Food chains and value system: the case of potato, fruit, and cheese

The aim of the article is to analyse patterns of value system sharing along food chains, so as to explore the agrifood enterprises capacity to be competitive and sustainable. The research focused 15 on three food chains: potato, fruit, and Grana cheese of the Emilia Romagna region. The article adopts the value system approach. The methodology is aimed at creating a consolidated financial statement for each food chain so as to re-create the chain operating profit and identify how this is shared among the different 20 food chain stages. The analysis is carried out on 189 enterprises for the potato chain, 187 for the fruit chain, and 203 for the cheese chain. The number of enterprises was invariable over five years (2003–2007), leading to 2,900 financial statement analysis. The chains analysed show differences. In the potato and fruit chains 25 35% of value is created by distribution, whereas in the cheese chain only, it is 13.6%. Over the five years, value decreases 5% in fruit and potato and 9% in cheese. The lack of adequate strategic food chain partnership allows an increasing retail market power over the whole chain at the expense of the primary sector entailing a 30 declining sustainability for all chain actors.