Fruit and vegetables producer organisations : some insights on their functioning based on data from Poland

In quest for ways to improve the competitiveness of the European farming businesses, farmers have long been encouraged to organise as associations or cooperatives. The continuous support provided within the Common Agricultural Policy for establishing and functioning of agricultural producers' groups and organisations (see, for example, the European Union regulation 1308/2013) can serve here as an example. While the justification for promoting producer organisations can be manifold, it is often based on the presumption that acting together should contribute to strengthening farmers' relatively weak position in the food supply chain (see e.g. Bijman et al., 2012).