Food TNCs, Intellectual Property Investments and Post-Fordist Food Consumption:The Case of Unilever and Nestlé in Turkey
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Published
Jan 15, 2021
Nuri Zafer Yenal
Abstract
This article argues that investing in foreign markets by exploiting intellectual property has increasingly become an important expansion strategy for TNCs in the processed food sector in the past several decades. I suggest that this process is closely related with changes in food consumption patterns and growing segmentation in food markets. I analyze the operations of Unilever and Nestlé in Turkey in the post-war era as examples of changing forms of investment by food TNCs in a peripheral context. Parallel to the increasing market segmentation and emergence of post-Fordist food consumption norms in metropolitan Turkey, Unilever and Nestlé have expanded their production range and focused on producing and marketing high value-added processed foods in the last two decades. Joint ventures with and acquisitions of locally strong food companies have been a major way for Unilever and Nestlé to gaining access to the Turkish market and to cash in on intellectual property.
How to Cite
Zafer Yenal, N. . (2021) “Food TNCs, Intellectual Property Investments and Post-Fordist Food Consumption:The Case of Unilever and Nestlé in Turkey ”, The International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food. Paris, France, 8, pp. 21–34. doi: 10.48416/ijsaf.v8i.349.
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References
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Ekonomist. 1993. “Gida Yatirimlarina Buyuk Hucum” ("Big Rush to Food Investments"). May 16:12-17.
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––––. 1991. “Changes in the International Division of Labor.” In Towards a New Political Economy of Agriculture, edited by William Friedland et al. San Francisco: Westview Press.
Friedmann, Harriet and Philip McMichael. 1989. “Agriculture and the State System: The Rise and Decline of National Agricultures, 1870 to the Present.” Sociologia Ruralis 29(2): 93-117.
Gida Teknolojisi (Food Technology) 1997. “En Buyuk Rakibimiz Sokak Sutu”(“Our Biggest Rival is the Milk Sold on the Street”). 2(2):February.
––––. 1996. “Gidada En Buyuk 100 Firma” (“The Biggest 100 Firms in Food”). 1(1): January.
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Marsden, Terry. 1992. “Exploring a Rural Sociology for the Fordist Transition.” Sociologia Ruralis 22(2/3):209-230.
Marsden, Terry and Jo Little. 1990. “Introduction.” In Political, Social and Economic Perspectives on the International Food System, edited by Terry Marsden and Jo Little. Brookfield: Avebury.
McMichael, Philip. 1992. “Tensions between National and International Control of the World Food Order: Contours of a New Food Regime.” Sociological Perspectives 35(2):343-365.
McMichael, Philip and David Myhre. 1991. “Global Regulation vs. the Nation-state: Agrofood Restructuring and the New Politics of Capital.” Capital and Class 43:83-105.
McMichael, Philip and Laura Raynolds. 1994. “Capitalism, Agriculture and World Economy.” In Capitalism and Development, edited by Leslie Sklair. New York: Routledge.
Oman, Charles. 1993. “New Forms of Investment in Developing Countries.” In Transnational Corporations and Economic Development, edited by Sanjaya Lall. London: Routledge.
Oncu, Ayse. 1991. “The Transformation of the Bases of Social Standing in Contemporary Turkish Society.” In Structural Change in Turkish Society, edited by Mubeccel Kiray. Indiana University Turkish Studies.
Padilla, Martine and Selma Oncuoglu. 1990. “Evolution of Food Consumption in Turkey and in the Mediterranean.” METU Studies in Development 17(3-4):1-39.
Pala, Mehmet. 1991. “Gida Teknolojisindeki Son Gelismeler ve Turkiye’deki Uygulamalari” (“The Latest Developments in Food Technology and Their Applications in Turkey”), in Gida Sanayii Kongresi (Conference on Food Industry). Ankara: TMMOB Ziraat Muhendisleri Odasi.
