Internationalizing Terroir Products Today: Focus on Tunisian Olive Oil and Swiss La Tête de Moine AOP Cheese

This study investigates the export strategies of agri-food SMEs through two terroir products: La Tête de Moine AOP from the Bellelay region and Tunisian olive oil from the Sfax region. Grounded in the resource-based view (RBV), it explores how firm-level and territorially embedded resources shape export performance. A two-stage qualitative design combining semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions was employed in both contexts. Analysis reveals that the La Tête de Moine AOP sector stands out from the olive oil sector due to certain resources and capacities, which are collective reputation, product traceability, cooperative management, forecasting, and long-term planning systems, centralized knowledge management, shared brand, financial advantages, and territorial social capital. Tunisian olive oil export strategy differs from the cheese sector through market responsiveness, upstream integration, and product innovation. The findings highlight the critical role of territorial capital and collective organization in enhancing sustainable competitiveness and reveal how distinct resource configurations shape SME internationalization in developed versus emerging economies. Practical recommendations are proposed to create a more relevant resources–capabilities collection, aiming at creating a sustainable competitive advantage for SMEs exporting terroir food.