Abstract
In the 1980s, it was believed that small-scale producing districts had advantage over large-scale districts in delivering high-quality fruit preferred by consumers. However, in the current Japanese food system, the buying power of mass-merchandising stores is stronger than it was several years ago, and these stores strengthen their association with large-scale producing districts, severely affecting the small-scale districts. The aim of this paper is to outline a strategy for small-scale apple producers by using the results of research carried out for Iwate Chuou Farmers' Cooperative. The restructuring of cooperative sales strategy was possible by introducing the technology required to reduce the use of chemicals and fertilizers. Iwate Chuou used a strategy to deal with retailer for the sale of apples. A retailer is a partner associated with Iwate Chuou, and needs to acquire the product in order to survive the competition with other retailers. Thus, the relations between the producer and the retailer strengthens and the prices of the apples produced by Iwate Chuou's improve. It can be concluded that this cooperative sales strategy is different from the previously applied strategies.
