Proximity and social capital in the context of artisan food markets: Towards local constatations of knowledge and innovation

Abstract

Embeddedness of artisan food markets in local socio-economic settings is apparent and decisive in individual procedures, development and change. The paper argues that geography and location patterns affect artisan food producers in the context of knowledge availability. A sample of 704 Polish food producers are mapped using GIS, and in conjugation with current literature on tacit knowledge social capital, the implication for artisan food producers innovation capabilities is discussed. Results show that artisan food producers are different in their location patterns depending on the type of offered products. Apparent differences in location patterns strongly indicate that artisan food producers experience differences in tacit knowledge availability.