Producer Heterogeneity in Short Food Supply Chains: Typical Differences Among Farmers Selling at Markets

Benedek, Zsófia – Fertő, Imre – Baráth, Lajos – Tóth, József

Keywords: farmers’ market, organic market, direct selling, marketing channel, rural development

The legal environment regulating the opening of farmers’ markets in Hungary changed in June 2012, which resulted in a boom in the number of this market type. As of spring 2013, a questionnaire-based survey among farmers selling at “traditional” markets (that are government-run, open-to-all small-scale farmers, with no restriction regarding geographical distances), farmers’ markets (that are defined by law; where geographical distance is crucial) and organic markets (where certification is needed) revealed that these three farmers’ groups greatly differ from one another, based on farmer- and farm-specific characteristics, motivations and use of marketing channels. Separation of traditional market farmers is the most typical; the other two groups dif-fer mostly (besides the application of organic methods) in the way that specific chan-nels are used. Distinguishing between the three market types is recommended only in bigger cities – where the susceptibility to short food supply chains is the greatest.
According to the literature, products purchased via direct selling are attributed higher quality by consumers. As prices at farmers’ markets are much below that of or-ganic markets, farmers’ market farmers can easily be serious competitors for organic farmers. Overlap among the groups is limited; therefore, directed support and non-monetary help (such as guidance and the broadening of marketing knowledge) are needed in order to ensure that traditional market farmers get their share from the many advantages of direct selling and so, to let short food supply chains play their role as a tool of rural development.

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