Food ‘localness’: A systematic literature review

Food ‘localness’ is a crucial driver for consumers’ choices at an international level. A growing body of marketing research focuses on local food consumption, and public policy is increasingly interested in sustainable local food systems. However, what makes food ‘local’ has yet to be defined. Indeed, the local food concept is subjective and bears different meanings. In this paper, we aim to bring clarity to the vagueness concerning the local food concept by conducting a systematic literature review of the marketing literature focusing on local food consumption. We selected 92 articles published between 1998 and 2021. Assisted by qualitative content analysis, we have integrated, interpreted, and synthesised the findings through a thematic organisation of the main research strands, and mapped the current status of knowledge on food localness. We have individuated seven interconnected themes, such as (i) consumption drivers; (ii) farmers’ markets; (iii) geographical indication (GI); (iv) global vs. local; (v) locavorism; (vi) organic vs. local; (vii) sustainability. Our findings suggest that food ‘localness’ should not only be promoted through the indication of a geographical reference. From a consumer perspective, its understanding lies in the embeddedness of a consumer or product in the landscape and/or culture of a given place/territory, as well as on consumers’ identity construction in the face of globalisation and sustainability issues. Future research should extend findings and include studies from other disciplines. Marketing managers should enhance consumers’ local (vs. global) identity through products’ ‘localness’ authenticity.