PIAR (Market-Research). 1998. Profile: Consumption Survey, Turkey. Istanbul: PIAR.
Piore, Michael and Charles Sabel. 1984. The Second Industrial Divide: Possibilities for Prosperity. New York: Basic Books.
Rama, Ruth. 1998. “Productive Inertia and Technological Flows in Food and Drink Processing.” International Journal of Technology Management 16(7):689-694.
Raynolds, Laura. 1994. “The Restructuring of Third World Agro-Exports: Changing Production Relations in the Dominican Republic.” In The Global Restructuring of Agrofood Systems, edited by Philip McMichael. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Sanderson, Steven. 1986. The Transformation of Mexican Agriculture: International Structure and the Politics of Rural Change. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
SIS (State Institue of Statistics). 1996. Statistical Indicators 1923-1995. Ankara: SIS.
Sorj, Bernardo and John Wilkinson. 1994. “Biotechnologies, Multinationals, and the Agrofood Systems of Developing Countries.” In From Columbus to ConAgra: The Globalization of Agriculture and Food, edited by Alessandro Bonanno, Lawrence Busch, William Friedland, Lourdes Gouveia and Enzo Mingione. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.
TDN (Turkish Daily News). 1995. “Special Supplement: Foodland in Turkey.” July 5.
Tozanli, Selma. 1998. “Capital Concentration among the Food Multinational Enterprises and the Development of the World’s Agro-food System.” International Journal of Technology Management 16(7):695-710.
Ulguray, Dilek. 1990. “Turkiye’de Gida Sanayinin Gelisimi” (The Development of Food Industry in Turkey”), unpublished report. Ankara: State Planning Organization.
Unilever. 1997. Sardunyalar Anlatsin. Istanbul: Unilever.
Urry, John. 1990. The Tourist Gaze: Leisure and Travel in Contemporary Societies. Newbury Park: Sage Publications.
Wilkinson, John. 1998. “The R&D Priorities of Leading Food Firms and Long Term Innovation in the Agro-food System.” International Journal of Technology Management 16(7):711-720.
Yenal, Deniz and Zafer Yenal. 1993. “The Changing World Food Order: The Case of Turkey.” New Perspectives on Turkey Fall 9:19-47.
Zet-Nielsen. 1994. Retailing Survey. Istanbul.
Aglietta, M. 1987. A Theory of Capitalist Regulation: The US Experience. London: Verso.
Baysal, Ayse. 1991. “Food and Nutrition Policies in Turkey.” In Food and Nutrition Policy in Mediterranean Europe, edited by A. Ferro-Luzi. World Health Organization.
Bonanno, Alessandro, W. Friedland, L. Llambi, T. Marsden, M. Moreira and R. Schaeffer. 1994. “Global Post-Fordism and Concepts of the State.” International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food 4:11-29.
Buttel, Frederick. 1996. “Theoretical Issues in Global Agri-food Restructuring.” In Globalization and Agro-food Restructuring. Perspectives from the Australia Region, edited by David Burch, Roy E. Rickson and Geoffrey Lawrence. Vermont: Avebury.
Capital. 1993. “Tadina doyulmayan sektor” (A sector, which is very tasty). 11:42-45.
Christopherson, Susan. 1994. “The Fortress City: Privatized Spaces, Consumer Citizenship.” In Post-Fordism: A Reader, edited by Ash Amin. Cambridge: Blackwell Publishers.
Dunya. 1995. “Nestlé, Mis-Sut'un %25'ini Aldi” (“Nestlé Acquired 25 Percent of Mis Sut”). March 3, 8.
Ekonomist. 1993. “Gida Yatirimlarina Buyuk Hucum” ("Big Rush to Food Investments"). May 16:12-17.
Fieldhouse, D. K. 1978. Unilever Overseas. The Anatomy of a Multinational, 1895-1965. London: Croom Helm.
