Mapping Online Geographical Indication: Agrifood Products on E-Commerce Shelves of Mercosur and the European Union

Abstract

The agrifood products market has never before contained as many niches than it does at this moment in history. The use of geographical indication (GIs) is one of the oldest ways of granting protection for and promoting these goods. Although they date back thousands of years, only since the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement has there been a common understanding in regard to their use. Although the GI system has the same structure globally, each region shows different performance. Therefore, the influence of institutions in this market is still an enigma to be explored. In this work, we sought to compare the performance of Mercosur and the European Union in relation to GI products and categories in this exchange arena by analyzing e-retail supermarkets. To do so, we collected data from 44 online supermarkets from both economic blocs and analyzed the relevant attributes of the products offered. Then, we compared both blocs through the use of graphics and economic sociology tools. We present novel results relating to differences in GI performance, discuss the reasons for such differences and examine the construction of the market. Our results show that the EU had significantly more products than Mercosur and had a wider variety of GI products on e-retail shelves. Moreover, in the EU, the advertised products originated mainly from within the economic bloc, whereas the majority of GI products advertised in Mercosur originated primarily from abroad. This difference indicates to dominance of the EU’ systems, demonstrating that its institutions are effective in terms of trade and commerce development mechanisms. However, in both blocs, a restricted number of categories and registers were found.

Mapping Online Geographical Indication: Agri-Food Markets on E-Retail Shelves

“…Secondly, in both Mercosur and the EU, only a small percentage of the categories appear in the market [10]. Nevertheless, among the categories of products found, some of them stand out.…”

“…These records provide the creation and participation of a different market. However, according to Fracarolli [10], around 80% of GIs in the EU and 90% in Mercosur are not present in e-retail supermarkets. In this sense, it is understandable that producers seek to protect the fruit of labor, history, and their environments [6].…”

“…Nevertheless, it is well-known that GI products also function as a significant marketing tool [10][11][12][13][14] and pay bonus prices [47,48]. Furthermore, it is necessary to look at this market from the retailers' and sellers' perspectives.…”

“…Although GI is a type of intellectual property (IP) protected worldwide by the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), the rules of economic blocs and countries on its details and institutional mechanisms vary significantly [9]. Few studies have deepened the matter on the effects of these differences between the Mercosur and the (EU) [10], two major economic blocs with global economic impacts. Due to the presented gap regarding the arena and these two economic blocs, this work aimed to compare both regarding the brands in play in this niche market.…”

Global Markets, Local Issues: The Hegemonic Process of Agri-Food Construction to Present Challenges

“…The materialization of terroir is institutionalized through the granting of intellectual property rights. Therefore, through its institutionalization in GI, terroir constitutes a niche market, deserving a more in-depth approach [112].…”