addition to an immense sense of pride. It has also turned their attention to and creates a high level of reliance on consumer approval. The consumer is seen as the ultimate judge of magical efforts, and also aligns with Mauss's outline of magic as an act that "society considers magical" (2001, p. 23) - everybody has to believe in the act of magic to be true. In this case, consumers are representations of society. When Producers are asked *why* they engaged in the business that they do, this is commonly the first aspect mentioned - it's a

checking of consumer belief in their magic, expressed in a desire to please:

with stress, which might negatively taint the flavour:

November 2011).

688 Food Industry

promise in their hand made claims.

'(I make this) for the customer to enjoy!'

'I can't sell anything unless the customer is satisfied directly'

The importance of bringing consumer satisfaction - and by extension, belief - through their produce underpins and adds meaning and reinforces *their* belief in their rites of magic. Feedback from consumers is actively gained from Producers when possible, and it is this in‐ formation that is actively sought and helps guide further practices, as discussed 'Co-Crea‐ tion and Certainty of Myth' finding.

The execution of these magical rites also brings small-scale food production to more close‐ ly resemble a creative processes (such as art or fashion) rather than a production process (such as Fordist production methods), and again brings food production to in closer align‐ ment within the New Economy. In order to execute their magical rites, Producers must manage themselves, their lives and their work in a way that optimises their creativity and mood to enact their magical acts, which blurs the line between 'work' and 'play'. Here, Löfgren and Willim (2005) refer to the use of magic as central to emergent people and self-management methods in the New Economy, where the introduction of 'fun' has be‐ come a central concern.

This management of self is referred to as 'reflexivity' by Lash and Urry (2002) and described by McRobbie (2002) "as a form of self disciplining where subjects… are increasingly called upon to inspect themselves and their practices, in the absence of structures of support… re‐ flexivity marks the space of self responsibility, self blame" (p. 522). Producers are highly cognizant in the requirement for individual responsibility in their rites, as I was informed 'you are held accountable for what you do'. Giddens' and Becks description of the concept as undertaking self monitoring activities' (McRobbie 2002, p. 522), is relevant in describing this accountability here and is further articulated by Lash and Urry:

Social agents are increasingly 'set free' from heteronomous control or monitoring of social structures in order to be self-monitoring or self-reflexive. This accelerating individualisation process is a process in which agency is set free from structure; a process which, further, it is structural change itself in modernisation that so to speak forces agency to take on powers that heretofore lay in social structures themselves. Hence for example structural change in the econo‐ my forces individuals to be freed from the structural rigidity of the Fordist labour process. That is, it is increasingly a pre-requisite… that the labour force becomes increasingly self-monitoring as well as develops an even greater reflexiv‐ ity with respect to the rules and resources of the workplace" (2002, p. 5)

In this instance, the use of magic to add symbolic value of Authenticity in production meth‐ ods has transferred Producer association away from the Fordist economic labour process, but embedded them more closely with the counter-structure that has developed in resist‐ ance to it within the New Food Economy. Furthermore, their intense self-monitoring has al‐ so developed skills of greater reflexivity with respect to the rules of their workplace that extends across their day to day lives, and creates a unique set of challenges inherent in oper‐ ating in this way, which is discussed in the Research Finding Summary. As McRobbie de‐ scribes the fashion industry in London (2002), this may mean holding down additional jobs in order to make ends meet - one Producer interviewed shovels snow in winter.

uct range and material representation of space. The design of this space creates a sense of certainty for consumers that they were engaged with farmers and one of its functions is to create an invitational space for discourse. However, in creating spaces and products that the consumer demanded, Producers merely replicate current marketplace dynamics and base their business information only on what information their consumers can tell them - para‐ doxically, they attempt to surprise consumers with information that the consumers them‐ selves revealed to them. It is here that a key advantage of Cultural Analysis is shown. With a wide theoretical and historical view, the food industry is outlined and underlying motiva‐

Adding Value in Food Production http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/53174 691

tions and desires that neither consumers nor producers can articulate is articulated.

artistic industries than to food.

