Producing rural provenance foods - motivations, representations and perceived impacts

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a growing differentiative trend of food markets towards a logic of quality, presenting new opportunities for consumers, retailers and producers of rural provenance food products. Although these evolving food practices are still hybrid, combining dominant agro-industrial and productivist logics, alternative food networks and shorter supply chains are increasingly valued and promoted, both by consumers, retailers and producers and by European and national policies. Despite these dynamics involve a wide range of stakeholders, including decision-makers, distributors, retailers, consumers and producers, not all have received the same attention within scientific literature. Producers’ perspectives and representations have been somewhat overlooked by research.
This presentation intends to contribute to fill this gap, by analyzing the data collected through a survey directed to 104 producers that supply 9 specialty food shops located in Aveiro, Lisbon and Porto. These shops were selected as case studies from a wider range of urban specialty shops and they provided a list of all the rural provenance food producers working with them. Specifically, this study analyses the products produced, the characteristics of the producers and farms, while also exploring their motivations to produce those types of products, as well as the values attached to the products and the perceived impacts on rural on rural territories.
More than half of the producers surveyed are full time farmers, mainly producing wine, olive oil and vegetables. The majority of the agricultural holdings and enterprises is small or medium-sized, both in terms of the cultivated area and of the number of employees. The majority of the producers surveyed are from the North and Centre regions of Portugal. Empirical evidence shows that the motivations to produce rural traditional provenance food products range from the desire to preserve them, through stimulating their production, to the contribution to more sustainable and healthier food habits and to foster rural economies development. These motivations are aligned with the relevance attributed to different aspects of food production. In fact, the respect of local culture and local and family ways of food production and preparation, together with the respect for the environment are amongst the most valued aspects. The perceived impacts of rural provenance foods’ production are threefold: on the production itself, on the demand and consumption and on a multilayered development of rural communities of origin. Albeit associated with positive images of the food products and their territories of origin, Portuguese agriculture is mainly represented by the surveyed producers as an underdeveloped and problematic activity. Nevertheless, the national and/or local character of the food products produced are most valued aspects of their promotion.

Full text

Producing rural provenance foods –
motivations, representations and
perceived impacts
STRINGS - Selling The Rural IN (urban) Gourmet Stores –establishing new liaisons between
town and country through the sale and consumption of rural products (PTDC/GES-
OUT/29281/2017/ POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029281)
Elisabete Figueiredo elisa@ua.pt
Teresa Forte teresaforte@ua.pt
University of Aveiro, Portugal

Background
➢Alternative food networks and shorter supply chains have
been increasingly valued and promoted, both by
consumers, retailers and producers and by European and
national policies.
➢Within these dynamics involving several stakeholders
(including decision-makers, distributors, retailers,
consumers and producers) not all have received the
same attention with producers’ perspectives and
representations remaining relatively underexplored.

Aims
➢Characterizing the producers, farms and the
products produced;
➢Exploring their motivations to produce these
products, the underlying values, representations and
the perceived impacts on rural territories.

Methodology
➢A questionnaire directed to 104
producers of rural provenance food
products, supplying rural provenance
food products to 9 urban specialty
stores of three Portuguese cities:
Aveiro, Lisbon and Porto.
➢The 9 shops were selected as case
studies from previous stages of the
project:
➢Stage 1 –113 shops were surveyed to
build a typology
➢3 clusters of shops were identified:
➢1) the Wine Focused
➢2) The Rural Provenance Focused
➢3) The Generalist

Methodology
➢Stage 2 –30 shops were randomly selected taking the
cluster and the location
➢Stage 3–9shops were selected, also considering the city
and the cluster, to be further analyzed in terms of the
production-commercialization paths
➢The 9 stores were contacted to provide a detailed list of producers
supplying them with Portuguese rural provenance food products.
➢From an initial list of 134 producers, 104 agreed to participate in the
survey (77,6% response rate)
➢Data was collected though telephone calls, from July 2021 to
January 2022
➢Data was analyzed using SPSS, version 25.

