Trust within the organic food supply chain: the role of the Certification Bodies

In the Organic Agriculture Supply Chain (OASC), the creation of trust finds its formal application into a process and product certification guaranteed by independent inspectors of the Organic Agriculture Certification Bodies (OACB). This study is aimed at analysing the role of OACB in creating trust between the actors involved into the OASC in Italy. Information about sixteen Italian OACB structures, field activities and factors constituting trust within the OASC were collected, through web-site exploration and direct surveys. Results show that the Ministry and final customers are valued as the more important subjects to OACB reputation building. Moreover, creating trust for OACB relies more on internal performance.