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Assessing the performance of food co-ops in the US

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  • Alia, Didier
  • Katchova, Ani
  • Woods, Timothy A.

Abstract

Food cooperatives (co-ops) as a key component of the local food network play an increasingly important role in the US food system. Co-ops use various strategies to promote local products, ensure a greater commitment of members, and the rofitability and sustainability of the business. This paper assessed the effectiveness of these strategies as perceived and appreciated by co-ops' members using survey data from a national study on eight large food cooperatives in the U.S. The survey identifies a wide range of attributes related to store and product characteristics, and marketing and management strategies. It asks interviewees to rank their co-op on these attributes on a Likert-scale of 0-4. Using Principal Component Analysis, we aggregate and combine information from the large number of rankings into a six major categories. Next, exploiting the hierarchical structure of the data with members nested within their respective co-ops, we use Hierarchical Linear Modeling methods to identify the factors that determine the perceived performance of co-ops. The results show that in general member has a strong positive perception of the performance of their co-ops in term of quality of the products, quality of the management and the service, and the physical quality of the store. We also find there is a lot heterogeneity among co-ops and member socio-demographic and economic characteristics are strongly correlated with their perception.

Suggested Citation

  • Alia, Didier & Katchova, Ani & Woods, Timothy A., 2016. "Assessing the performance of food co-ops in the US," 2016 Annual Meeting, February 6-9, 2016, San Antonio, Texas 230140, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
  • Handle: RePEc:ags:saea16:230140
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.230140
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hu, Wuyang & Woods, Timothy A. & Bastin, Sandra, 2009. "Consumer Acceptance and Willingness to Pay for Blueberry Products with Nonconventional Attributes," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 41(1), pages 1-14, April.
    2. Martinez, Stephen W. & Hand, Michael S. & Da Pra, Michelle & Pollack, Susan L. & Ralston, Katherine L. & Smith, Travis A. & Vogel, Stephen J. & Clark, Shellye & Lohr, Luanne & Low, Sarah A. & Newman, , 2010. "Local Food Systems: Concepts, Impacts, and Issues," Economic Research Report 96635, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
      • Martinez, Steve & Hand, Michael & Da Pra, Michelle & Pollack, Susan & Ralston, Katherine & Smith, Travis & Vogel, Stephen & Clarke, Shellye & Lohr, Luanne & Low, Sarah & Newman, Constance, 2010. "Local food systems: concepts, impacts, and issues," MPRA Paper 24313, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Katchova, Ani L. & Woods, Timothy A., 2012. "Marketing Local Foods by Food Cooperatives," 2012 Conference, August 18-24, 2012, Foz do Iguacu, Brazil 126770, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
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    Cited by:

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    Keywords

    Agribusiness; Community/Rural/Urban Development; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Marketing;
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