Results
Producers’ and Production Characteristics
Sample profile* Total
N %
Characteristics of respondents
Gender
Male 68 65.4
Female 36 34.6
Age
Less or equal to 40 years old 25 24.0
Between 41 and 60 years old 68 65.4
Equal or more than 71 years old 11 10.6
Marital status
Married/cohabiting 84 80.8
Other 20 19.2
Education level
Higher education 62 59.6
Other 42 40.4
Monthly household income
Less than 2201€ 33 39.3
[2201-3000€] 27 32.1
More than 3000€ 24 28.6
Characteristics of the producer
Type of activity**
Farming 62 59.6
Animal husbandry 14 13.5
Food processing 83 79.8
Type of farm/ enterprise
Individual 34 32.7
Family 21 20.2
Cooperative 9 8.7
Enterprise 40 38.5

Results
Producers’ and Production Characteristics
➢The majority of the enterprises/ farms are
familiar or individual;
➢The majority of the enterprises/ farms have
between 21 and 50 years and also, the more
recente ones between 5and 10 years old;
➢Almost all the production is exclusevely to sell;
➢The farms are mainly between 101 and 500 ha,
followed by the ones with 21 to 50 ha and the
smaller ones, between 1and 5ha;
➢The majority of the enterprises/ farms employ
between 1 to 5 employees, followed by the
ones employing between 6 and 10 people;
➢Seasonal employment is a common resource;
Products Produced Total
N %
Wine
30 28.8
Olive oil
29 27.9
Vegetables
23 22.1
Liquors and other beverages
17 16.3
Honey, jams and preserves
16 15.4
Fruit
15 14.4
Cheese
10 9.6
Cured meat and other meat
products
10 9.6
Cakes, cookies and biscuits
7 6.7
Vinegar
5 4.8
Bread and other cereal
based products
2 1.9
Other milk products
1 1.0

Results
Producers’ and Production Characteristics
Products bought* Total
N %
Urban specialty or gourmet stores
104 100.0
Directly to the consumer
78 75.0
Restaurants
67 64.4
Supermarkets or hypermarkets
63 60.6
Traditional products fairs
16 15.4
Organic markets
11 10.6
Another producer
9 8.7
Farmers markets
6 5.8
Cooperatives
3 2.9

Results
Producers’ and Production Characteristics

Results
Producers’ and Production Characteristics

Results
Representations on Rural Territories, Food Products and Agriculture
50 more frequent words
Rural Territories Food Products Agriculture

Results
Representations on Rural Territories, Food Products and Agriculture
RURAL TERRITORIES
Places, villages and ways of life
Gaze, tranquility and well-being
Farming
Nature and natural elements
Problematic and underdeveloped
Abandonment, isolation and ageing
FOOD PRODUCTS
Type of products
•Sensorial features, distinction and authenticit,
nature, environment and Sustainability, nostalgia.
Quality
•Hand-made, traditional, know-how, organic
Type of production
Gastronomy and cuisine
Provenance
AGRICULTURE
Problematic and underdeveloped
Food products and features
Farming
Farming modes
Environment and nature

Results
Motivations to Produce Rural Provenance Food Products
Motivations to produce food products* Total
NMean
To stimulate the production of a given product
104 3.80
To be in contact with nature
104 3.73
To contribute to food sustainability
104 3.68
To contribute to a healthier food offer
104 3.68
Contribute to disseminate organic productions
104 3.67
To have higher quality of life
104 3.66
To contribute to environmental sustainability
104 3.63
To continue family activity
104 3.60
To create employment
104 3.54
To innovate in production processes
104 3.54
Identification of a market niche
104 3.52
To have economic stability
104 3.43
To contribute to rural communities’ economy
104 3.39
To contribute to develop national production
104 3.37
To offer an alternative to industrial products
104 3.35
Contribute to disseminate traditional productions
104 3.33
To preserve traditional practices and processes
104 3.26
To contribute to reduce rural
-urban asymmetries 104 3.23
Tax benefits
104 2.47
State incentives
104 2.38

