Perspectives of retailers and local food suppliers on the evolution of modern retail in Africa
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of an exploratory qualitative study of the evolution of modern food retailing in Tanzania (from both retailers and suppliers’ perspectives).
Design/methodology/approach
The qualitative case approach was used in this study. Participants were drawn from three sets of actors: retailers, local food suppliers, and government institutions. Data were collected using semi-structured interview format. Thematic qualitative analytical technique was used for the data analysis.
Findings
According to the results of the study, seven major factors that account for the evolution of modern food retail in the country were identified. These are availability of suppliers, acceptance of trade credit, innovation, lifestyle change, institutional support, convenience, and availability of consumers.
Originality/value
The study has expanded the knowledge of the evolution of modern food retail in developing economies by using the relationship marketing theory. Furthermore, the study employed some major actors in the food value chain to understand determinant factors that accelerated the evolution of supermarkets in Tanzania.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This work is based on a PhD thesis of the first author and the second author was a supervisor. The authors would like to acknowledge DANIDA for the financial support during PhD studies at Aalborg University in Denmark from 2013 to 2016. The authors would also like to thank two anonymous reviewers and the guest editor, Professor Sanda Renko, for their patience and constructive critics on this work. This paper forms part of a special section “Food retailing: from farmers markets to retail hybridization.”
Citation
Nandonde, F.A. and Kuada, J. (2018), "Perspectives of retailers and local food suppliers on the evolution of modern retail in Africa", British Food Journal, Vol. 120 No. 2, pp. 340-354. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-02-2017-0094
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited