Factors impacting Faroese food importers’ supplier decisions : a qualitative study on food imports to the Faroe Islands

Abstract

This study examines what factors influence Faroese food importers’ supplier decisions as foodstuff in the Faroe Islands are overwhelmingly imported through Denmark, but there is little understanding to why this is. Qualitative interviews with all large food-importing firms in the Faroe Islands were chosen as a method for the study.The research found that the factors affecting Faroese food importers supplier choices are many and interconnected. They are heavily impacted by the characteristics of the food industry and by the fact that the Faroes are a small and remote archipelago. Further, they are also affected by the specific historical context of the Faroe Islands and its relationship to Denmark. This study divides the factors into human oriented factors, which contain the historical aspects, relationships, language and culture, and consumption patterns, and operational factors, which are logistics, small volumes, supplier stipulations, price and quality, currency, and tariffs.Nuance seemed to lack in the literature about what factors impact supply chains in such societies, and little to nothing appears to be written about how food importers from relatively remote micro societies such as the Faroe Islands choose their suppliers. This is a literature gap that this study will aim to address.