Can Value be Created for Neglected and Underutilized Crops? the Importance of Consumption Influencers in Europe

Can value be created for food if their seeds are neglected or underutilized? The scientific literature highlights two entry points that can help us to better understand how value might be created: through the creation of enabling food environments and through the diversification of value chains. We explored this relationship between enabling food environments and diversified value chains by conducting an online survey of over 1000 actors that are involved in the selling or in the valorization of neglected or underutilized cereals and legumes (NUCs) in seven EU countries (Denmark, France, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Sweden and Switzerland). We identified an important role for ‘consumption influencers’, who are intermediary actors between producers and consumers who shape consumption practices within food environments. By exploring the organization of these value chains and the types of ecosystem benefits created from the sale or use of NUCs, we can explain how a sub-sample of actors (72) position themselves primarily around environmental concerns, which the majority actively promote through social media and by word-of-mouth. The social missions of these actors are more concerned with the model of agriculture that is unfair to both the agroecosystems and farmers, than with the nutritional benefits of NUCs. The sector relies heavily on organic certification and the perceived benefits from selling NUCs is mainly environmental. The NUCs sellers have a rather loyal customer base. We look across these initiatives in order to find themes in value creation that are distinguished based on the transparency and communication of ecosystem benefits along the value chain.