Practical Overview of Entrepreneurial Relations and Cooperation within the Food Industry

On a global level, vertical and horizontal co-operations and integrations are be-coming more common within the food value chains. One of the reasons is – espe-cially in the case of non-branded mass products – the price as the main competitive factor, because close cooperation along the value chain can make transactions cheaper, while horizontal co-operations may increase the bargaining power of the vulnerable parties. The spread of integrations is also reinforced by the mutual inter-dependence of raw material producers and processors, the rapid perishability of goods and the spread of traceability requirements. In spite of these trends, Hungary still has few examples of well-functioning integrations and co-operations. In the case of the three main value chains which were examined – the meat, the milk and the fruit and vegetable sectors – it was typical that the Hungarian actors showed a much lower level of willingness to cooperate on both horizontal and vertical levels com-pared to the international trends.