Available online 14 November 2015
Highlights
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- Dutch organic dairy sector has developed earlier and is stronger than Thailand.
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- Development paths of organic dairy in the Netherlands and Thailand are different.
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- Organic dairy development in the Netherlands was first stimulated by civil society.
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- Organic dairy development in Thailand lacks strong push from societal network.
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- Thailand has to improve both supply of organic dairy and demand of consumers.
Abstract
After
decades of promoting organic agriculture, organic dairy production and
consumption have been widely embraced by industrialized countries and
have recently emerged in newly industrialized countries, although they
take different shapes in different countries. In this article, the
development of organic dairy production and consumption in the
Netherlands and Thailand are compared. We describe the different
development pathways of the organic dairy sectors in these countries,
highlighting the role of corporate social responsibility (CSR)
strategies of companies and the influence of economic, policy, and
societal networks. It is shown that the Dutch societal network has been
particularly influential in advancing organic dairy development, but
such a network is almost absent in Thailand. In addition, the
breakthrough of organic dairy products in the Netherlands resulted from
the collaboration of economic, governmental, and societal actors,
whereas such collaboration is not yet well developed in Thailand. The
key factors for further development of the organic dairy industry are
the expansion of CSR strategies of dairy processors on the one hand, and
the linkage between CSR strategies, civil society initiatives, and
governmental supports on the other hand.
Keywords
- Dairy industry;
- Organic dairy product;
- CSR;
- Thailand;
- The Netherlands
Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
