Cooperative strategies of food enterprises amid the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The factors of the pandemic threaten the stability of enterprises engaged the food industry and put them in a situation where previously successful strategies are no longer effective. Based on the global practice of implementing cooperative strategies amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the article tests the hypothesis that there is a correlation between cooperative strategies in the food industry and the adaptability of business entities to the pandemic factors. The methodological framework includes the theory of integration and transaction cost, as well as the ecosystem approach. The methods of case study, descriptive statistics, structural-logical analysis and SWOT analysis were applied. The authors identify the main types of cooperative business models, these are circular entrepreneurship, virtualization and digitalization of logistical interactions, ecological and immunostimulating production, and service-oriented business cooperation. Having compared the models according to their capability to support sustainable development of the enterprise amid the pandemic, we found that the opportunities for cooperating in the food industry were largely associated with the development potential of institutional, information and infrastructural environment. The research reveals the prospects for the functioning of the food industry in the new reality, determines the avenues for potential innovations in the industry, and develops the measures for a proactive response to crises.

Keywords

• cooperative strategies
• food ecosystems
• adaptability
• food industry
• sustainable development