This article found that, as Producers and cultural mediators, Producers' own search for identity and meaning is inscribed in their products. In order to invoke the Law of Contact or contagious magic and influence their products at distance, they transform and value add their products by becoming magicians and undertaking rites of magic in their kitchens. These rites, while infusing their products with the desired handmade, homemade and craft‐ ed values associated with authenticity has created limitations to production methods, and also highlights the thin line that can exist between magic and deception. As individuals pos‐ sessing cultural capital in the form of knowledge, Producers acknowledge and inscribe this power and transform what cannot be reproduced into their products: themselves. In paying very close attention to consumers, Producers have tacitly understood that their products represent a desire for cultural capital and class position, and have in response turned their farm shops into unique, non-everyday, special spaces that resemble art galleries. In doing, they transform themselves from cooks to artists, bring food closer to the Experience Econo‐ my, and also reveal and entrench their own understanding of 'culture' as high art; as op‐ posed to the everyday. These actions also force a re-consideration of what business these Producers are actually in: these practices point towards a closer alignment to the service and

Regardless, the belief in art, myth and themselves as value added determinants of authentic‐ ity has created practices that restrict income flow, with some Producers living on the edge economically. It also potentially creates risk in their business model should their product of‐

The knowledge of the value-adding practices co-creation, farmer's myth, art and magic that

Firstly, it calls for a view of where business involvement actually lies, and why. In this ex‐ ample, small-scale Producers have combined elements of food and artistic industries as an expression of cultural capital for themselves and their consumers. The 'blurring' of industry edges in the New Economy is in itself not necessarily a brand new phenomenon in the food industry as Jönsson (2012) has outlined in '*The Gastronomic Revolution*'. However, in this con‐ text it is evolving the question of *why* Producers are engaged in the business that they are, where more inspiration for application can be found. As Simon Sinek, cultural anthropolo‐ gist and management and leadership author proposes in '*Start with Why*' (2009), inspired

fer fall out of consumer favour as mysteriously (to them) as it fell in.

**4.2. Conclusions with applications and suggestions for future research**

small-scale producers use have several applications for food producers.

## **4. Conclusions**

#### **4.1. Summary of findings**

In this article, new knowledge regarding the value adding practices to inscribe authenticity in food products is provided. The perspective from small scale farming Producers was tak‐ en; where co-creation, myth, art and magic are key practices utilised to value add products with authenticity.

Value adding is a common practice in the food industry, and is increasingly undertaken by inscribing lifestyle and cultural capital messages in food such as health, knowledge and class position, often by claiming some sort of "authenticity". The theoretical understanding in thesis outlined that authenticity is a social construction, and taking the view from Produc‐ ers in this study, to be characterised with references to handmade, homemade and crafted messages inscribed into their products. These messages are understood via deconstruction of cultural codes. An example of this was demonstrated by the cultural perception of 'farm‐ ing' to constitute a myth market that the food industry has utilised heavily in marketing communication messages. However, it was the deceptive use of communication messages by large-scale food companies that created consumer uncertainty to the real origins and pro‐ duction processes of mass-produced food, and opened small-scale production an opportuni‐ ty to provide myth certainty to consumers with their products.

To value add their concept of 'authenticity' to products, rites of magic, co-creation, delivery of certain myth, and development of art spaces are undertaken. These practices differentiate and have been developed in counter to the dominant food system in order to create compet‐ itive advantage. In doing, Producers reveal culturally constructed beliefs about their rela‐ tionship to their product, understanding of symbolic meanings in representation of space and their desired identity via cultural capital. It also reveals ignorance to the underlying cul‐ tural structure and history of food that has lead to their position in the food industry today.

