Mid Sweden University

Purpose: This study investigates the UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy Network as a global spatial brand and explore the tensions that emerge when this global brand is appropriated locally. Design/methodology/approach: This paper is based on case study research that uses critical discourse analysis to identify the implications of a transferable learning capacity. Findings: This paper identifies three different types of tensions in place brand management that emerge during the local appropriation of global brands: tensions inherent in multi-scalarity, tensions associated with integrating governance and strategy-related tensions. Originality/value: This study advances the theoretical understanding of the spatial complexity inherent in place brand management practices by focusing on the UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy Network as a global brand in a Scandinavian context. 

Eating habits are among the strongest drivers of negative environmental impact. Public procurement has been suggested as an efficient lever to catalyze changes within the food system. This study examines alternative purchase processes that may decrease the carbon footprint of publicly procured food through a case study of a municipality in the Northern part of Sweden. The GHG emissions associated with the current food service in the case study were 2.2 kg CO2e per kg food and must be reduced by 40.9% by 2030 to comply with the Paris Agreement; 76% of the emissions derive from food of animal origin (44% from unprocessed red meat). Three alternative diet scenarios, “zero red meat,” “−50% red meat,” and “flexitarian free from red meat,” were explored. Only 6% of the total purchased food kilograms were altered, yet the cutback of meat caused GHG emissions reductions turned out to be as high as 44%. The Swedish Law on Public Procurement, deficient infrastructure, unsustainable food culture, and local politicians' reluctance to change were mentioned as the main obstacles to materializing necessary changes in the food procurement system. The respondents also pointed out essential policy changes at the national and municipal levels.

Purpose The purpose of this study is shed light on the underlying forces behind entrepreneurship within a regional innovation system (RIS) in a remote rural region. The authors examine the following questions: Which are the main underlying forces behind the entrepreneurial process in a rural RIS characterized by traditionally low-tech, small-scale businesses? How can the development of a low-tech regional innovation system be conceptualized?

Design/methodology/approach The design of the study is based on entrepreneurship theory. Data analysis followed practices used in phenomenography, a research approach used to analyse and identify commonalities and variations in populations' perceptions of a certain phenomenon. Data are composed using semi-structured interviews and a database composed of company information of all firms in the population.

Findings A proactive mobilization of regional stakeholders and resources can be an important driving force behind the entrepreneurial process and generation of a rural RIS. Innovation can be generated within low-tech industries turning the rural context into an asset. An RIS in a remote rural context can be initiated and orchestrated by regional authorities, but knowledge brokering and orchestration can also be managed by networks of small-scale businesses brought together by mutual benefit and common interests.

Research limitations/implications Regional innovation systems theory is most often used to study high-tech industries. But by combining regional innovation systems with rural entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship context theory is a fruitful avenue to understand the role of rural entrepreneurship in regional development, even in remote and peripheral regions. Innovation does not need to entail high-tech international environments; it can appear as the result of efforts in low-tech industries in rural and remote environments. The authors’ findings need to be scrutinized; therefore, the authors call for more research on regional innovation systems in rural environments.

Practical implications It is possible for regional authorities to orchestrate a development process through the actions of a strong regional agent but also by supporting the creation of networks of small businesses that are built on trust and common interests.

Originality/value This study contributes to the literature with a new perspective to the study of entrepreneurship and of regional innovation systems. Entrepreneurship research with focus on rural contexts most often highlight limits to entrepreneurship and see entrepreneurship as “just running a business”. A perspective that starts from innovation and innovative behaviour, despite the rural context and embedded resources, helps to generate new knowledge that can enrich the understanding of entrepreneurship and also be the foundation for more precise business development policies in rural settings.

In recent decades, the craft beer sector has grown rapidly, and it has been studied across the world through various lenses. In Norway and Sweden, the sector is a well-established complement to large-scale beer producers, but it has yet to be thoroughly studied. Previous studies show that the location of a brewery is important in terms of marketing and branding approaches, but also that craft brewers contribute to place development. The aim of this study is to explore how context affects the possibilities of craft breweries to contribute to local place development. The study results are built on a web-survey, answered by 201 craft beer brewers in Norway and Sweden. The findings show that brewers, especially those located in rural areas, struggle under tough conditions regarding profit margins, as well as troublesome and limiting legislation. Place is considered very important, but breweries in rural areas use place-connection to a higher extent. Tourism is important, especially for breweries located in rural areas, and changes in regulation could increase the importance even more. The results of this study show that there exist contextual differences which also have an impact on the extent to which the brewers can contribute to their local community.

