Impact of collective trademarks in Mexican artisanal cheesemakers

Abstract

Processes related to Collective Trademarks (CTMs), and the state of social friendship, productive support, and strategic networks, were studied for three different artisanal cheesemaker groups: Queso Bola de Ocosingo with an inactive CTM, Queso de Poro de Balancán, with an active CTM, and Quesillo de Reyes Etla, with a CTM undergoing its negotiation process. The influence of negotiation and operation of CTMs as consolidation strategies of three Mexican artisanal cheesemakers was analyzed through a mixed investigation involving in-depth interviews, social network analysis, and quantitative information. The research indicated that networks are small with scarce interaction among the actors, and, where collective strategies have not been induced, the networks are more disconnected and show a higher proportion of isolated nodes. It is concluded that, when collective strategies come from external actors without the necessary accompaniment, they tend to fail because their actions are supported by temporal actors, impacting social relations among cheesemakers.