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Contested Notions of Quality in a Buyer-Driven Commodity Cluster: The Case of Food and Wine in Canada

In this paper, I examine how different notions of “quality” are used to shape the direction of a food and wine cluster. In particular, I explore the powerful role of the retailer–distributor in shaping that direction. The retailer–distributor can be either public or private, but ultimately plays a significant role in shaping the food and wine supply chain. “Alternative” quality-claiming retail and distribution venues have exploded in numbers recently (i.e. farmers markets, internet sellers, community supportive agriculture and direct tourist-inspired farm-gate sales). However, like Goodman (2004, Rural Europe redux? Reflections on alternative agro-food networks and paradigm change, Sociologia Ruralis, 44(1), pp. 3–16), I argue for a more modest estimation of their “paradigmatic potential” to shape the future “quality” direction of food and wine clusters in Canada—especially as the larger food and wine retail-distributors continue to dominate the food and wine supply system. That said, given the political and social tensions surrounding the public regulation of food, there is still room for the growth of more localized “quality”-based agro-food-wine clusters if policymakers deem them important to grow.