Niche Agribusiness Supply Chains and the Channel Coordinator’s Role in their Creation and Management

The role of the channel coordinator and the structure of their supply chains are critical to the success of a supply chain that produces a product targeted at a specific market niche. Without the management of the channel coordinator, focussed on delivering a product with specific attributes to the target niche, the supply chain will be incapable of working in concert and creating a cohesive product offering. The supply chain structure is critical to this process. Although these two concepts are often mentioned in the supply chain and associated literature, and despite their importance, there is very little empirical evidence that shows the linkage between the channel coordinator and the supply chain structure. This paper is based on the analysis of five case studies of small firms that have created supply chains to market a meat product with specialised attributes to a target market niche. A framework is developed to determine the factors that will influence the strategy of a channel coordinator when managing their supply chain, and hence, the way they will structure the supply chain most effectively and profitably to reach the target market niche with the product attributes desired.