Friedland, William H. 1994. “The New Globalization: The Case of Fresh Produce.” In From Columbus to ConAgra: The Globalization of Agriculture and Food, edited by Alessandro Bonanno, Lawrence Busch, William Friedland, Lourdes Gouveia and Enzo Mingione. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.
Friedmann, Harriet. 1982. “The Political Economy of Food: The Rise and Fall of the Postwar International Food Order.” American Journal of Sociology 88 (Supplement):248-286.
––––. 1991. “Changes in the International Division of Labor.” In Towards a New Political Economy of Agriculture, edited by William Friedland et al. San Francisco: Westview Press.
Friedmann, Harriet and Philip McMichael. 1989. “Agriculture and the State System: The Rise and Decline of National Agricultures, 1870 to the Present.” Sociologia Ruralis 29(2): 93-117.
Gida Teknolojisi (Food Technology) 1997. “En Buyuk Rakibimiz Sokak Sutu”(“Our Biggest Rival is the Milk Sold on the Street”). 2(2):February.
––––. 1996. “Gidada En Buyuk 100 Firma” (“The Biggest 100 Firms in Food”). 1(1): January.
Goodman, David and Michael Redclift. 1991. Refashioning Nature, Food, Ecology and Culture. New York: Routledge.
Hagen, James M. 1998. “Foreign Production by U.S. Food Processing Firms: A Transaction Cost Approach.” In Global Markets for Processed Foods: Theoretical and Practical Issues, edited by Daniel Pick, D. R. Henderson, J.D. Kinsey and I. M. Sheldon. Boulder: Westview Press.
Handy, Charles and Dennis Henderson. 1994. “Assessing the Role of Foreign Direct Investment in the Food Manufacturing Industry.” In Competitiveness in International Food Markets, edited by M. E. Bredahl, P. C. Abbott and M. R. Reed. Boulder:
Westview Press.
HDTM (Treasury and Foreign Trade Undersecretariat). 1998. 1998 Yilinin Degerlendirmesi (The Assessment of Year 1998). Unpublished report. Ankara: HDTM.
Heffernan, William and Douglas Constance. 1994. “Transnational Corporations and the Globalization of the Food System.” In From Columbus to ConAgra: The Globalization of Agriculture and Food, edited by Alessandro Bonanno, Lawrence Busch, William Friedland, Lourdes Gouveia and Enzo Mingione. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.
Henderson, Dennis R., Peter R. Voros and Joseph G. Hirschberg. 1996. “Industrial Determinants of International Trade and Foreign Investment by Food and Beverage Manufacturing Firms.” In Industrial Organization and Trade in the Food Industries, edited by Ian M. Sheldon and Philip C. Abbott. Boulder: Westview Press.
Lash, Scott and John Urry. 1994. Economies of Signs and Space. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Llambi, Luis. 1994. “Opening Economies and Closing Markets: Latin American Agriculture’s Difficult Search for a Place in the Emerging Global Order.” In From Columbus to ConAgra: The Globalization of Agriculture and Food, edited by Alessandro Bonanno, Lawrence Busch, William Friedland, Lourdes Gouveia and Enzo Mingione. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.
Lyson, Thomas A. and Charles C. Geisler. 1992. “Toward a Second Agricultural Divide: The Restructuring of American Agriculture.” Sociologia Ruralis 22(2/3):248-263.
Malanoski, M., C. Handy, N. Siegle and D. Henderson. 1996. “International Strategies in the Global Market.” In Globalization of the Processed Food Market, edited by D. Henderson, C. Handy and S. Neff. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, Agricultural Economics Report, No. 742.
Maljers, Floris. 1994. “Inside Unilever: The Evolving Transnational Company.” InIn Global Strategies: Insides from The World’s Leading Thinkers. Boston: Harvard Business Review Press.
Marsden, Terry. 1992. “Exploring a Rural Sociology for the Fordist Transition.” Sociologia Ruralis 22(2/3):209-230.