As pointed out in the application of theory from the New Economy, the entire production process is increasingly taken into account when reading food messages, and it is here that small-scale production finds competitive advantage in the marketplace. However, Produc‐ ers' lack of knowledge about how and why they came to a position of prominence has creat‐ ed uncertainty about their conduct now and into the future. To combat this, Producers have created magical rites and a high level of self-reflexivity in regards to their practices of au‐ thenticity, and a heavy reliance on co-creation with their consumers to develop their prod‐ uct range and material representation of space. The design of this space creates a sense of certainty for consumers that they were engaged with farmers and one of its functions is to create an invitational space for discourse. However, in creating spaces and products that the consumer demanded, Producers merely replicate current marketplace dynamics and base their business information only on what information their consumers can tell them - para‐ doxically, they attempt to surprise consumers with information that the consumers them‐ selves revealed to them. It is here that a key advantage of Cultural Analysis is shown. With a wide theoretical and historical view, the food industry is outlined and underlying motiva‐ tions and desires that neither consumers nor producers can articulate is articulated.

ance to it within the New Food Economy. Furthermore, their intense self-monitoring has al‐ so developed skills of greater reflexivity with respect to the rules of their workplace that extends across their day to day lives, and creates a unique set of challenges inherent in oper‐ ating in this way, which is discussed in the Research Finding Summary. As McRobbie de‐ scribes the fashion industry in London (2002), this may mean holding down additional jobs

In this article, new knowledge regarding the value adding practices to inscribe authenticity in food products is provided. The perspective from small scale farming Producers was tak‐ en; where co-creation, myth, art and magic are key practices utilised to value add products

Value adding is a common practice in the food industry, and is increasingly undertaken by inscribing lifestyle and cultural capital messages in food such as health, knowledge and class position, often by claiming some sort of "authenticity". The theoretical understanding in thesis outlined that authenticity is a social construction, and taking the view from Produc‐ ers in this study, to be characterised with references to handmade, homemade and crafted messages inscribed into their products. These messages are understood via deconstruction of cultural codes. An example of this was demonstrated by the cultural perception of 'farm‐ ing' to constitute a myth market that the food industry has utilised heavily in marketing communication messages. However, it was the deceptive use of communication messages by large-scale food companies that created consumer uncertainty to the real origins and pro‐ duction processes of mass-produced food, and opened small-scale production an opportuni‐

To value add their concept of 'authenticity' to products, rites of magic, co-creation, delivery of certain myth, and development of art spaces are undertaken. These practices differentiate and have been developed in counter to the dominant food system in order to create compet‐ itive advantage. In doing, Producers reveal culturally constructed beliefs about their rela‐ tionship to their product, understanding of symbolic meanings in representation of space and their desired identity via cultural capital. It also reveals ignorance to the underlying cul‐ tural structure and history of food that has lead to their position in the food industry today.

As pointed out in the application of theory from the New Economy, the entire production process is increasingly taken into account when reading food messages, and it is here that small-scale production finds competitive advantage in the marketplace. However, Produc‐ ers' lack of knowledge about how and why they came to a position of prominence has creat‐ ed uncertainty about their conduct now and into the future. To combat this, Producers have created magical rites and a high level of self-reflexivity in regards to their practices of au‐ thenticity, and a heavy reliance on co-creation with their consumers to develop their prod‐

ty to provide myth certainty to consumers with their products.

in order to make ends meet - one Producer interviewed shovels snow in winter.

**4. Conclusions**

690 Food Industry

with authenticity.

