The importance of food retailers: applying network analysis techniques to the study of local food systems

Trivette, Shawn A.

doi:10.1007/s10460-018-9885-1

Cited by 33 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Across both counties, grocers also appeared to be relatively stable actors in the local food system, with a little less than half (45% and 47% in each county) of the 2012 grocers remaining in the 2018 local food network (Table 2 ). Because grocers are important intermediaries that are often central to local food networks (Trivette 2019 ; Brinkley 2017 , 2018 ), their relative stability in the network offers promise for long-term stability and growth in local food systems. The two counties in this study differ in terms of the growth of this food system actor, with grocers making up the largest growth (53%) in the actor category for Chester County, but not Baltimore County (12%) (Table 2 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Because data was manually scraped from the web, the network data is limited by how up-to-date and extensive the various actors’ publicly available information is. This is also a challenge faced by previous studies that have applied SNA to local food systems (Trivette 2019 ; Brinkley 2017 , 2018 ). Although there is an economic incentive to keep distribution channels up-to-date for all of the actors involved, we know that not all of this data is an accurate reflection of the network.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Lucy Jarosz ( 2000 ) called for the combined use of network theory and supply chain analysis for regional food systems. Two decades later, Trivette ( 2019 ) utilized SNA on 687 farms and 702 retailers across a three-state region in New England to reveal the central role of grocery stores and restaurants in local food systems. In addition, Brinkley ( 2017 , 2018 ) applied geo-social network analysis to understand the extent to which local food systems are socially and geographically embedded in the two study counties used in this research, finding evidence of the local food system’s impact on land-use policies.…”

Section: Analytical Framework: Understanding Network Architecturementioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Growing pains in local food systems: a longitudinal social network analysis on local food marketing in Baltimore County, Maryland and Chester County, Pennsylvania

2021

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Local food systems are growing, and little is known about how the constellation of farms and markets change over time. We trace the evolution of two local food systems (Baltimore County, Maryland and Chester County, Pennsylvania) over six years, including a dataset of over 2690 market connections (edges) between 1520 locations (nodes). Longitudinal social network analysis reveals how the architecture, actor network centrality, magnitude, and spatiality of these supply chains shifted during the 2012–2018 time period. Our findings demonstrate that, despite growth in the number of farmers’ markets, grocery stores, farms and restaurants in both counties, each local food system also experienced high turnover rates. Over 80% of the market connections changed during the study period. Farms, farmers’ markets, and grocery stores showed a 40–50% ‘survival’ rate, indicating their role in sustaining local food systems over longer time periods. Other actors, such as restaurants, had a much higher turnover rate within the network. Both food systems became more close-knit and consolidated as the center of gravity for both local food systems pulled away from urban areas toward rural farmland. Evidence of both growth and decay within local food systems provides a new understanding of the social networks behind local food markets.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Analytical Framework: Understanding Network Architecturementioning

confidence: 99%

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Growing pains in local food systems: a longitudinal social network analysis on local food marketing in Baltimore County, Maryland and Chester County, Pennsylvania

2021

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“…This methodology has been used by social scientists since 1945 [26], and has contributed to an understanding of varied social phenomena, such as the identification of 'persons of interest' by law enforcement agents [27]. More specifically, in food related research it has been used to study food vendor-supplier networks [28], the spread of obesity [29], food recipes and ingredient pairings [30,31], food choice by socially connected individuals, such as spouses and friends, [32], the role of food retailers in the formation of cohesive local food supply networks [33], and the relationship between country obesity rates and food recipes [34], among others.…”

Section: Background On Social Network Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Clustering in the Adoption of Organic Dairy: A Longitudinal Networks Analysis between 2002 and 2015

Herrera¹,

Dimitri²

2019

Sustainability

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This paper uses network analysis to study the geo-localization decisions of new organic dairy farm operations in the USA between 2002 and 2015. Given a dataset of organic dairy certifications we simulated spatio-temporal networks based on the location of existing and new organic dairy farming operations. The simulations were performed with different probabilities of connecting with existing or incoming organic farmer operations, to overcome the lack of data describing actual connections between farmers. Calculated network statistics on the simulated networks included the average degree, average shortest path, closeness (centrality), clustering coefficients, and the relative size of the largest cluster, to demonstrate how the networks evolved over time. The findings revealed that new organic dairy operations cluster around existing ones, reflecting the role of networks in the conversion into organic production. The contributions of this paper are twofold. First, we contribute to the literature on clustering, information sharing, and market development in the agri-food industry by analyzing the potential implications of social networking in the development of a relatively new agriculture market. Second, we add to the literature on empirical social networks by using a new dataset with information on actors not previously studied analytically.

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“…This technique is widely used by researchers to observe the variables that characterise consumer behaviour [65,[71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80][81][82].…”

Section: Methodological Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Consumer Habits of Local Food: Perspectives from Northern Sweden

et al. 2019

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International studies are dealing with the promotion of sustainable food systems more frequently. Additionally, places of purchase and sharing in the choice of food to be consumed have become a network system for families. The aim of this work is to analyse the preferences of Swedish consumers for local/artisanal cheeses and the purchase motivations that guide their choices. We also studied the role played by consumers’ favourite shopping locations (retail store, hypermarket, city market, supply chain). On the one hand, we examined the attractiveness and the power exercised by the various stores and on the other hand, we viewed the consumer in relation to the frequency of purchase, and the confidence with the sales points. We interviewed 200 people in the city of Östersund, highlighting habits, consumption preferences and reasons for purchasing. A multiple correspondence analysis explores the reasons behind the purchase preferences of the local ‘Källarlagrad getost’ artisan cheese from the Slow Food brand. The representations of social network analysis are used to show the complex articulations that influence the choices of consumers in terms of type of cheese purchased/consumed and places of purchase/consumption. The results showed that Swedish consumers, in the purchase of cheeses, have a loyalty point at the point of sale, follow the advice of the seller and are attentive to the reputation of the product. Those who buy Källarlagrad getost are sensitive to safety, appreciate artisan cheeses and choose them for their versatility, have a strong connection with the territory and wish to contribute to supporting the local economy. Knowing these characteristics and preferences of Swedish consumers living in a city in the north of the country is important for marketing activities and for promoting tourism and sustainable gastronomy.

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The importance of food retailers: applying network analysis techniques to the study of local food systems

Cited by 33 publications

References 24 publications

Growing pains in local food systems: a longitudinal social network analysis on local food marketing in Baltimore County, Maryland and Chester County, Pennsylvania

Growing pains in local food systems: a longitudinal social network analysis on local food marketing in Baltimore County, Maryland and Chester County, Pennsylvania

The Role of Clustering in the Adoption of Organic Dairy: A Longitudinal Networks Analysis between 2002 and 2015

Consumer Habits of Local Food: Perspectives from Northern Sweden

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