This paper addresses the way the Corona pandemic has impacted the rapidly growing craft beer sector. More specifically, it does so through a qualitative study of two bordering regions in Sweden and Norway. Interviews with a total of 20 breweries highlight the pandemics major impact on the sector. The patterns that were identified in the two regions in our study in many ways point towards similar effects. Firstly, the study showed that the pandemic has hit craft breweries rather hard, but most have managed to survive and some have even increased production and sales. These breweries have done so through creative adaptability, such as finding alternative income sources, cutting production and reducing costs. Other dimensions that have been crucial for the breweries in this crisis have been a location with high population density, large numbers of domestic tourists, or a greater emphasis on selling to retailers instead of bars and restaurants. As the pandemic and its effects continues, taking on new shapes and patterns, the findings of this study could have relevance for the support systems of craft breweries and the creative economy. It would also be beneficial to perform follow-up studies with varying methodological approaches during later stages, or after the pandemic. 

The endeavour to align the goals of the Swedish food strategy with the national environmental quality objectives and the 17 global SDGs, presents an extraordinary challenge that calls forsystemic innovation. Industrial symbiosis can potentially provide the means for increasing sustainable food production, using locally subexploited resources that can reduce the need for land, agro-chemicals, transport and energy. This case study of the municipality of Härnösand, aims to assess opportunities and challenges for using waste flows and by-products for local food production, facilitated by industrial symbiosis. A potential symbiotic network was developed during three workshops with the main stakeholders in Härnösand. The potential of the COVID-19 pandemic to instigate policy changes, behavioural changes and formation of new alliances that may catalyse the transition towards food systems based on industrial symbiosis is discussed. The material flow inventory revealed that many under exploited resource flows were present in quantities that rendered them commercially interesting. Resources that can be used for innovative food production include, e.g., lignocellulosic residues, rock dust, and food processing waste. The internalised drive among local companies interested in industrial symbiosis and the emerging symbiotic relations, provide a fertile ground for the establishment of a local network that can process the subexploited material flows. Although there are multiple challenges for an industrial symbiosis network to form in Härnösand, this study shows that there is a significant potential to create added value from the region’s many resources while at the same time making the food system more sustainable and resilient, by expanding industrial symbiosis practices.

The evolution of the craft beer sector has been gaining traction around the world since the 1980s, developing from factors such as an increased demand for alternative and locally distinct flavours in beer, increased interest in pairing food with the right type of beer, and increased income levels. Meanwhile, the economic and political contexts for establishing and running craft breweries differ between cities, regions, and nations. This study takes its point of departure from the producer perspective of the craft beer sector in the alcohol monopoly of Sweden, where the interest in craft breweries has also developed quickly over the last decades. The main purpose of the study is to contribute to the understanding of producer perspectives on operating in an alcohol monopoly, and how this effects development opportunities. The study has an explorative, mixed methods approach and is based on a survey encompassing all Swedish craft brewers as well as qualitative data from northern Sweden, including interviews with craft beer producers, site visits, and document analysis. The conclusions provide a complex picture of the Swedish alcohol monopoly and its impact on the craft brewers, and hence the development of the craft beer sector. However, the critical dimensions are more pronounced among the producers, suggesting that the Swedish organisation favours large-scale breweries, creates uncertain market conditions, leads to quick and unexpected decisions, and creates logistical difficulties. From an international comparative dimension, this indicates that the craft beer sector in Sweden could benefit from and grow even stronger with modifications to the market conditions according to the situation in other geographical contexts.

Purpose – This paper aims to propose the concept of social terroir to help navigate phenomenological and epistemological conditions of small-scale food entrepreneurship.

Design/methodology/approach – This study used a qualitative research approach and was implemented in the peripheral region of Jämtland in northern Sweden. The study interrogated the ambitions of craft brewers when starting up, their long-term goals and visions, including questions about the reason for starting up a brewery, how the different brewers cooperate and how and why the products are designed and labelled the way they are.

Findings – This study shows that the production of craft beer is an inherently social practice that is part of a particular sociocultural milieu. This milieu informs production in distinct and interrelated ways: through connecting to place and locality in the different aspects of production and marketing, through cooperation to develop production and overcome barriers, and through embedding their work in sustainability discourses.

Originality/value – The study addresses how, in the context of craft beer, terroir or taste of place, is a matter of social ties to place and community–social terroir. What is novel is the way in which social terroir becomes a critical ingredient in the production of craft beer. This illustrates how small-scale food production and gastronomic efforts can link people, places and businesses.

A growing number of cities have joined creative city networks in the last decade. Through such networks, cities are attempting to transform their creative sectors and become more attractive in terms of tourism and skilled labour. This study investigated the UNESCO Creative City Network (UCCN), and more specifically, its sub-category of gastronomy. The study was of an exploratory character and aimed at contributing to research on city branding from a UCCN perspective. The methodological approach was qualitative and included interviews along with document reviews of official materials (e.g., websites) from member cities. Study results point towards several branding related benefits from UCCN membership such as (i) greater recognition, (ii) increased tourism, (iii) new investment along with the establishment of more creative businesses. Study participants also reported negative consequences such as increased levels of administration and bureaucracy associated with UCCN participation.