Results
Perceived important aspects of the production
Important aspects of production*
Total
N
Mean
To introduce innovative forms of presentation and
commercialization
104 3.93
To respect local culture
104 3.86
To respect the environment as much as possible
104 3.83
To maintain owns (or family) ways of production/ preparation
104 3.80
To be an organic production
103 3.79
To introduce innovative forms of production
104 3.77
To combine tradition with innovation
104 3.70
To maintain the local ways of production/ preparation
104 3.69
To respect the local preparation forms
104 3.67
To respect local cultivation forms
104 3.63
To be an artisanal production
104 3.60
To maintain the small
-scale of production 104 3.56

Results
Perceive impacts of the production
Perception of impacts of production*
Total
N Mean
In the diversification of the production of local products
104 3.69
In the increasing investment in the production of regional/ traditional products
104 3.62
In the revitalization of family food productions
104 3.60
In the increasing in the demand for local products
104 3.57
In the increasing of the demand for regional/ traditional products
104 3.54
In the creation of jobs in the communities of origin of the products
104 3.53
In the attractiveness of the communities of origin of the products
104 3.43
In the promotion of healthier eating habits
104 3.42
In the recognition/ promotion of the communities of origin of the products
104 3.39
In the enhancement of the image of Portuguese production
104 3.38
In the increasing investment in the production of local products
104 3.38
In preserving local natural resources
104 3.37
In more responsible consumption
104 3.36
In the diversification of the production of regional/ traditional products
104 3.32
In the development of the communities of origin of the products
104 3.29
In the strengthening of relations between the city and the countryside
104 3.25
In the reduction of ecological and food footprint
104 3.19
In reducing food waste
104 3.18
In the incentive to seasonal products consumption
104 3.15
In the increasing of tourism influxes in the communities of origin of the products
104 3.07

Results
Perceived challenges associated with the production
Challenges related to production and commercialization*
Total
N Mean
To predict the demand
104 3.53
Lack of financial incentives to small and medium farmers
104 3.51
Insufficient policies to protect small and medium
-sized producers 104 3.48
Uncertainty related to the stability and volume of production
104 3.17
Weather conditions
104 3.14
Legal requirements to production
104 3.07
Competitiveness within national market
104 3.02
To have satisfactory profit margins
104 3.00
Negotiation of the price of the products
104 3.00
Production costs
103 2.89
Certification costs
100 2.88
Lack of economic resources of the population to acquire non
-industrial products 104 2.88
Competition with other producers
103 2.86
Lack of public awareness of non
-industrial production 104 2.82
To have stable and trustworthy relations with retailers
103 2.80
Dissemination of the value and quality of the product
104 2.75
Communication with other elements of the food chain
104 2.75
To find adequate retailers
103 2.74
To find raw materials of quality
104 2.69
Preservation of the products
103 2.67
To guarantee the traditional character of the products
103 2.65
Lack of workers
104 2.63
Storage of the products
104 2.60
To have stable and trustworthy relations with intermediaries
100 2.54
Transportation of the products
103 2.52
Workers' wages
104 2.50
To find adequate intermediaries
100 2.47

Conclusions
➢Evidence shows that motivations to produce rural provenance food products
range from the desire to preserve them, through stimulating their production, to
contributing to more sustainable and healthier food habits and fostering rural
economies development.
➢These motivations are aligned with the relevance attributed to food
productions that respect local culture, familiar ways of food
production/preparation and the environment.
➢The motivations are intricately related to the perceived importance and the
impacts of the productions, which are threefold:
➢1) on the production itself,
➢2) on the demand and consumption and
➢3) on a multilayered development of rural communities of origin.

Conclusions
➢Interestingly, the producers surveyed, although portraying Portuguese
agriculture mainly as problematic and underdeveloped, did not
identify important challenges regarding the production of rural
provenance food products.
➢Contrary to national agriculture, Portuguese rural territories and rural
provenance foods tend to be represented in a very positive light,
evoking specific places of production as well as the products more
often identified with the country and their quality

Muito obrigada!
Thank you very much!
https://www.stringsproject.pt/
STRINGS - Selling The Rural IN (urban) Gourmet Stores –establishing new liaisons between
town and country through the sale and consumption of rural products (PTDC/GES-
OUT/29281/2017/ POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029281)