Surveying the Institutional Collaboration in the Food Supply Chain: A Qualitative Study of Livestock Production Cooperatives

Context and purpose. Agricultural cooperatives are mainly considered as key actors in the food supply chain. Although these actors can play a role in the formation of cooperative relationships in different stages of the food supply chain, they lack a comprehensive pattern for mapping cooperation. Accordingly, the current study seeks to provide a model for the collaboration of livestock production cooperatives across the food supply chain. Methodology/approach. This qualitative study was conducted using classic grounded theory. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 32 experts and cooperatives' managing directors. Snowball and theoretical sampling techniques were used to select participants. In order to facilitate data collection and analysis, a five-step process was performed using Glaser's 6Cs coding family. Findings and conclusions. The results showed that the formation of a collaboration triangle among cooperatives, members, and the union, based on the contract approach, directs the activities of the cooperatives across the supply chain. This collaboration triangle is facilitated or restricted by various factors, such as trust-based action. Overall, the collaboration structure of cooperatives has a potential context, and in order to provide a real model of this cooperation, it is necessary to implement the principles of cooperation agreements at three levels of production, management, and marketing and market in such a way that the capacities of cooperatives and the needs of the market are taken into account. In the meantime, transparency and formalization of the capacity-need model seem inevitable.