Preferences Analysis of Restaurants, Industry and Retailers for Selecting Fruits and Vegetables Suppliers in Spain, France and Morocco

Abstract

This study focuses on evaluating the criteria used by stakeholders (restaurants, industry and small-scale retailers) to select fruits and vegetable suppliers in Spain, France and Morocco targeting three selected countries' specific products and supply chains (fresh tomatoes in Spain, Chestnuts in France, Carob in Morocco). The research consisted firstly of conducting deep interviews (DI) with the main stakeholders in the added-value chain of fruits and vegetables in order to understand factors affecting their decision when selecting suppliers. A special interest was drawn on the criteria "produced by local farmers" in order to determine its relative importance within the stakeholder's decision-making. Secondly, semi-structured questionnaires were carried out by using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to estimate the relative importance of each criterion and to evaluate the weight of the sustainable factors. Data were collected from stakeholders in the food added value chain with a total sample, equally distributed across countries, of 180 restaurants, 30 industries and 180 small-scale retailers. The survey was applied during the months of May to October 2022. Research results revealed the most important supplier selection attributes varied according to each countries and product category. The role of sustainable criteria in selecting suppliers played an important role in particular in France. Local small-farmers were important for local industry as sustainable supplier but less relevant for restaurant and retailers respectively. Improving the sustainability of the supply chain should focus more on retailers and restaurant marketing strategies when purchasing fruits and vegetable in order to set quotas for locally produced products. This outcome highlights the need of new and optimized business model in which small local farmers can directly supply local restaurants and retailers and contribute in improving sustainability and ensuring reasonable profit of farmers.