Obiettivo
The overall objective of the proposed research project is to describe and analyse the economic efficiency and organisational effectiveness of food processing and distribution in Russia using the value chain theory as the analytical framework.
When Russia in 1992 liberalised its economy and opened its borders for trade, foreign imports of finished food items flooded the market, making it difficult for domestic producers to compete. The imports came to an almost half due to the August 1998 economic crisis. This created some breathing space for the Russian producers except for those who had procured new foreign equipment. The profit margins of food in Russia hardly allow them to earn enough to pay for the equipment. Domestically the food sector has increasingly become a sector for privatised enterprises and private small-scale companies which with relatively low margins are struggling to survive while reorganising internally and competing for position in the market. The sector is of high importance as it provides for the daily necessities for Russians. The project will focus on two items among the ones most important in the Russian diet (bread, milk products, meat/fish and pasta) and items, which require a well functioning food processing and distribution sector. Preliminary, the value chains for milk (diary products) and meat (pork) have been selected for in-depth studies.
The food sector will be studied using a value chain perspective. This makes it possible to study all links from the produce leaves the farm until the processed food is bought by the households, including the formation of the links, the organisation of each link and the value chain as such, and the way each link is managed. It also includes the study of the policies and regulations related to the food value chain. As the food processing enterprises are in need of upgrading, the study also includes the investment in and supply of equipment.
The project is carried out by four research teams, two from Russia and two from INTAS countries (Denmark and the United Kingdom). The total number of researchers is 13. Five are young scientists (four from NIS and one from INTAS) of whom four are Dr-students.
The project has three main stages over its planned 36 months. In Stage 1 (12 months), existing research and data on the chosen food value chains will be collected and the theoretical platform, the value chain concept, developed. Stage 2 (18 months) is devoted to empirical studies of the two food value chains from processing enterprises via wholesalers to retailers. Each link in the chain will be studied focusing on the practices of the enterprises (strategies, operations and management), the inter-enterprise relations and the interplay between the business community and the Governmental and other institutions. A set of cases on enterprises and institutions will be compiled for in-depth insight and surveys of enterprises will be conducted to reveal common patterns. The surveys will be conducted using the panel of enterprises developed by the Russian Economic Barometer managed by one of the NIS-teams.
In Stage 3 (9 months), the findings will be integrated and a model of the structure of the value chains will be prepared and the combined effect of the main forces driving the value chain will be discussed.
The planned output comprises theoretical-empirical articles for scientific journals on each of the two food value chains and more practical oriented articles for food sector publications. Finally, the project includes dialogue seminars with managers from the food processing enterprises and public institutions.
By fulfilling the stipulated objective, the project will contribute to the advancement of our theoretical knowledge on value chains, their structure and dynamics at the same time as the project will provide lessons and have implications for food sector policies and management of food processing and distribution enterprise.
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