An explorative study on the potential to establish a local value chain in the Swedish home textile industry

Abstract: Purpose: The purpose of this research paper is to examine the potential of the Swedish textile industry to achieve more sustainability in the home textile segment, through establishing a local value chain for local consumption. The aim is to explore the potential of both the supply and demand side of the local market. For the supply, or the industry perspective, the goal is to show companies the relevant aspects to consider when choosing to establish a local value chain in Sweden, with a focus on the home textile segment. For the demand, or the consumer perspective, the objective is to find out how they perceive locally produced sustainable products and whether there is interest for purchasing such products. Methodology: Existing literature and relevant results from researches have been collected and used as secondary sources, for forming and backing up the industry perspective of the thesis work. Face to face interviews have been conducted and analyzed, for getting primary information for the consumer perspective for the paper. This work is an explorative study, combining information for both the supply and demand sides of the home textiles segment in Sweden. Findings: After combining the findings from the literature review and the results from the analysis from the interviews, it can be concluded that there is a potential to establish a local value chain in Sweden. The situation is not ideal though, also potential risks and drawbacks related to the locality of the value chain of the home textiles segment that are presented have to be considered. The paper explores both the advantages and the disadvantages for producing locally in Sweden, to estimate the existing potential.