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Going to Market Without a Map - Go-To-Market Strategies for Dried Food Products in Nepal

Stider, Arvid LU and Lautmann, Gustav LU (2026) MIOM05 20261
Department of Industrial and Mechanical Sciences
Production Management
Abstract
Solar drying technologies give smallholder farmers in low- to middle-income countries (LMIC) a low-cost way to reduce post-harvest losses and add value to agricultural produce. Yet bringing solar-dried products to market remains poorly understood, particularly in fragmented food systems where structural conditions shape market entry in ways that standard frameworks do not account for. This thesis develops an analytical framework for mapping food systems, identifying viable market segments, and designing go-to-market strategies in LMIC contexts, applied to Nepal’s food system for dried fruits, vegetables, and spices. The study draws on existing literature and twenty semi-structured interviews with producers, intermediaries, retailers, and... (More)
Solar drying technologies give smallholder farmers in low- to middle-income countries (LMIC) a low-cost way to reduce post-harvest losses and add value to agricultural produce. Yet bringing solar-dried products to market remains poorly understood, particularly in fragmented food systems where structural conditions shape market entry in ways that standard frameworks do not account for. This thesis develops an analytical framework for mapping food systems, identifying viable market segments, and designing go-to-market strategies in LMIC contexts, applied to Nepal’s food system for dried fruits, vegetables, and spices. The study draws on existing literature and twenty semi-structured interviews with producers, intermediaries, retailers, and institutional actors across Nepal.

The mapping revealed a longer and more complex intermediary chain than previously documented. Eight candidate segments were filtered against structural feasibility, leaving five: international trekkers, non-trekking tourists, festival consumers, urban premium consumers, and school canteens. Four structural constraints shaped go-to-market strategy design across all segments: fragmentation and coordination failure, weak institutional enforcement, geographic and infrastructural barriers, and uneven organisational capability. Under these conditions, producers must take on coordination functions that the system cannot provide, build credibility through signals such as certification and packaging, focus efforts geographically, and sequence market entry according to what their capacity can support. The thesis contributes by testing and extending existing frameworks in an LMIC agricultural context and producing five segment-specific go-to-market strategies. (Less)
Popular Abstract (Swedish)
Den här studien undersöker hur småskaliga producenter i Nepal kan nå marknaden med torkade frukter, grönsaker och kryddor. Genom intervjuer med aktörer i hela livsmedelssystemet och analys av befintlig forskning kartläggs marknadsvägar, kundsegment och de hinder som präglar ett fragmenterat jordbrukssystem. Resultaten visar att framgångsrik marknadsintroduktion inte främst handlar om produkten i sig, utan om att bygga relationer, skapa trovärdighet och hantera samordningsproblem i värdekedjan. Studien identifierar fem lovande kundsegment och visar hur marknadsstrategier behöver anpassas till de lokala förutsättningarna i Nepal. Uppsatsen bidrar både med ny kunskap om Nepals livsmedelssystem och med en vidareutveckling av såväl etablerade... (More)
Den här studien undersöker hur småskaliga producenter i Nepal kan nå marknaden med torkade frukter, grönsaker och kryddor. Genom intervjuer med aktörer i hela livsmedelssystemet och analys av befintlig forskning kartläggs marknadsvägar, kundsegment och de hinder som präglar ett fragmenterat jordbrukssystem. Resultaten visar att framgångsrik marknadsintroduktion inte främst handlar om produkten i sig, utan om att bygga relationer, skapa trovärdighet och hantera samordningsproblem i värdekedjan. Studien identifierar fem lovande kundsegment och visar hur marknadsstrategier behöver anpassas till de lokala förutsättningarna i Nepal. Uppsatsen bidrar både med ny kunskap om Nepals livsmedelssystem och med en vidareutveckling av såväl etablerade ekonomiska teorier som affärsutvecklingsteorier för låg- och medelinkomstländer. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Stider, Arvid LU and Lautmann, Gustav LU
supervisor
organization
course
MIOM05 20261
year
type
H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
subject
keywords
Go-To-Market Strategy, GTM, Food Systems, Agricultural Value Chain, Market Segmentation, Transaction Cost Economics, Diffusion of Innovations, Solar Drying, Post-Harvest Losses, Nepal, Low-to-Middle Income Countries (LMIC), Smallholder Farmers, Market Access, Development
other publication id
26/5353
language
English
id
9236777
date added to LUP
2026-06-12 12:32:44
date last changed
2026-06-12 12:32:44
@misc{9236777,
  abstract     = {{Solar drying technologies give smallholder farmers in low- to middle-income countries (LMIC) a low-cost way to reduce post-harvest losses and add value to agricultural produce. Yet bringing solar-dried products to market remains poorly understood, particularly in fragmented food systems where structural conditions shape market entry in ways that standard frameworks do not account for. This thesis develops an analytical framework for mapping food systems, identifying viable market segments, and designing go-to-market strategies in LMIC contexts, applied to Nepal’s food system for dried fruits, vegetables, and spices. The study draws on existing literature and twenty semi-structured interviews with producers, intermediaries, retailers, and institutional actors across Nepal.

The mapping revealed a longer and more complex intermediary chain than previously documented. Eight candidate segments were filtered against structural feasibility, leaving five: international trekkers, non-trekking tourists, festival consumers, urban premium consumers, and school canteens. Four structural constraints shaped go-to-market strategy design across all segments: fragmentation and coordination failure, weak institutional enforcement, geographic and infrastructural barriers, and uneven organisational capability. Under these conditions, producers must take on coordination functions that the system cannot provide, build credibility through signals such as certification and packaging, focus efforts geographically, and sequence market entry according to what their capacity can support. The thesis contributes by testing and extending existing frameworks in an LMIC agricultural context and producing five segment-specific go-to-market strategies.}},
  author       = {{Stider, Arvid and Lautmann, Gustav}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Going to Market Without a Map - Go-To-Market Strategies for Dried Food Products in Nepal}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}