The role of the construction of specific territorial resources in innovation processes: an application to the case of agri-food chains.

Summary This paper seeks to analyze the main characteristics of the territorial resources of agri-food companies and sectors, in terms of support for the innovation process. We will start from the hypothesis that the key competences of the territories, their specific resources are no longer material and linked to the physical territory, but more and more immaterial and linked to the organized territory (Mendez, Mercier, 2006). It is thus the capacity of actors to cooperate within the framework of a sector or network that contributes to the creation of key competencies for a particular territory. This work is based on the exploitation of different surveys conducted in agri-food sectors: the Crémant de Bourgogne AOC sector and the vegetable sector. We will see that organizational innovation plays a central role in the dynamics of food chains, whether they are AOC or not: at the collective level, by setting up tools for regulating production; at the individual level, by making it possible to better manage relations with other firms, particularly in terms of supplies. This paper aims to analyze the main characteristics of territorial resources available for firms and food chains to support the innovation process.