Research report: Coordinating intermediaries and scaling up local and regional food systems: An organizational species approach to understanding the roles of food hubs

Abstract

Food hubs are one strategy identified for scaling up local and regional food systems. They act as coordinating intermediaries, aggregating, assorting, distributing, and transforming sourceidentified food products in short food supply chains. As a newly emergent form, the population of these organizations is characterized by heterogeneity. New taxonomic work aims to classify these organizations using an organizational species concept. This report extends that, identifying the roles different food hub species play within distribution channels, especially those which are likely to increase scale. Results indicate that there may be a trade-off between scaling up and behaviors enacting a “commitment to place.”