Family rural agribusinesses and social relations network at local markets in the Region of Corede Jacuí-Centro / Rio Grande do Sul
The diversification of the social and productive activities is what usually happens in the Brazilian household agriculture. The agricultural production processing and the agro industrial product insertion in the markets are manners of this diversification. This paper had as main objective to describe the relations that constitute the social networking of the proximity markets to the change and merchandising of the agroindustrial products. The region studied comprehends the cities that belong to Corede Jacuí Centro: Cachoeira do Sul, Cerro Branco, Novo Cabrais, Paraíso do Sul, Restinga Seca, São Sepé and Vila Nova do Sul. This study was characterized as an exploratory-descriptive analysis, with the gathering of secondary and primary information. The data about agrobusiness provided by IBGE gave a support to define the number of interviews that would be done in each city. 41 interviews have been accomplished, with the assistance of a semi-structured form and field diaries. Qualitative methodology has been used (content analysis) and quantitative (disperse measurements: simple arithmetic average and standard deviation; localization measurements: maximum and minimum) for the data analysis. The social formation of the proximate market networking involves interactions of the producers with actors of institutions and the community, with middlemen, insertion bridges, consumers and other agents of the civil society. The direct sale to the urban consumer has been highlighted, representing an average of 51% of the sold production, whose merchandising forms are: door to door, by order, at fairs, at events and at the property. In the relationships of marketing and exchanges with relatives and neighbors, the families commercialized an average of 14% and 1% respectively. These interactions are spotlighted by the exchange of products, raw material, and services at the agroindustrial activity. Concerned with the commercial relationship with the insertion bridges and middlemen, it corresponds to 19% and 15% of the commercialized production, respectively. According to the peasants, the characteristics that differ their products are: the natural, the way to make, the flavor, the farmer’s work to produce, the price, the SIM certification and the ecological production. Among the innovations some are pointed out: the package, the consistency, the seasoning, the flavors, the light production, the size, the product concentration and the recipe modification.