The Diffusion of Intensive Rearing Technologies and the Impact of Food Retailer Interventionism in British Agriculture since 1945
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Reading
Department Name: International Business and Strategy
Abstract
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Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Andrew Godley (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Corley TA
(2011)
The veterinary medicine industry in Britain in the twentieth century.
in The Economic history review
Godley A
(2013)
Entrepreneurial Opportunities, Implicit Contracts, and Market Making for Complex Consumer Goods
in Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal
Godley A
(2011)
Veterinary medicines in Britain: output and industry organisation since 1900.
in Medical history
Godley A
(2011)
Democratizing Luxury and the Contentious "Invention of the Technological Chicken" in Britain
in Business History Review
Ingram J
(2013)
Priority research questions for the UK food system
in Food Security
Tessari A
(2014)
Made in Italy. Made in Britain. Quality, brands and innovation in the European poultry market, 1950-80
in Business History
| Description | The project aimed to better understand the relationship between British supermarkets and their suppliers. It proposed to do this by focusing on the evolution in the relationship between suppliers and retailers in the intensively reared poultry sector in the UK compared with the US and Australia (but n.b. Italy replaced Australia as the third comparator case study early on in the project). The principal research finding was that UK food retailers developed processes for monitoring quality control at suppliers. This did not happen elsewhere. Suppliers accepted this supermarket intrusion into their business practices, because the supermarkets were using their quality control techniques and access to consumer information to stimulate product innovation, and thus to enhance supplier price stability and profitability. Elsewhere, such as in the US and Italy, this did not happen and conventional spot market contractual relations characterised relations between the suppliers and retailers. This led to much greater price volatility, reduced profitability among suppliers, and increased rates of bankruptcy and exit. These findings help us to better understand the emergence of specific supplier-retailer relations in the UK food system, and show the important role played by private (firm) standards in setting quality standards and quality improvement in British food suppliers, as opposed to Government standard setting. |
| Exploitation Route | Future research might focus on the relative significance of the role played by private standards in determining quality standards in complex sectors compared with public standards. |
| Sectors | Agriculture Food and Drink Culture Heritage Museums and Collections Retail |
| Description | The scientific findings have been disseminated via conference presentations and journal papers through the scientific communities of economic, business and social historians, to economists and to food scientists with an interest in the structure of the food distribution sector. The earlier published papers are already beginning to be well cited. Future scientific impact will come through future publications, two more journal articles will be submitted to journals in the coming weeks, and a book will be completed during 2015. Further indirect scientific impact will come through the role played in influencing research priorities for the RCUK Food Security research programme, which arose from the project. Economic and societal impact has come firstly through the direct impact on economists and policy makers at HM Treasury through a specially convened seminar in January 2014 to discuss the research project findings. These issues are further raised in various press commentary (e.g. The Grocer February 15th, 2013, Sunday Telegraph March 20th 2011). Secondly, because the results of the research explain supermarket behaviour with suppliers in the UK better than previous explanations, interested cultural and societal organisations have promoted the findings. Most notably this is seen in the request from the British Library's national Sound Archive for the interview recordings to be deposited with them under their Oral History: Food and Drink programme (http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelprestype/sound/ohist/ohcoll/ohfood/food.html). The University of Reading's Museum of English Rural Life is also redesigning several of its galleries around themes arising from the research (funded by the HLF and Wellcome Trust). |
| First Year Of Impact | 2012 |
| Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections,Retail |
| Impact Types | Cultural Societal Economic |
| Description | Economics of Supermarket Intermadiation in the Meat Supply Chain |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | Presentation to HM Treasury outlining results of research project. |
| Description | Priority research questions for the UK food system' |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Impact | Evaluation of research priorities for RCUK programme on food security |
| URL | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12571-013-0294-4 |