Petits commerces de bouche et réseaux alimentaires alternatifs: un regard montréalais
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15353/cfs-rcea.v4i1.189Keywords:
commerce de détail, distribution, alimentation, réseaux alimentaires alternatifs, petit commerceAbstract
Cet article aborde les réseaux de distribution alimentaire alternatifs par une de leur leurs extrémités jusqu’ici négligée dans la littérature comme dans le débat public, les petits commerces de détail urbains. Ceux-ci se multiplient sur plusieurs rues commerçantes dans les grandes villes depuis quelques décennies, à la faveur d’un embourgeoisement de la population des quartiers limitrophes. Celle-ci entraîne une sophistication des préférences de consommation et favorise un repositionnement des petites entreprises commerciales vers des créneaux plus pointus, à l’abri d’une grande distribution en croissance. Sur la base d’une enquête de terrain de deux ans et d’une trentaine d’entrevues semi-directives réalisées auprès de propriétaires d’établissements commerciaux dont l’offre est entièrement ou partiellement composée de produits ou de services alimentaires, l’article examine les stratégies déployées par les commerçants pour se constituer comme alternatifs, les avantages d’un tel positionnement et les difficultés qui l’accompagnent. Producteurs et distributeurs alternatifs constituent ainsi deux maillons d’une chaîne qui ne peut donc être qualifiée d’alternative que tant qu’elle s’attache à se démarquer de l’univers de la consommation de masse.
This article discusses alternative food distribution networks - thus far neglected in the literature and in public debate - through the lens of small urban retail outlets. In recent decades, as buildings and the subsequent occupants of neighbouring districts are gentrified, such outlets have seen an increased presence on several shopping streets in large cities. Sophisticated consumer preferences favour a repositioning of small commercial enterprises towards more specialized niches. These are sheltered from the conditions required by and needed for large-scale distribution. Based on a two-year field survey that included thirty semi-structured interviews carried out with owners of commercial establishments whose offerings are entirely or partially made up of foodstuffs or food-related services, this article examines the strategies deployed by such business owners to constitute themselves as alternatives. It also presents the advantages of such a positioning and the difficulties that accompany it. Alternative producers and distributors thus constitute two links in a chain which can only be qualified as alternative as long as it strives to stand out from the world of mass consumption.
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