Food traceability system for Swedish origin food items : an assessment of the application “våga fråga - få en bonde på köpet” from a farmer perspective

Abstract: In June 2013 a debate concerning the consumers’ right to a label of origin on food packages was held in the Swedish parliament (www, Riksdagen, 2014). The debate was sparked by some food scandals where labelling was falsely used, claiming something that was not true – the horse-meat scandal, frozen strawberries infected by Hepatitis A, pork sold as beef, etc. These cases were not only wrong in terms of food safety, but also fraudulent and threating consumers’ right to fair origin labelling. These scandals have caused consumers to doubt food labelling. Hence an interest in agro-food supply chain “traceability” has increased, usually named tracking and tracing. In the end of April 2013 a new form of a traceability system was launched, named “Våga Fråga – Få en Bonde på Köpet” (Dare to ask – get a farmer on the bargain). This tool allows consumers to easier learn the origin of a food product (pers. com., Boman, 2013). The tool was launched by the Swedish National Farmers’ Federation (LRF) in cooperation with Swedish farmers. The problem, addressed in this study concerns the impact that this smartphone application has for the Swedish farmers. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to determine in which extent the Swedish farmers are aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the jointly owned brand Bonde På Köpet, the aim of which is to signal the existence of Swedish raw products in food items. These strengths and weaknesses are related to the complexities stemming from the fact that Bonde På Köpet is a brand, and the awareness of the farmers is given by their understanding of the value chain operations. Therefore, the project also consists of some issues that had to be empirically investigated such as the farmers’ knowledge and beliefs about Bonde På Köpet, the farmers’ appreciation of the sales and profit potentials of Bonde På Köpet, and lastly the farmers’ understanding of the competitive pressures in the value chain. Bonde På Köpet is signaling messages towards the consumers, whereas the core message of this brand is the Swedish origin of the ingredients. Hence, theories used to address this study concerns branding theories such as the concept of branding, collective brands, the function of a brand, the value of a brand, the structure of brand equity, credence goods and traceability. The theories were used as a basis for a web-based questionnaire that was sent to a member panel, which serves as a basis for calculating the results. The results show that the knowledge level of the LRF members, and in some extent the consumers, seem to be fairly limited. The overall beliefs of the farmer-members towards Bonde På Köpet are positive, and males are found to be more optimistic. The most evident weakness of Bonde På Köpet is the lacking knowledge among the farmer-members, and to some extent among consumers. The most evident strengths of Bonde På Köpet perceived by the member-panel are that it can affect the consumer to choose more Swedish food items, that it allows added values to companies that has joined the initiative and also some added values to the consumer, that it strengthens the relationship between the Swedish farmer and the consumer, and trustworthy origin function. The farmer-members appreciation of the sales and profit potentials of Bonde På Köpet are in general neutral, an indicator of that is that the member panel experience a lacking knowledge of the initiative. The farmers’ understanding of the competitive pressures in the value chains are of optimistic character. The farmer-members perceive Bonde På Köpet both as a tool to compete against imported products and to that the initiative allows competitive advantages against grocery stores’ own branded products.