A Study on Value Creation by Tokyo-based Green Grocery Stores that Source Their Produce from Farmers

This study examines green grocery stores as intermediaries between producers and consumers.We explore whether these stores foster deeper mutual understanding from the perspective of valuation.Drawing on Bessy and Chauvin's (2013) concept of intermediaries, we analyzed interview data from three stores.We generated 43 valuation codes for fruits and vegetables and investigated how valuation structures operate within the stores.Findings suggest that stores promote consumer understanding of producers by enabling interactive information flows and by reflecting affirmative values of produce in pricing based on the stores' own perceptions.