Resumo

Recently, highly publicized breakdowns in food industry contributed to consumer concerns about food safety and quality in a number of countries. As a result, governments, institutions, and firms in food chains propose and adapted to a number of standards to reduce risks linked to food contamination. However, costs of modernization, staff training, and certification fees hinder the adoption of standards for small and medium firms, compromising their ability to remain competitive or survive.

Despite the challenges faced by these enterprises to comply with standards, technology transfer and access to knowledge enable some of them to develop resources and capabilities that make it possible. This paper reports evidence gathered from researching small and medium agro-food companies from northwest of Rio Grande do Sul state in Brazil. This paper explains how knowledge and technology transfer can influence these companies to adopt food standards to remain competitive.

Nurturing SMEs success seems an appropriate strategy to policy makers that aim to improve food safety and facilitate socioeconomic development (Benkerroum and Tamime, 2004). Fundamental to this strategy is increase the stock of useful knowledge and the efficient transfer of applications (Teece, 1998), leading many countries to create technology transfer institutions to disseminate knowledge, improve production process and foster competition of agro-food SMEs (Algieri, Aquino, and Succurro, 2013)

A qualitative multiple case study method was used based on interviews with managers and staff from small and medium food companies, academics, and professionals from institutions involved in health inspection and technical support to entities in the supply chain.

Company’s interaction with suppliers, customers, competitors, and assistance institutions can facilitate the acquisition of the upscale and encoded knowledge necessary for implementation and adaptation to food standards. The lack of technical support and a regular assistance program, lack of employee education, and resistance in making changes to the production processes limit knowledge dissemination and the capacity to adapt to food standards, which can exclude firms from the market.

Results provide insights about the role of technology transfer and knowledge to small and medium firms comply with food standards, pointing out difficulties and suggesting a need for a coherent policy with regard to health inspection and technology transfer in food chains. Future research should explore the role of collaboration in firm networks in the learning processes and achievement of resources and capabilities that make possible for these companies to comply with standards.

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