Eureka! Institutional Repository

The purpose of this research is to study the commercial behavior of peach producers in order to understand the processes followed by the producer and the strategies he adopts to bring the product from the field to the consumer's table. More specifically, the addressed issues are related to the strategies adopted by the producers and their manipulations linked to the product, its price, its distribution channels and its presentation. By adopting a model of farmers' decision-making, the primary data collected from 100 producers after processing them with descriptive statistics produced valuable results for producers, marketing institutions and public authorities. Among the issues examined are the extent to which producers respond to the consumers' requirements, how do producers perceive the importance of branding, whether they are willing to participate in a joint brand and whether they are involved in efforts to promote the product. Furthermore, special emphasis is given on the characteristics that agricultural products must have in order to be competitive both in the internal market and abroad. At the same time the role of Marketing for agricultural products is stressed and the significant help that it offers to the operation of the whole production process giving essential information to the producer both on the types of suitable cultivations and the best possible selling of his product. The producer's anxiety and the problems he faces are particularly stressed, until he manages to bring his product from the field to the consumer's basket, overcoming weather conditions, difficulties for sale, payment, etc. Finally, it is noted that in recent years producers have not been satisfied with the prices they sell their products and demand direct state intervention to set a fixed price in order to be able to continue cultivating in the next few years for the benefit both of themselves and the consumers.