A nutrition-oriented global value chain approach to inform diet-related chronic disease prevention in Australia
Creators: name: Hattersley, Libby
Publisher: name: The Australian National University
Year: 2012
Subjects: subject: HD9018.A8 H38 2012
subject: Food industry and trade Health aspects Australia
subject: Food supply Australia
subject: Fruit in human nutrition
subject: Food consumption Health aspects Australia
subject: Chronic diseases PreventionAustralia

description: Agri-food system transformations over recent decades have been credited with delivering broad improvements in food availability, variety, and safety. They have also been linked to the rising global burden of chronic, non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Yet, surprisingly limited attention has been given to understanding agri-food system restructuring from a nutrition perspective, and to identifying opportunities to systematically reorient food supply chains in ways that support healthier diets. Nutrition{u00AD} oriented value chain approaches offer promise to address this gap and have gained traction within the international development community as a means of identifying opportunities to increase supply of, and demand for, nutritious foods to address hunger and micro-nutrient deficiencies in low and middle income countries. However, their potential to support diet-related NCD prevention efforts remains under-explored. The research outlined in this thesis sought to extend and build on the nascent area of nutrition-oriented value chains research by exploring the potential for the approach to inform diet-related NCD prevention efforts in Australia. Drawing on theoretical and methodological insights from the public health and agri-food literatures, an institutionally-enriched, nutrition-oriented global value chain (GVC) approach was developed and applied to a case study of the Australian canned deciduous fruit value chain. Rather than representing a 'best buy' from a NCD prevention perspective, this sector was selected because it offered the potential for unique and revealing insights into contemporary agri-food system dynamics in Australia. Adopting a transnational perspective, the case study encompassed the domestic supply of canned deciduous fruits within Australia (the 'domestic strand') as well as canned fruits imported from South Africa under Australian supermarket private labels (the 'import strand'). Data from semi{u00AD} structured interviews conducted with fifty-five value chain actors and key external stakeholders in Australia and South Africa were analysed using thematic coding, together with extensive secondary data on the industry from a range of sources. The nutrition-oriented GVC approach applied in this thesis provided a systematic framework through which to examine changes over the last century in the structure and organisation of the Australian canned deciduous fruit value chain, the evolving socio{u00AD} institutional environments within which this chain is embedded, and the nature of power and governance relations between key chain actors. As Neilson and Pritchard (2009) identified in South Indian tea and coffee value chains, and Oro and Pritchard (2011) in the Australian-Japan beef trade, profound restructuring within the Australian canned deciduous fruit value chain over the last century has been the result of a path-dependent co-evolution of firm strategies and institutional environments. It has involved: (i) growing supermarket power in Australia since the 1960s, with rapid private label expansion in this value chain over the last decade; (ii) consolidation and reorientation of the Australian deciduous fruit canning industry from an export-oriented to import competing sector, in the context of increased global integration and competition; and (iii) pursuit of a new firm strategy by Australia's last remaining deciduous fruit canner, SPC Ardmona, aimed at revitalising itself as a healthy fruit and vegetable-based snack food company under the ownership of Coca Cola Amatil. SPC Ardmona's strategy appeals to shoppers' desires for convenience, novelty, and health, and is aimed at expanding the range of potential eating occasions for packaged fruit products to a wider range of consumer market segments. It is supported by the Australian Government's vision for an innovative, profitable, and internationally{u00AD} competitive food manufacturing sector. However, there are potential conflicts between this shared vision and public health goals for food and agriculture in Australia. Processed fruits can play an important role in supporting population compliance with dietary guidelines for fruit consumption. Yet, their contribution to total diet quality and potential to lower or raise long-term diet-related NCD risks (such as weight gain, diabetes, and obesity), is likely to be strongly influenced by the nature, extent, and purpose of processing, as well as they ways in which they are marketed and designed to be eaten. The case study findings provide insights into what has been one of the dominant trends within the global food-consuming industries in recent decades: the proliferation of GVC's for processed, value-added food products which are marketed as 'healthy snacks'. The dietary implications of this trend remain poorly understood, as do the implications of associated GVC restructuring for value chain actors and the communities and regions in which they operate. This thesis demonstrates that nutrition-oriented value chain approaches have significant potential to address these knowledge gaps, and to support integrative public policy capable of balancing multiple societal goals for agri-food systems.