The solution is beyond the opposition - Breaking down the fence between conventional and organic values to secure trust and integrity

Organic farming is a good candidate to analyze sociotechnical transition processes towards alternative farming systems. Our hypothesis is that mid-scale business forms can allow niches to gain enough momentum to trigger a transition process. Studying the case of a French producers’ organization whose share of organic products increased from 10% to 70% in the past twenty years, we analyze how this organization succeeded in maintaining organic farm¬ing’s values through upscaling and outscaling pro¬cesses. Our first results highlight how intermediate-business actors can apply conventional development tools and strategies, such as vertical integration and horizontal concentration, as a strong lever for organic agriculture.