Marsden, Terry and Jo Little. 1990. “Introduction.” In Political, Social and Economic Perspectives on the International Food System, edited by Terry Marsden and Jo Little. Brookfield: Avebury.
McMichael, Philip. 1992. “Tensions between National and International Control of the World Food Order: Contours of a New Food Regime.” Sociological Perspectives 35(2):343-365.
McMichael, Philip and David Myhre. 1991. “Global Regulation vs. the Nation-state: Agrofood Restructuring and the New Politics of Capital.” Capital and Class 43:83-105.
McMichael, Philip and Laura Raynolds. 1994. “Capitalism, Agriculture and World Economy.” In Capitalism and Development, edited by Leslie Sklair. New York: Routledge.
Oman, Charles. 1993. “New Forms of Investment in Developing Countries.” In Transnational Corporations and Economic Development, edited by Sanjaya Lall. London: Routledge.
Oncu, Ayse. 1991. “The Transformation of the Bases of Social Standing in Contemporary Turkish Society.” In Structural Change in Turkish Society, edited by Mubeccel Kiray. Indiana University Turkish Studies.
Padilla, Martine and Selma Oncuoglu. 1990. “Evolution of Food Consumption in Turkey and in the Mediterranean.” METU Studies in Development 17(3-4):1-39.
Pala, Mehmet. 1991. “Gida Teknolojisindeki Son Gelismeler ve Turkiye’deki Uygulamalari” (“The Latest Developments in Food Technology and Their Applications in Turkey”), in Gida Sanayii Kongresi (Conference on Food Industry). Ankara: TMMOB Ziraat Muhendisleri Odasi.
PIAR (Market-Research). 1998. Profile: Consumption Survey, Turkey. Istanbul: PIAR.
Piore, Michael and Charles Sabel. 1984. The Second Industrial Divide: Possibilities for Prosperity. New York: Basic Books.
Rama, Ruth. 1998. “Productive Inertia and Technological Flows in Food and Drink Processing.” International Journal of Technology Management 16(7):689-694.
Raynolds, Laura. 1994. “The Restructuring of Third World Agro-Exports: Changing Production Relations in the Dominican Republic.” In The Global Restructuring of Agrofood Systems, edited by Philip McMichael. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Sanderson, Steven. 1986. The Transformation of Mexican Agriculture: International Structure and the Politics of Rural Change. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
SIS (State Institue of Statistics). 1996. Statistical Indicators 1923-1995. Ankara: SIS.
Sorj, Bernardo and John Wilkinson. 1994. “Biotechnologies, Multinationals, and the Agrofood Systems of Developing Countries.” In From Columbus to ConAgra: The Globalization of Agriculture and Food, edited by Alessandro Bonanno, Lawrence Busch, William Friedland, Lourdes Gouveia and Enzo Mingione. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.
TDN (Turkish Daily News). 1995. “Special Supplement: Foodland in Turkey.” July 5.
Tozanli, Selma. 1998. “Capital Concentration among the Food Multinational Enterprises and the Development of the World’s Agro-food System.” International Journal of Technology Management 16(7):695-710.
Ulguray, Dilek. 1990. “Turkiye’de Gida Sanayinin Gelisimi” (The Development of Food Industry in Turkey”), unpublished report. Ankara: State Planning Organization.
Unilever. 1997. Sardunyalar Anlatsin. Istanbul: Unilever.
Urry, John. 1990. The Tourist Gaze: Leisure and Travel in Contemporary Societies. Newbury Park: Sage Publications.
Wilkinson, John. 1998. “The R&D Priorities of Leading Food Firms and Long Term Innovation in the Agro-food System.” International Journal of Technology Management 16(7):711-720.
Yenal, Deniz and Zafer Yenal. 1993. “The Changing World Food Order: The Case of Turkey.” New Perspectives on Turkey Fall 9:19-47.
Zet-Nielsen. 1994. Retailing Survey. Istanbul.
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