No 2022/8 Forever Niche

Why do organic vegetable varieties not diffuse?

Abstract

While organic food has increased its market share in conventional food retail, virtually all organic vegetables are still conventionally bred. For decades, organically bred vegetable varieties remained a market niche, despite their socio-ecological benefits. This paper conceptualizes actors and activities around organic breeding as a Technological Innovation System (TIS) and analyzes what prevents these varieties from widely diffusing into conventional supermarkets. The investigated barriers relate to knowledge, market formation, investments, and legitimacy. The study is based on interviews with breeding initiatives and food retailers in Germany. Theoretically, the paper adds an innovation systems-perspective on the diffusion of organic varieties, a blind spot in the emerging debate so far. Furthermore, it contributes to the literature on sustainability transitions by introducing a novel empirical topic to the debate and reframing the TIS framework to analyzing fresh produce. Identifying existing barriers provides suggestions for practitioners seeking to successfully diffuse organic vegetable varieties.