Some people in the agri-food business community use the term “value chain” to focus on supply chains that deal with food products given incremental value through processing and/or attribute differentiation (#1 and #2 above). Within the Agriculture of the Middle (AOTM) initiative, the term “values-based food supply chain’ places emphasis on both the values embodied in the food products and the values associated with the business relationships within the supply chain.
Values-based food supply chains:
- Have the capacity to combine scale with product differentiation, and cooperation with competition, to achieve collaborative advantages in the marketplace.
- Emphasize high levels of performance and inter-organizational trust.
- Emphasize shared values and vision, shared information (transparency) and shared decision-making among the strategic partners.
- Make commitments to the welfare of all strategic partners in the chain, including appropriate profit margins, fair wages and long-term business agreements.
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