Towards Sustainable Food Consumption?

Unsustainable patterns of production and consumption are one of the major environmental concerns in the industrialised world today. Regarding production, organic agriculture is a more sustainable way of producing food than conventional farming. To facilitate for an expansion of the organic food production, there must be a corresponding increase in demand for organic products. The retailers, positioned in the middle of the food distribution chain, have a key role regarding both these aspects. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to explore how the Swedish organic food market may be strengthened by the food retailers: What are the driving forces and obstacles for retailers to include organic food in their business strategy? How do the actions of the food retailers affect the other actors on the organic market? A case study with four Swedish retail chains; Coop, ICA, Hemköp and Netto, is conducted. Economic theories explaining corporate strategies, ranging from the traditional neo-classical theory to theories about Corporate Social Responsibility, are used as tools for the analysis. Furthermore, a Causal Loop Diagram (CLD) is used to capture the dynamics of the organic food market. In the thesis it is concluded that the driving forces for the retailers to offer organic food are the business opportunities that organic food can provide, including the possibilities for green profiling, the potential to capture new customers who demand healthy food, and to get a competitive advantage towards other chains in the same segment. Other driving forces were demands from the owners and the wish to improve stakeholder relations. The retailers do not perceive any major external obstacles for a further expansion of their organic assortment. Instead, it is attitudinal and administrational barriers within the own organisation that have to be overcome. The case retailers affect the demand side by offering their customers an organic assortment, by increasing the attractiveness of organic food for their customers and in the case of Coop, by adopting a different pricing policy on organic food. The supply side is affected through long-term contracts with the suppliers.