Benefitting from the global, protecting the local: The nested markets of wild product trade

The economic hardship of rural communities and the interest multinational processors have shown in local wild blueberries has facilitated the quick growth of the wild blueberry trade in Latvia. With this trade, rural areas have witnessed the emergence of new market structures and new roles supporting the sector. However, despite the growing number of powerful actors in the wild product supply chain, communities have managed to maintain control over the wild products and to secure high blueberry prices. This article analyses the properties of the wild blueberry sector that have enabled local communities to do so. The paper asks two research questions: what aspects have facilitated the shift from foraging for wild blueberries as a subsistence activity associated with cultural heritage, to the globally integrated market sector it is today, and what properties of the blueberry market and the associated structural and political context have allowed local communities to maintain ownership over wild products? The concept of nested markets is used to explain those attributes characterising relations between stakeholders, which strengthen local level actors and thus balance out the power relations within the supply chain. This also provides ways to defend, maintain and strengthen an agrarian lifestyle.