The apple is a representative produce of Japan. This study examines the features of the marketing in a main apple producing area in terms of the market position in the wholesale markets, and their correspondence to the retailer-led food marketing system in terms of relationship with retailer. In the apple producing area examined, the main sellers were the professional buyers, who had the large C.A. (Controlled Atmosphere) refrigerators and took seasonal 'orderly marketing'. But the mechanism of competition between apple producing areas was insufficient for research. On the other hand, the Japanese food marketing system has recently been transformed from a wholesaler-led to one led by retailers. In the apple market examined, there was the 'leader' producing area, which supplied more than half the apples. As a result, the sellers in the other areas supplied apples in different season from the 'leader'. However, it was difficult for them to prevent ongoing competition with the 'leader' area due to global warming and the changes in product conditions, and it was important for them to cooperate with the retailer for the sake of product differentiation. But the producing areas which advanced to this degree were not actually 'challenger', 'niche' or 'follower' areas, which needed to sell on the basis of product differentiation but, in fact, the 'leader' area. The paper concludes by stressing that the rural producer organizations and the rural professional buyers should sell by marketing approaches suitable for each position while taking the retailer into account.
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