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Mainstream economic theory has difficulty explaining the reasons why artisanal1 food products continue to exist in highly competitive markets. Artisanal products are laborintensive rather than capital-intensive and therefore cannot benefit from economies of scale. Our research looks at a particular form of artisanal production: the production of the same foodstuff by several artisanal enterprises using the same designation. Analyzing the strategies of the artisanal enterprises, we observe that they improve their chances of success by combining two main elements:(1) They choose a collective way to define a common marketing strategy and build up a serious competitive advantage based on a high specificity of the product. To achieve this objective, they adopt a common code of practice. They also set up a service of technical and commercial information for the enterprises, organize common promotion of the product, develop common R&D programs, etc. Inter-professional bodies are created in order to manage the various aspects of the collective management. They gather representatives of the enterprises and make strategic decisions for the supply chain.(2) The governance structures selected by the operators may minimize their transaction costs (Williamson 1975, 1985). We show, however, that collective decisions made within the interprofessional body through a multilateral negotiation process have a direct influence on the bilateral relations between the operators. Private collective institutions set up by the interprofessional body contribute to reducing transaction costs between the enterprises. Although we do not calculate the cost savings linked …