ARTISANAL FOOD PRODUCTION AND MARKETING IN THE PERTH AREA OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA: SOME PRELIMINARY INDICATIONS OF DIFFICULTIES WITH CLASSICAL ECONOMICS AND SUPPLY CHAIN THEORY

This paper derives from various pieces of research, quantitative and qualitative, among artisanal food producers in the Perth area of Western Australia. The research had a focus on the marketing aims of artisanal food producers associated with attendance at Victoria Park Farmers’ Market. It was started so as to locate the motivations of these small-scale producers to be involved in food production at all. Major motivational themes quickly emerged. The first was freedom and the second was self-expression, while community feeling was also important as an other-orientated approach, which was slightly contradictory. Sub-themes also emerged, for instance the desire to promote community health. What was not relevant was the drive towards maximising income, creating substantial income, which is from the perspective of entrepreneurship or economic rationality. That rationality derives, of course, from the propositions of classical economics, which has been looking threadbare for some time. Ally the findings here with those from others from research work on consumers at Perth farmers’ markets and consumers of the artisanal producers’ products and this sense of irrationality was further confirmed. Purchasers were little concerned about prices. Ultimately, though, farmers’ markets are characterized by high prices and irrationality in terms of classic supply chain theory, whereby the more that intermediaries are removed, the lower the price should be for the purchaser. That simply does not happen since there is a social element, even a relationship element, that is now being factored into price determination as consumers and farmers come face-to-face.