**4.1. Summary of findings**

This article found that, as Producers and cultural mediators, Producers' own search for identity and meaning is inscribed in their products. In order to invoke the Law of Contact or contagious magic and influence their products at distance, they transform and value add their products by becoming magicians and undertaking rites of magic in their kitchens. These rites, while infusing their products with the desired handmade, homemade and craft‐ ed values associated with authenticity has created limitations to production methods, and also highlights the thin line that can exist between magic and deception. As individuals pos‐ sessing cultural capital in the form of knowledge, Producers acknowledge and inscribe this power and transform what cannot be reproduced into their products: themselves. In paying very close attention to consumers, Producers have tacitly understood that their products represent a desire for cultural capital and class position, and have in response turned their farm shops into unique, non-everyday, special spaces that resemble art galleries. In doing, they transform themselves from cooks to artists, bring food closer to the Experience Econo‐ my, and also reveal and entrench their own understanding of 'culture' as high art; as op‐ posed to the everyday. These actions also force a re-consideration of what business these Producers are actually in: these practices point towards a closer alignment to the service and artistic industries than to food.

Regardless, the belief in art, myth and themselves as value added determinants of authentic‐ ity has created practices that restrict income flow, with some Producers living on the edge economically. It also potentially creates risk in their business model should their product of‐ fer fall out of consumer favour as mysteriously (to them) as it fell in.

#### **4.2. Conclusions with applications and suggestions for future research**

The knowledge of the value-adding practices co-creation, farmer's myth, art and magic that small-scale producers use have several applications for food producers.

Firstly, it calls for a view of where business involvement actually lies, and why. In this ex‐ ample, small-scale Producers have combined elements of food and artistic industries as an expression of cultural capital for themselves and their consumers. The 'blurring' of industry edges in the New Economy is in itself not necessarily a brand new phenomenon in the food industry as Jönsson (2012) has outlined in '*The Gastronomic Revolution*'. However, in this con‐ text it is evolving the question of *why* Producers are engaged in the business that they are, where more inspiration for application can be found. As Simon Sinek, cultural anthropolo‐ gist and management and leadership author proposes in '*Start with Why*' (2009), inspired leaders such as Steve Jobs, Martin Luther King, Orville Wright looked for their why in pla‐ ces based in altruism, common good and social betterment (which he suggests is another construction of authenticity), which in turn motivated and inspired others, and in doing turned their ideas into social movements. In other words, their why is the basis for construc‐ tion of consumer desire. Sinek suggests that it is the articulation of why as the reason that consumers ultimately buy products or services. A further description in Sinek's book is in support of a key message in this article - that consumers will be unable to tell you what this *why* is. There may be some concerns regarding the why Producers in this study have em‐ ployed, but it is currently a compelling and motivating proposition for them nonetheless.

A warning arrives in the form of the risk involved when an over-reliance on consumer feed‐ back is evident in the production of practice. Some research methods, such as quantitative surveys, will merely reinforce current modes of behaviour and reveal only what lies at the surface, arguably providing a perfect template for continuation of business as it is today. This article illustrates that consumer feedback can be too much of a good thing if taken out of a wider cultural context. To build business with a large reliance on this practice is prob‐ lematic - as mentioned in the Introduction, one cannot simply walk up to a consumer and ask them why they like a certain food product. They can't tell you. Co-creation discussions with consumers reveal more about the widespread consumer ignorance regarding the food industry rather than revealing how they could be surprised and astonished. There is nothing game changing about approaching a consumer in this way - it doesn't challenge the status quo, and will serve only to reinforce what already is. How can one be surprised if they can articulate what constitutes a surprise? A deeper and wider view provided through methods such as Cultural analysis theory and ethnology as a method will reveal culturally uncon‐ scious held beliefs, the structures that surround society that influence behaviour and uncov‐

Adding Value in Food Production http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/53174 693

er what the underlying motivations *really* are in value making and value adding.

within the social sciences and warrants further attention.

mythology is in use.

