Motivational factors and values of : a study of Swedish producers in local food nodes

Sammanfattning: Securing food for the whole population is a key issue in the world. One way to make it possible is by developing the supply chains to a more sustainable agri-food system. These systems should provide the consumer with good, affordable food while the producers still get a good return for their products. At the same time, external changes force the farm businesses to spread risks and be innovative to ensure resilience. These changes in combination with the consumers increased interest in local food have made farmers developed the concept of local food nodes. This study aims to investigate what the underlying motivations and values are when farmers choose to sell their products in a local food node. To aid in investigating the aim the authors developed a conceptual framework from existing literature and theories. The conceptual framework is derived from short food supply chain, local food, motives and values, and Means-End Chain. This study further addresses that motives and values can be affected by behavioural, economic and non-economic factors. A qualitative approach together with the Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET) forms a method that can highlight factors that effected the ten respondents’ choices to selling through a local food node. The results were coded and illustrated in a Hierarchal Value Map (HVM), which were further analysed and factors that affect the respondents’ choices were found. The findings in this study indicates that the respondents are motivated by improving the knowledge of the consumer at the same time as the sales are increasing which gives them a value of “satisfaction”, “survival”, “profitability” and contributing to the “community”. The factors found show that the respondents' motives and values not only are purely economic, but mainly non-economic. The conclusion of this study is that the respondents are motivated to sell their products in local food nodes because of the connection they get with the consumers and spreading information and knowledge of how Swedish farms are operated, which makes them satisfied.