Business & markets

Key research questions

  • How do we create a fairer food supply chain?
  • What are the market opportunities for the organic sector? How can they be fully exploited by supply chain members?
  • How can an integrated set of metrics be developed linking economic, social and environmental sustainability for the agricultural sector, so that informed decisions can be made by market players and policy makers? 

The importance of business and markets

Sustainable food systems and markets are inherently linked. Practitioners of the food sector are more likely to adopt sustainable and innovative practices if they are financially viable and acceptable from a socio-economic perspective. Market dynamics are a key driver of the success and continued development of the organic sector.

ORC’s research in this area is committed to identifying market opportunities for the organic food sector considering the needs and views of farmers and other market players, and to inform practitioners accordingly. We aim to lead collaboration between public and private actors to establish a comprehensive knowledge base to support market and policy decisions, in the short term, and to encourage sustainable consumption patterns in the long term.

Key elements of the theme

Organic markets, European (and British) Organic Regulation, sustainable food supply chains

Projects

The socio-economic team of ORC has been involved in a number of national and international projects, which can be grouped as follows: 

  • Projects on the collection of organic market data, funded by the UK government and the European Commission
  • Evaluation studies for the DG AGRI of the European Commission, including on added value in organic food supply chains and on the EU Organic Regulation.
  • Research projects for the organic as well as non-organic sector, mainly funded by Defra and the European Commission

 

Current projects

Food Data Collaboration – Food and Farming Enterprise Research

The goal is to ensure that produce traded through the Food Data Collaboration enables the vision of agroecology, food system fairness and nutrition for all.

Marketing of Organics

The Marketing of Organics Project is a three-year ORC research programme, looking to identify clearer routes to growth in organic food supply chains and a better understanding of consumer perceptions of organic produce.

FOODLEVERS

FOODLEVERS is a three-years research project (2020-2023) that aims to identify key leverage points to further develop and scale up existing innovative organic and sustainable food systems.

AGROforestry and MIXed farming systems — Participatory research to drive the transition to a resilient and efficient land use in Europe (AGROMIX)

The project investigates the opportunities given by mixed farming and agroforestry systems for carbon balance and climate change mitigation and adaptation

Past projects

Evaluating the different approaches for improving UK organic trade statistics

Reviewing of international approaches to organic regulations and labelling – production, economic and market access implications for UK

Organic Farmer Consumer Partnership: How to successfully communicate ethical values

CEreal REnaissance in Rural Europe: embedding diversity in organic and low-input food systems

Transitions to agroecological systems: Farmers’ viewpoints

Distribution of the added value of the organic food chain

The Role of Agroecology in Sustainable Intensification

Evaluation of the EU legislation on organic farming

European Data Network for Improved Transparency of Organic Markets

Farm Accountancy Cost Estimation and Policy Analysis of European Agriculture

2011 Organic Farm Management Handbook

Evaluation of the German Programme for Organic Food and Farming Research

Use and efficiency of public support measures addressing organic farming in the EU

Organic Farm Incomes in England and Wales

The Potential for Extending Economic Farm-Level Benchmarking to Environmental and Other Aspects of Farm Performance

Economics Analysis of Certification Systems in Organic Food and Farming

Relevant Publications

  • Mandolesi S, Naspetti S, Arsenos G, Caramelle-Holtz E, Latvala T, Martin-Collado D, Orsini S, Ozturk E, Zanoli, R. (2020). Motivations and Barriers for Sheep and Goat Meat Consumption in Europe: A Means–End Chain Study. Animals, 10(6), 1105. DOI: 10.3390/ani10061105
  • Smith LG, Orsini S, Mullender S, Egan J, Leake A, Woolford A, Jacobs S, Kerr R, Bowles L, Watson C, Pearce B, Lampkin N, Padel S (2019) Reviewing Opportunities, Barriers and Constraints for Organic Management Techniques to Improve Sustainability of Conventional Farming. Report to Defra on project OF03101
  • Orsini S, Padel S, Gambelli D, Lernoud J, Sanders J, Solfanelli F, Stolze M, Willer H, Zanoli R (2019). Beyond ‘mainstream’ and ‘alternative’ in organic food supply chains: empirical examples of added value distribution from eight European countries. British Food Journal, 122(3), 798-812. DOI: 10.1108/BFJ-07-2019-0508
  • Orsini S (2017) Distribution of the added value of the organic food chain ORC Bulletin No.123.
  • Sanders J, Gambelli D, Lernoud J, Orsini S, Padel S, Stolze M, Willer H, Zanoli R (2016) Distribution of the added value of the organic food chain. Thünen Institute of Farm Economics. Braunschweig.
  • Home R, Gerrard C, Hempel C, Lostak M, Vieweger A, Husak J, Stolze M, Hamm U, Padel, S, Willer H, Vairo D, Zanoli R. (2017). The quality of organic market data: providing data that is both fit for use and convenient. Organic Agriculture, 7(2), 141-152. DOI: 10.1007/s13165-016-0147-5
  • Zanoli R, Vairo D, Solfanelli F, Padel S, Gerrard C, Lampkin, N (eds.) (2014). Manual and Code of Practice for the initiation and maintenance of good organic market data collection and publication procedures. UVP Marche, Ancona.

ORC Researchers and staff

These ORC team members are currently involved in business and market projects:
Rowan Dumper-Pollard
Senior Organic Business and Markets Researcher
Kathrin Heimbach
Market and Business Researcher