Future research recommendations pay attention to assisting the development of knowledge of practices identified in this thesis, and in doing proposes a greater involvement and collab‐ oration of actors across the food industry. The examination of value adding by small-scale food Producers in the New and Experience Economies is a relatively new area of study

Continuing the development of knowledge in regards to co-creation, a point of interest is made with reference to Douglas Holt (2004). Like Prahalad & Ramasaway, his approach is positioned at the crossroad of marketing, brand management and cultural studies, and in his publication '*How Brands Become Icons*' invokes the use of co-creation (what he terms as 'co-authoring') and mythology as a key to success in branding strategy. However he does not refer to the element of certainty or trust in myth. It appears to be a given fact that this commonly held cultural knowledge can and will be used by larger corporations in their branding and communication strategies, and begs the future study within these cross disci‐ plines from a cultural analysis perspective as to the importance of certainty (or trust) as re‐ quired before a marketing or communication messages is developed, particularly when

The value shown in Cultural Analysis in this thesis is applicable not only to small-scale Pro‐ ducers in Skåne, Sweden, but other actors in the food chain as well. There is opportunity for mutual involvement and collaboration to the adding of values in food with a greater focus

The inclusion of experience and art to food also indicates a need to more fully understand these complementary culture-production industries in this context. To facilitate this discus‐ sion, it is further recommended that Producers push past their currently defined limits of their community and involve with industry bodies such as the Skåne Food Innovation Net‐ work in their provision of opportunities for collaboration through networks and connec‐ tions. Education forums with a Cultural Analysis perspective regarding value adding will

to education and involvement in the construction of consumer desire.

A less individualistic, more collective and cooperative approach within the food industry, to educate and empower themselves and consumers, develop sustainable, kind and ethical business practices, and authentically communicate about how their food is *really* made could be a more compelling and sustainable why than what is currently employed. However, the thrust of this application remains for the wider food industry: using a cultural analytical ap‐ proach, define what industries your business is involved and describe *why* it's important.

Additionally, it is the certainty that Producers can create through their value adding practi‐ ces that constitutes part of their competitive advantage. The wider food industry, and mass production companies in particular, have heavily utilised and communicated the 'return to the farm' and 'farmer' myth. In so doing, they have shown just how powerful mythology is in our culture and how easily it can be communicated in marketing messages. Unfortunate‐ ly, these messages in past use were often concealing large-scale production methods and laboratories that bear little resemblance to what is commonly perceived as a farm (or farm‐ er). As this concealment was exposed over the years consumer distrust and cynicism crept in. What Producers are able to do in this climate is remain present in their farmhouse kitch‐ ens, and their Farm Shops, as consumers to come *to* them, and in doing, start to create a new view for consumers to build their perceptions regarding the myth of farming. The certainty that is created, and ability to begin changing the myth points to an opportunity not only for small-scale Producers to start using a heavier hand for the evolution of this myth, but for the wider food industry in developing certainty in myth-based marketing claims - by initially providing increasing transparency to business practices and building trust.

This knowledge also illustrates the magic in infusing authenticity - where a key element is the audience *belief* in the magical act. To develop rites without an audience means there is no magic; and conversely if you have an audience and there is no belief in these rites, again there is also no magic. There exists a thin line between magic and deceit. Magic is alike to authenticity in this regard: all actors involved have to believe it to be true. It is also a key element that provides competitive advantage, and Producers have selected a positioning that cannot be replicated: themselves. The authenticity in this study is predominately the Producers themselves; they have magically infused their sense of self as unique representa‐ tions in homemade, hand-made and crafted production methods as part of their product of‐ fer. Which leads to ask the question to the wider food industry: What does authenticity mean to your business? Is it believable? Can it be replicated?

