Case studies of the marketing of products from newly bred lines and underutilized crops

Summary

The overall aim of Task 5.1 of the Diversifood project is to produce recommendations and guidelines for the marketing and valorisation strategies of biodiverse food products, including products from underutilized crops and based on newly-bred lines from participatory plant breeding. The work presented here identifies success and critical factors of existing initiatives, analysing the whole process of value-adding and communication from the genetic resource to the food product.
A common case study approach was used by national teams in eight countries, involving around 180 interviews with various actors of each initiative, including producers and a diversity of other supply chain actors and consumers. Results of the comparative analysis are presented into two separate sections, respectively focussing on eight case studies selling products from underutilized vegetables and grains, and on three cases of marketing of products from newly-bred lines from participatory plant breeding. The final chapter presents some common conclusions and recommendations.
This study confirms that the systemic approach used here is able to contribute to the development of initiatives for the valorisation of biodiverse food products and supporting agrobiodiversity. This needs to consider both the internal coherence of the initiatives and external support, as well as all the different stages of the valorisation process.