Understanding the Marketing Chain: A Case Study of Certified and Non-Certified Grapes and Mango Farmers

The fresh fruit marketing system is increasingly focused on adding value and decreasing costs by streamlining distribution and understanding customer demands. This paper aims to understand the grapes and mango marketing chains and to evaluate the contractual arrangements between buyers and farmers. It also proposes an analysis of the type of governance used in this value chain regarding the characteristics of their transactions. A survey of 303 grapes and mango farmers was conducted in 2006 in the Juazeiro and Petrolina regions of the Sao Francisco Valley in Brazil. The results show that coordination in the supply chain of mango and grapes and the degree of vertical coordination is increasing through certification. Certified farmers, regardless of the fruit, have a shift from market-based global value chains governance to more explicit coordination.