Determinants of farmers’ loyalty to dairy processors in Minas Gerais, Brazil

ABSTRACT: The current study explores variables associated with the loyalty of dairy farmers to dairy processors in the Brazilian context. A multivariate discrete choice (Logit) model and alternative formulations assess the associations between loyalty metrics and farm and processor characteristics for a sample of 32 dairy farmers in 16 municipalities at the Zona da Mata in Minas Gerais. Twenty-two dairy processors were identified as milk buyers in the area studied, but each farmer indicated that they could sell to an average of five alternative buyers of milk. Farmers’ attributes such as production scale or the technological level are not statistically significantly associated with loyalty in this sample. The current milk price paid to farmers in our sample is not associated with increased loyalty (sales to a single processor for 6 or more years) in all estimated models; although, further research on this impact is merited to inform buyer-pricing policy. Variables associated with increased loyalty include payment of premiums for quality, farmer years of experience and cooperation among farmers in the purchase of inputs. Delayed payment is associated with reduced loyalty. We could not determine the effect of participation in technical assistance programs offered by processors on loyalty, because in our sample all farmers received free university-provided technical assistance. The payment of a premium based on milk volume was also unassociated with loyalty determination. The small size of our sample limits the ability to generalize our results but provides exploratory results that facilitate future investigation.

摘要：本研究旨在探究巴西背景下奶农对乳品加工商的忠诚度关联变量。研究采用多元离散选择（Logit）模型及多种备选建模方案，针对米纳斯吉拉斯州（Minas Gerais）赞纳达马塔（Zona da Mata）地区16个市镇的32名奶农样本，分析忠诚度指标与奶农场及加工商特征间的关联关系。该区域共识别出22家作为牛奶收购商的乳品加工商，受访奶农平均可联系到5家备选牛奶收购方。在本次样本中，奶农的生产规模、技术水平等属性与忠诚度无统计学意义上的显著关联。研究样本中，加工商当前向奶农支付的原奶收购价，在所有估算模型中均与奶农忠诚度提升（即连续6年及以上仅向单一加工商售奶）无显著关联；尽管如此，仍有必要针对该影响开展进一步研究，以指导收购定价政策制定。与忠诚度提升相关的变量包括：原奶质量溢价支付、奶农从业年限，以及奶农间在生产资料采购方面的合作互助。延迟付款则与忠诚度降低显著相关。由于本次样本中的所有奶农均接受过高校提供的免费技术援助，因此无法确定加工商提供的技术援助项目参与度对忠诚度的影响。基于原奶产量的溢价支付同样与忠诚度无关。本次研究样本量较小，限制了研究结论的推广性，但仍得到了具备探索价值的初步结果，可为后续相关研究提供参考基础。