Food Value Chains

The food value chain is a vertical axis connecting or coordinating supplying, producing, processing and selling the food from farm to table. This chapter describes the structure and integration in the value chain and the respective position of companies in the value chain and their market power. The concepts of value chain and megatrends are connected. Value chains develop and change—often influenced by or as a consequence of megatrends. The balance of market and bargaining power in the value chain shifts: The forms of integration in the value chain develop and change. Furthermore, global value chains are becoming more important. A significant structural development of the retail industry is taking place in terms of increasing consolidation, concentration and globalization.