Leena Viitaharju

University of Helsinki | HY · Ruralia Institute

The roles of business relationships and B2B communication in selected European agri-food chains are analyzed. Using survey data from 1,026 farmers, food processors and retailers in two commodity sectors (meat and cereals) and five different EU countries (Germany, United Kingdom, Ireland, Finland, Poland), we test the empirical relevance of several...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the different perceptions of the antecedents of trust in asymmetrical business‐to‐business relationships between food producers and retailers. Design/methodology/approach The empirical data consist of semi‐structured face‐to‐face interviews with 38 small food businesses and 54 retailers. The analysi...

Prevailing challenges in rural food sMes in Finland: the promise of a relationship marketing approach abstRact Small-scale food processing is one of the main rural industries in Finland and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are extremely important for rural areas as promoters of employment and social well-being. It has been forecasted that...

Purpose The main aim of this study is to identify the factors that can affect regional differences in the procurement of local food in public catering. Understanding how some regions procure more local food products than others could help promote the use of local food in public catering. Regions with a lower share of local food can learn from regio...

Organic farming is recognised as a potential approach to achieve a more sustainable food system and promote rural development. Thus, many countries have set targets to increase the share of organic cultivated land. In Finland, the target was to increase the share of organic farming to 20% of the total area under cultivation by 2020. Although the sh...

As traditional meat production has become stigmatized for several reasons, consumer interest in game as an ethical and ecological meat alternative has increased. However, game meat is typically harvested through hunting, toward which consumers may have very divided attitudes. Concurrently, game meat is still valued as food. This interesting mismatc...

This guide encourages small and medium sized businesses to engage in cooperation with public procurers by describing how public procurement is carried out, how a single business can be an active role in the process and what should be addressed beforehand.

Making changes for more sustainable actions in relation to the public meal is not easy and much can be done through local initiatives. The StratKIT Sustainability Toolkit is developed to support the change process and provides a comprehensive set of tools that can be used to motivate, guide and facilitate actions that enhances the sustainability of...

Eight key principles for sustainable procurement and catering services in the Baltic Sea Region and beyond

The efforts to promote the use of local food in Finland have been diverse: various targets have been set, local food has been integrated into strategies, information has been shared and guides have been published. These are examples of efforts implemented already for a long time. They also indicate that local food has been a popular discussion topi...

Money is usually one of the strongest reasons influencing decision making when choosing between organic and conventional production or usage, both in case of producers and decision makers of municipalities. The results of the survey directed to organic producers in Finland implied that the contribution to profitability of organic farming would be t...

This report derives from the EU funded research project “Key Factors Influencing Economic Relationships and Communication in European Food Chains” (FOODCOMM). The research consortium consisted of the following organisations: University of Bonn (UNI BONN), Department of Agricultural and Food Marketing Research (overall project co-ordination); Instit...

The aim of this report is to discuss the role of the relationship type and communication in two Finnish food chains, namely the pig meat-to-sausage (pig meat chain) and the cereal-to-rye bread (rye chain) chains. Furthermore, the objective is to examine those factors influencing the choice of a relationship type and the sustainability of a business...

An essential component of the food production sector in lagging regions consists of small-scale enterprises located in rural areas. A high proportion utilise traditional production methods, emphasising local identity and distinctiveness, thereby differentiating products and servicing niche or segmented markets. Such enterprises frequently integrate...