Hypercompetition on horticultural markets

This paper deals with competitiveness in a dynamic perspective and aims at showing whether the horticultural industry of fresh tomatoes in Sweden is subject to hypercompetition, and to what extent it may be suitable for a hypercompetitive analysis. The competitiveness of the tomato industry is described in the static context and the description of the production and marketing system leads to the conclusion that producers serving large-scale distribution systems are meeting increasing import competition and a highly integrated buyer side, consisting of dominating actors. The model by Richard D'Aveni of Hypercompetition is described. This highly dynamic model deals with aggressive competition in a fast changing business environment, and the framework is applied on the Swedish tomato industry. It is predicted that consumer requirements will be higher, product differentiation and brands will become more important. information technology will improve and logistics will have to improve too. The conclusion is that the industry should work on visions and indeed on strategic planning in the over-all context, if it is not to be out-manoeuvred by big buyers and pushed out of the market by better-equipped competitors. It is argued that hypercompetition may be a buzzword, not only for Swedish tomatoes, or New Zealand apples, but also for horticultural producers in other countries and regions. Those producers and producers' organisations who first start thinking in terms of hypercompetition will have an advantage on this dynamic market.