Maintaining Core Values During Growth in Organic Food Chains: Lessons from the HealthyGrowth Project

The HealthyGrowth project (2013–2016) investigated how organic food chains maintain their founding values during expansion. Eleven research teams from across Europe applied five analytical perspectives—organizational governance, business management strategies, values communication, values mediation, and resilience to crises—to twenty-two case studies. A cross-cutting analysis revealed three key factors that support value retention: an ongoing process of value reaffirmation and occasional redefinition; alignment of actors’ time horizons to stabilize mutual expectations and commitments; and the acknowledgment and incorporation of diverse dimensions of professionalization among stakeholders. These insights contribute to debates on the conventionalization of organic agriculture and inform practices for sustainable agroecological transitions.