COMPETE

International comparisons of product supply chains in the agro-food sectors: determinants of their competitiveness and performance on EU and international markets

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'The project will deliver a coherent and innovative evaluation of competitiveness of European food chains by integrating various new approaches. Based on this, the research results allows to deduce a congruent, coherent and consistent set of policy recommendations aiming at improving competitiveness and promoting the Knowledge Based Bio-Economy in Europe. The analysis is conducted along two lines, (1) conception and indicators of competitiveness and (2) its determinants. In the first part a comprehensive definition of competitiveness will be developed by integrating the finding from selected theoretical micro and macro approaches. In this respect the conventional conception will be extended by moving from the industry to the value chain perspective and considering commodities as well as intermediary and final products. This framework constitutes the basis for the empirical analysis, where the EU position on world markets will be discussed in relation to that of major competitors. The second part deals with selected determinants of competitiveness. These include policy intervention and business environment, productivity in agriculture and food processing, the functioning of domestic and international markets, the choice of governance structures as well as innovative activities in food processing. The investigation of each determinant will be innovative and extends the state of the art by deepening the theoretical backgrounds, extending the methodological approaches or applying empirical methods for the first time. The analysis of the determinants will contribute significantly to be better and deeper understanding of competitiveness and the deduction of policy recommendations. Research will be conducted by a team that was constituted according to the needs of the research project. Each partner is a designated expert in his/her area of research. Past co-operations among partners assure that all tasks will be arranged target-oriented in due time.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Developments in global agriculture are resulting in new challenges, and concerns remain for how competitive the European agri-food sector is. An EU initiative is using innovative approaches to deliver policy recommendations that will boost the competitiveness of European food chains.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Globalisation, the economic downturn, intensified EU market competition and rising food prices all burden Europe's food production and distribution. These and other factors that impact the competitiveness of the European agri-food supply chain need to be looked at collectively.

Thanks to EU funding, the http://www.compete-project.eu (COMPETE) project aims to provide a deeper understanding of competition by exploring the entire food supply chain instead of focusing on farms or food manufacturers independently.

During the first reporting period, work began with a study of existing literature on agri-food industry competitiveness and an examination of the current supply chain situation.

By implementing an integrated supply chain approach, the project analysed how policy, technology, markets, governance and innovation factors have changed and how they have influenced companies and countries in the identified EU agri-food chains.

A comprehensive analysis was carried out in areas such as policy involvement, the EU business climate, agriculture and food processing output, domestic and international market operations, governance and food processing innovations.

These findings will enable project members to determine the EU's global market position compared with its main competition. The team is conducting a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats analysis of the EU agri-food industry that will lead to coherent policies at all levels designed to enhance competitiveness.

COMPETE will support the delivery of better agricultural and competition policies. EU policymakers will then be in a better position to strengthen the competitiveness of the agri-food chain and to promote the knowledge based bio-economy in Europe.