Value chains of organic food products tend to converge either towards higher value niche products or towardsconventionalisation when they start growing significantly. Our analyses focus on growth processes from small tomedium-sized businesses, initiatives and value chains for organic food that manage to combine values and volumes. While expanding, organic businesses and initiatives face specific challenges that, if not managed well, canalso lead to complete failure.A carefully elaborated development strategy provides overall direction to the growing food chain. Strategic management, in turn, involves operationalizing the business objectives and developing plans designed to achievethese objectives, and then allocating resources to implement the plans.Organic food cooperatives, associations or businesses have often started with a personal conviction and/or philosophy of the founder or the founders’ group. This philosophy usually is the starting point of business strategyand strategic planning of the growing business or initiative. Numerous models and frameworks have been developed to assist the strategic decision-making and management in the context of complex business environmentsand competitive dynamics