A warning arrives in the form of the risk involved when an over-reliance on consumer feed‐ back is evident in the production of practice. Some research methods, such as quantitative surveys, will merely reinforce current modes of behaviour and reveal only what lies at the surface, arguably providing a perfect template for continuation of business as it is today. This article illustrates that consumer feedback can be too much of a good thing if taken out of a wider cultural context. To build business with a large reliance on this practice is prob‐ lematic - as mentioned in the Introduction, one cannot simply walk up to a consumer and ask them why they like a certain food product. They can't tell you. Co-creation discussions with consumers reveal more about the widespread consumer ignorance regarding the food industry rather than revealing how they could be surprised and astonished. There is nothing game changing about approaching a consumer in this way - it doesn't challenge the status quo, and will serve only to reinforce what already is. How can one be surprised if they can articulate what constitutes a surprise? A deeper and wider view provided through methods such as Cultural analysis theory and ethnology as a method will reveal culturally uncon‐ scious held beliefs, the structures that surround society that influence behaviour and uncov‐ er what the underlying motivations *really* are in value making and value adding.

leaders such as Steve Jobs, Martin Luther King, Orville Wright looked for their why in pla‐ ces based in altruism, common good and social betterment (which he suggests is another construction of authenticity), which in turn motivated and inspired others, and in doing turned their ideas into social movements. In other words, their why is the basis for construc‐ tion of consumer desire. Sinek suggests that it is the articulation of why as the reason that consumers ultimately buy products or services. A further description in Sinek's book is in support of a key message in this article - that consumers will be unable to tell you what this *why* is. There may be some concerns regarding the why Producers in this study have em‐ ployed, but it is currently a compelling and motivating proposition for them nonetheless.

692 Food Industry

A less individualistic, more collective and cooperative approach within the food industry, to educate and empower themselves and consumers, develop sustainable, kind and ethical business practices, and authentically communicate about how their food is *really* made could be a more compelling and sustainable why than what is currently employed. However, the thrust of this application remains for the wider food industry: using a cultural analytical ap‐ proach, define what industries your business is involved and describe *why* it's important.

Additionally, it is the certainty that Producers can create through their value adding practi‐ ces that constitutes part of their competitive advantage. The wider food industry, and mass production companies in particular, have heavily utilised and communicated the 'return to the farm' and 'farmer' myth. In so doing, they have shown just how powerful mythology is in our culture and how easily it can be communicated in marketing messages. Unfortunate‐ ly, these messages in past use were often concealing large-scale production methods and laboratories that bear little resemblance to what is commonly perceived as a farm (or farm‐ er). As this concealment was exposed over the years consumer distrust and cynicism crept in. What Producers are able to do in this climate is remain present in their farmhouse kitch‐ ens, and their Farm Shops, as consumers to come *to* them, and in doing, start to create a new view for consumers to build their perceptions regarding the myth of farming. The certainty that is created, and ability to begin changing the myth points to an opportunity not only for small-scale Producers to start using a heavier hand for the evolution of this myth, but for the wider food industry in developing certainty in myth-based marketing claims - by initially

This knowledge also illustrates the magic in infusing authenticity - where a key element is the audience *belief* in the magical act. To develop rites without an audience means there is no magic; and conversely if you have an audience and there is no belief in these rites, again there is also no magic. There exists a thin line between magic and deceit. Magic is alike to authenticity in this regard: all actors involved have to believe it to be true. It is also a key element that provides competitive advantage, and Producers have selected a positioning that cannot be replicated: themselves. The authenticity in this study is predominately the Producers themselves; they have magically infused their sense of self as unique representa‐ tions in homemade, hand-made and crafted production methods as part of their product of‐ fer. Which leads to ask the question to the wider food industry: What does authenticity

providing increasing transparency to business practices and building trust.

mean to your business? Is it believable? Can it be replicated?

Future research recommendations pay attention to assisting the development of knowledge of practices identified in this thesis, and in doing proposes a greater involvement and collab‐ oration of actors across the food industry. The examination of value adding by small-scale food Producers in the New and Experience Economies is a relatively new area of study within the social sciences and warrants further attention.

