Collaboration between Finnish restaurants and organic food producers
Shalkovskaya, Ekaterina (2015)
HAAGA-HELIA ammattikorkeakoulu
2015
All rights reserved
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201504244980
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201504244980
Tiivistelmä
Organic food is a step towards environmental sustainability. The demand for organic food is constantly growing and the size of organic farmland is increasing in Finland. Nevertheless, the share of organic products in Horeca sector is relatively small. The growth has been restricted by different reasons, some of which are insufficient distribution channels, long logistics distances and difficulties for restaurants and farmers to find each other.
This thesis is a part of a bigger project that aimed at creating a business-to-business web-service for Finnish organic producers and restaurants to find, communicate and do business with each other. The aim of the thesis is to study the cooperation between Finnish restaurants and Finnish organic producers. Three research questions are asked: “What are the trends and attitudes towards organic food in Finland?”, “How do the restaurants and farmers establish and maintain partnerships? How do they find and collaborate with each other?” and “Is there a need for the web-service? Will the respondents be interested in joining the platform?”
In the thesis the notion of organic food and the benefits of organic agriculture are studied. The development of the Finnish organic farmland, the use of organics in Horeca sector and the attitude towards organics in Finland are analysed. The quantitative approach to data collection is used and a questionnaire is chosen to be a research method. Two questionnaires were implemented during December – January 2015.
Theoretical part and survey results prove that organic food is a trend but high pricing is the main obstacle keeping restaurants from using organics more. There is no certification system for organics in the Horeca sector, this creates lack of transparency for those restaurants that use organic food.
The survey findings showed that the need for the online platform exists. 9 out of 13 producers and 8 out of 22 restaurant showed interest in the web-service and would participate as test users in the prototype of the platform. The biggest reasons for joining the web-service are to find new partners and new customers. The other reasons are to market their products and to simplify the ordering process that usually happens over phone or email. In accordance with that, the project team decided to continue with the business idea.
This thesis is a part of a bigger project that aimed at creating a business-to-business web-service for Finnish organic producers and restaurants to find, communicate and do business with each other. The aim of the thesis is to study the cooperation between Finnish restaurants and Finnish organic producers. Three research questions are asked: “What are the trends and attitudes towards organic food in Finland?”, “How do the restaurants and farmers establish and maintain partnerships? How do they find and collaborate with each other?” and “Is there a need for the web-service? Will the respondents be interested in joining the platform?”
In the thesis the notion of organic food and the benefits of organic agriculture are studied. The development of the Finnish organic farmland, the use of organics in Horeca sector and the attitude towards organics in Finland are analysed. The quantitative approach to data collection is used and a questionnaire is chosen to be a research method. Two questionnaires were implemented during December – January 2015.
Theoretical part and survey results prove that organic food is a trend but high pricing is the main obstacle keeping restaurants from using organics more. There is no certification system for organics in the Horeca sector, this creates lack of transparency for those restaurants that use organic food.
The survey findings showed that the need for the online platform exists. 9 out of 13 producers and 8 out of 22 restaurant showed interest in the web-service and would participate as test users in the prototype of the platform. The biggest reasons for joining the web-service are to find new partners and new customers. The other reasons are to market their products and to simplify the ordering process that usually happens over phone or email. In accordance with that, the project team decided to continue with the business idea.