Organic pioneers and the sustainability transformation of the German food market: a politically structuring actor perspective

Abstract

PurposeThis paper examines the socio-ecological co-evolution and transformation of organic pioneers and the organic food market from a politically structuring actor perspective. It aims to identify strategies and activities used to contribute to the change of structures in the organic market and how the companies, in turn, reacted to the structural influence of the changing environment to position their company successfully in the market.Design/methodology/approachThis study is based on interviews with four managing directors who were responsible over several decades for the strategic corporate management of the pioneer companies they founded as (or converted to) organic. Content analysis was used to analyse the data.FindingsStrategic challenges regarding building up, maintaining and using resources, shaping actor constellations, and professionalising management are explained. The analysis demonstrates that also small pioneers have the possibilities and scope to influence and change markets and structures.Originality/valueThe results are significant for developing sustainable transformation strategies for markets, considering the interaction of the micro and meso-levels over time and the role of small businesses that might be struggling with growth and loss of values. The study answers recent calls in the literature to empirically investigate sustainability transformations from a practice perspective and gain insights into the roles of corporate actors.

Agri-food systems in sustainability transition: a systematic literature review on recent developments on the use of the multi-level perspective

“…The authors refer to the innovation development (2) on the micro level (e.g., van der Windt and Swart, 2018;Long et al, 2019;López-García et al, 2019;Cembalo et al, 2020;Wöhler et al, 2020) and describe niches as "pioneering innovators" (Cembalo et al, 2020, p. 203; see also Stöhr and Herzig, 2022). Emphasis is laid on experimentation, testing, new ideas and practices (Henfrey and Ford, 2018;Bui, 2021), and on proposing structural answers to lock-ins (De Herde et al, 2020).…”