Continuing the development of knowledge in regards to co-creation, a point of interest is made with reference to Douglas Holt (2004). Like Prahalad & Ramasaway, his approach is positioned at the crossroad of marketing, brand management and cultural studies, and in his publication '*How Brands Become Icons*' invokes the use of co-creation (what he terms as 'co-authoring') and mythology as a key to success in branding strategy. However he does not refer to the element of certainty or trust in myth. It appears to be a given fact that this commonly held cultural knowledge can and will be used by larger corporations in their branding and communication strategies, and begs the future study within these cross disci‐ plines from a cultural analysis perspective as to the importance of certainty (or trust) as re‐ quired before a marketing or communication messages is developed, particularly when mythology is in use.

The value shown in Cultural Analysis in this thesis is applicable not only to small-scale Pro‐ ducers in Skåne, Sweden, but other actors in the food chain as well. There is opportunity for mutual involvement and collaboration to the adding of values in food with a greater focus to education and involvement in the construction of consumer desire.

The inclusion of experience and art to food also indicates a need to more fully understand these complementary culture-production industries in this context. To facilitate this discus‐ sion, it is further recommended that Producers push past their currently defined limits of their community and involve with industry bodies such as the Skåne Food Innovation Net‐ work in their provision of opportunities for collaboration through networks and connec‐ tions. Education forums with a Cultural Analysis perspective regarding value adding will help assist those in the manufacturing and production of consumer goods in the food indus‐ try understand their position and role as cultural mediators.

[13] Connor, J & Sheik, W. (1997). Food Processing: An Industrial Powerhouse in transi‐

Adding Value in Food Production http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/53174 695

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In closing, the role of small-scale food Producers is one that can be promoted with their col‐ laboration, and in doing, can help build understanding that they do have a unique position and practices within the food industry. This will provide small-scale Producers with the confidence to further evolve their practices for greater economic return and business stabili‐ ty in the longer term as consumer demands in the food industry continue to evolve.

### **Author details**

Rebecca Dare, Håkan Jönsson and Hans Knutsson

Lund University, Sweden

### **References**


help assist those in the manufacturing and production of consumer goods in the food indus‐

In closing, the role of small-scale food Producers is one that can be promoted with their col‐ laboration, and in doing, can help build understanding that they do have a unique position and practices within the food industry. This will provide small-scale Producers with the confidence to further evolve their practices for greater economic return and business stabili‐

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**Author details**

694 Food Industry

**References**

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**Section 6**

**Products Management of Food Industry**

**Products Management of Food Industry**

**Chapter 30**

**Water and Wastewater Management and Biomass to**

**Energy Conversion in a Meat Processing Plant in Brazil**

A commitment to sustainability and an understanding of the concepts of "cleaner produc‐ tion" are current requirements for achieving environmentally-friendly industrial practices. Such concepts promote the minimization of fresh water consumption, a reduction in waste‐ water production and the recycling of wastes. Hence, in a world where water scarcity and climate change are a reality, actions to protect fresh water resources and enhance renewable energy capacity are mandatory for any type and size of industry. With reference to solid wastes, social and environmental responsibility goes beyond the obligations determined by law and relies on substantial technical research to establish a strict environmental manage‐

Meat processing plants worldwide use approximately 62 Mm³ per year of water. Only a small amount of this quantity becomes a component of the final product. The remaining part becomes wastewater with high biological and chemical oxygen demands, high fat con‐ tent and high concentrations of dry residue, sedimentary and total suspended matter as well as nitrogen and chloride compounds (Sroka et al., 2004). Of the components usually found in these effluents, blood can be considered as the most problematic due to its capacity to in‐ hibit floc formation during physicochemical wastewater treatment and its high biochemical (BOD5, biochemical oxygen demand during decomposition over a 5-day period) and chemi‐

> © 2013 J. José et al.; licensee InTech. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use,

© 2013 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution,

distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

**– A Case Study**

Horst Fr. Schröder

**1. Introduction**

ment policy.

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/53163

Humberto J. José, Regina F. P. M. Moreira,

Silvia L. F. Andersen, Rennio F. de Sena and

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

Danielle B. Luiz, Elaine Virmond, Aziza K. Genena,
