Preliminary Research about Producers' Perceptions of Relationship Quality with Retailers in the Supply Chain of Organic Food Products in Croatia

Due to insufficient research on the relationships in the supply chain (SC) of agri-food products, and especially organic food products, the main goal of this study was to examine the perceptions of organic food producers about the importance of collaboration and trust to their performance in the organic food SC. An analysis of previous research has concluded that the important categories of relationship quality (RQ) are the following: appropriate inter-organisational collaboration, effective communication, mutual exchange of information, resource sharing (physical, financial, human, and organisational), willingness to share risks, transparency between partners, relationship quality and commitment, and the presence of trust between partners in the SC. An empirical study based on in-depth interviews was conducted on a sample of six organic food producers in Croatia. The results indicated that the producers' perceptions of the impact of collaboration and trust on overall performance differs depending on the length of the collaboration with retailers, the types of products, and the percentage of overall sales they sell through retailers. The results of this research can serve as an information base for all stakeholders in the SCs of organic products by encouraging them to participate in activities that will strengthen trust and collaboration as a prerequisite for increasing SC organic food performance.