Comparison of relationship perception in the international fresh produce business

Purpose – The suppliers of fresh fruit and vegetable complain that their buyers in the retail segment of the market used certain undesirable and questionable business practices which are not used by buyers in other segments. These undesirable practices may have negative effects on how the exporters perceive their relationship with the retailers compared with how they will perceive the non-retail buyers. This paper aims to compare the perceived relationship quality of the retailer group of buyers with the buyers in the other categories of the fresh fruit and vegetable business between Ghana and Europe. Design/methodology/approach – Using the literature on inter-firm relationships as a basis, a structured questionnaire was designed and administered to 101 exporters in Ghana. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) procedure and post hoc test were used to determine the differences in the perceived relationship quality of the exporters classified according to their main European buyer type. Findings – The empirical results from the study support the hypotheses that exporters have a lower perception of the quality of their relationship with retailers compared with the wholesalers and the food service firms. In addition, whereas differences in exporters’ experience were observed depending on the type of European importer to whom they mainly sell, the size of the exporters does not differ. The paper concludes that, in the context of the fresh produce business, the level of perceived power exploitation may differ depending on the type of business organisation or the position of the firm in the supply chain. Originality/value – It is recommended that export firms need to examine the category to which their main buyer belongs before they make relationship-specific investments. The results also provide a guide for policy makers and antitrust bodies in the various European countries to be able to effectively target their policies to address unfair business practices.