Changing Governance Patterns In European Food Chains: The Rise Of A New Divide Between Global Players And Regional Producers
Palpacuer Florence, 2008
Name of publisher/editor
Transnational Corporations
Co-author
Selma Tozanli
Geographic area
Europe
Summary & key words
This article traces general trends in European food markets and the strategies of leading firms in selected European food chains (milk, sugar, cereals, meat). The analysis highlights the emergence of a growing divide between the largest downstream firms on the one hand and specialty and upstream producers on the other. The former have adopted globalization and financialization strategies over the past decade and promoted global sourcing under the deregulated conditions of European primary food and agricultural markets while the latter remain anchored in national or regional markets and production systems. Implications ofthese findings for both Global Value Chain (GVC) analysis and European policy are discussed.