Food exporters and co-opetition relationships: an analysis on the vegetable supply chain

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical evidence on the influence of co-opetition on food exporting in different distribution channels, taking as reference the vegetable farming-marketing sector in southeast Spain. Design/methodology/approach - The study analyses the data collected from vegetable exporters' associations and the firms' individual financial reports. A multivariate empirical model is developed to measure the impact of cooperation and competition relationships (both horizontal and vertical ones) on exporting. This model includes the influence of main buyers distinguishing basically between retailers and wholesalers. Findings - The results obtained show that diverse forms of collaboration with competitors, in both horizontal (such as logistics and research projects) and vertical dimensions (such as promotion and quality certifications) have positive effects on vegetable export propensity. These influences become more apparent when large retailers are the main buyers. Research limitations/implications - The analysed farming-marketing sector features certain singular characteristics, for example the type of products and firms, which should be taken into account when extrapolating the results to other agrifood industries. Practical implications - For farming-marketing firms with little bargaining power in the supply chain of fresh produce, horizontal and vertical collaboration is a key factor in improving their exporting activity. A greater balance in co-opetition relationships is required to reduce the traditionally negative effect of competition among Spanish firms in the vegetable marketing sector. Originality/value - These findings should be of value to researchers into co-opetition policies and to managers responsible for strategy formation in international agrifood firm environment.