Territorial agrifood transition: the reconfiguration of contract arrangements between the conventional dairies and territorialized collective initiatives in the south-west of France

The French bovine milk chain is experiencing a sectoral crisis, combining value distribution and professional crises. Despite its power in the European scenario (2nd largest producer after Germany), the end of quotas in 2015 limited public and sectoral regulation capacities (Dervillé, 2021). The market liberalization has led to a shift from administrative (volume) and interprofessional (quality and price) regulation to private management between producers and dairies in the sector. In Europe, specifically in France, mandatory contracts between milk producers and dairies have been adopted. French dairy farming is exposed to consequences of market risks and appear more exposed than their European counterparts. In France, 55% of milk is collected by cooperatives and 45% by private dairies (FNCL, 2022). Despite contractual obligations, the remuneration of farmers remains problematic. According to Lambaré, Dervillé and You (2018), market liberalization results in a deterioration in producers' market access conditions. Dairies refuse to cooperate, and producers are poorly organized. The insertion in value chains can reinforce the producers' position (Trienekens, 2011). Specifically, the collective organization of producers and territorialized structures can strengthen the non-cost competitiveness of farms (Dervillé et al., 2016). Horizontal coordination between producers and the integration of part of their downstream activity allows producers to benefit from economies of scale and offset downstream market power, by changing the upstream market structure (Dervillé, 2021). Magrini and Daru (2015) draw parallels between the dominant milk production system and differentiation. According to these authors, lowland areas include intensive systems characterized by a high proportion of silage and little grazing in the cows' diet. In parallel to this dominant system, there are the pasture-based systems, sometimes located in plains but mainly in mountain areas. In this case, the products are essentially valued through the specificities of terroirs, either by official signs of quality and origin or by groups of local producers promoting their own territorialized brand. Barbe et al. (2020) observes 59 differentiated initiatives in France, supposed to place the producer at the center of the system by ensuring better remuneration. The development of these approaches took place around 2010. However, the growth peak observed from 2015, with a significant acceleration since 2017. A diversity of brands and ranges of dairy products based on value creation through specific technical requirements are introduced. The products are distinguished by production requirements, such as GMO-free cows, a "fair" remuneration of producers, pastured-based feeding (e.g., 150 days in some cases) and/or animal welfare to try to escape price competition. If the change of competition regime, the sector restructuring, and the emergence of new initiatives of collective organization of producers are documented, few studies address the reconfiguration (or not) of the coordination between the conventional dairy chain and these new territorialized collectives. Through a new institutional point of view, this paper proposes to contribute to the understanding of the transformations (cooperations and/or fractures) of contract arrangements between the conventional dairies and territorialized collective initiatives.