Abstract
The notable trend of food marketing systems observed in Japan and other developed countries is that retailers have been getting the largest power within the marketing channel. Although there is no objection for the understanding, it is not necessarily clear what are the qualitative changes and meanings of retailer-led marketing systems.
After retailers have gained the position of channel captain within food marketing systems, the control and involvement by retailers has been gradually expanded into all the process of food supply chain. It exemplified the introduction of traceability systems and private brand product strategies.
The meanings of retailer-led supply chains are firstly the ability of gathering consumer information directly and without time lag, secondly the broad assortment decided from a viewpoint of high compatibility of consumer needs, and thirdly the improvement of logistics supply. However the retailer-led supply chains have some problems resulted from the characteristics of agricultural production. In order to establish value-added and sustainable food supply chains, it is essential for its organizations to pursue not only efficiency of being synchronised to real demand but also effectiveness of exploiting the innate advantages of agricultural production.
