The interpersonal world of direct marketing: Examining conventions of quality at UK farmers’ markets

Inherent within emerging new food supply chains (FSCs) in the UK in recent years, and in particular those based upon direct marketing, is the (re)connection of production–consumption processes and concomitantly producers and consumers. New forms of connection are apparent, as food produce is differentiated on the basis of quality constructs which are often linked both to the place and nature of its production, but also to the exchange context. As a result, quality evaluation has become increasingly complex and heterogeneous, necessitating context-specific examinations of its mediation. This paper seeks to do this through its examination of producers and consumers at farmers’ markets (FMs). Utilising the framework of Conventions Theory, it assesses how producers and consumers coordinate their mutual expectations in order to circumvent the uniform standards of ‘conventionally’ produced food and create new production–consumption spaces. In so doing, the notion of a Regard Convention is suggested as a means of acknowledging the non-economic benefits of FSCs that are underpinned by direct marketing and, in particular, those that involve face-to-face interaction between the participants concerned.