One alternative farming practice that has received much attention during the last couple of years is organic farming. Organic farming is a cultivation practice implying good soil management achieved by crop and land rotation, and by not using synthetic chemicals and fertilisers. In Sweden,a control body for organic products,KRAV,has existed since 1985,and a subsidy system is in place to support organic farming. 2005,as well as a documented consumer interest for organic products. Organic farming is seen as a rather far- reaching approach to environmental product development,as it often implies the establishment of new distribution channels and new ways of thinking within companies.
Bread is of interest as it involves a complex network of suppliers.
These two chains were chosen because they operate on similar markets,and attract customers with related cha acteristics. The purpose of this dissertation is to contribute to the understanding of which factors may explain why some supply chains and their actors choose to endorse organic bread products,while other supply chains do not. This is achieved by performing a comparative analysis of the environmental product development strategies within two supply chains in the Swedish bread industry. In the other chain,consisting of a retailer and three producer co-operatives, it was observed that ICA,despite continuous pressure on its suppliers,has not yet managed to introduce organic bread to its nationwide assortment. These issues were found to be important when trying to convince large suppliers to convert.