Food System Dynamics (E-Journals)
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Networking Related to Sustainability in Hungary
Get PDFSustainability is arguably one of the greatest challenges to Hungary in the future. The question is how to meet this need and tackle this challenge that requires commitment from the different players of the supply chain.This aim of the work within the FP7 Salsa project was to detect, explore the importance of sustainability and categories of the sustainability by the actors of the network and identify those elements related to sustainability issues, which support the future success along the soya and beef supply chain.In Hungary majority of the soy and beef enterprises are classic SMEs.The topics was quite “hard” for the questioned SMEs, because in one hand it is an increasing needs for sustainability, but in the other hand the environmental concerns haven’t acquired as significant awareness in Hungary as in western countries within the European Union. The needs regarding sustainability can be identified mainly from farmers and wholesalers (particularly multinational companies)., but most of the cases significant activities or changes have not been made yet.The producers emphasized that they fulfill the sustainability requirement if it is a real needs from their customers or without risking their success of their businesses. The other frequently mentioned answer was that they dealt with the sustainable aspects if it supports the most efficient use of the natural resources or the better quality of the product.Sustainability was associated with costs. The participants all agree that the cost of sustainability can be fairly high. However there is a significant need for sustainable production and products in Hungary, they do everything to meet the requirements of the sustainability standards. But in that case the members of the supply chain can see clearly the profitability of their investment in sustainability.Based on the results we could conclude that there is a harmonized, good business relation between the stakeholders within the Hungarian soy and beef supply chains. The power relations are different within the soy and the beef chains. Within the beef supply chains the wholesalers make the rules, and in spite of this, within the soy supply chain the bargaining power depends on the size of the soy production per year and on the market trends.Finally we could conclude that there is a real need from the players of the supply chains for collaboration, because only with the collective changing will contribute to enhance sustainable development in Hungary
Innovative Solutions of the Future Internet: Needs of the Food Chain Users
Get PDFWithin the SmartAgriFood project 135 in depth interviews in 6 countries, and 8 focus group discussions in 5 countries were carried out for identification and evaluation of the potential applications of the Future Internet (FI) in the agri-food area. Several innovative ideas were described by the participants and there were also some demands, expectations and limitations which were universally mentioned by them. One of the main expectations is that FI should be accessible for anybody, anywhere and anytime. In addition the followings should be ensured: higher privacy; compatibility; integration of systems; longer range in communication; lower implementation costs; and user-friendly interfaces. The most important prerequisite is making aware and training of the users, as most of them do not have appropriate experience about using the Internet. For enhancing the application of the ICT solutions in the agri-food sector the above mentioned needs of the users should be considered and met by the ICT community
The Use of Social Media within the Austrian Supply Chain for Food and Beverages
Get PDFIn addition to traditional marketing communication instruments, social media marketing has become a powerful tool of interaction with participants within supply chains. An increasing number of com-panies, especially in the US, are using social media platforms not only to market their products and manage their customer relationships, but also to initiate active interaction and communication with current and prospective customers. One core objective of this study was to evaluate certain content and contact features, as well as social media activities of companies of the Austrian food and bever-age industry. The evaluation of the content and interactivity possibilities on corporate websites was carried out with a set of criteria that had been elaborated according to research literature. Another objective was to gain insights into threats, risks, and opportunities for companies when interacting with customers by means of social media. This was done by a qualitative survey amongst Austrian business leaders.The research study clearly shows that a minority of the Austrian food and beverage industry actively uses social media platforms for marketing purposes and interaction with present and potential cus-tomers. Usually the platforms are not applied for active customer relationship management but for distributing exactly the same advertising messages already broadcasted via traditional mass media. The basics of a successful customer relationship management by use of social media are frankness, willingness to engage in dialogue, truthfulness and a short reaction time. In this case, potentials can be activated, while risks are minimized. The results imply that social media applications are innova-tive alternatives for implementing effective customer relationship management initiating a true dia-logue with customers. However, more knowledge on how to properly use social media marketing seems to be necessary within the food sector
Temperature Monitoring for Quality Prediction and Inventory Control in Cold Chain: a Case of 18℃ Ready-to-eat Food in Taiwan
Get PDFThe aim of the study was the development of a quality prediction model combined with the incoming analysis for temperature control in 18 degree ready-to-eat food during logistics flows. And analyzed how temperature monitoring improves inventory decision. Base on the growth of Pseudomonas sp., the model was developed by mathematical model with Gompertz model. The model predicts for quality as well as shelf life in the monitoring temperature is about 19.5 h. On the other hand, the incoming analysis shows that the inventory quantities at 7 ℃ and 18 ℃ is more than at 25 ℃.The model can be considered to be an effective tool (in combination with temperature monitoring) for improvement of quality management with the incoming consideration. Moreover, our results suggest that temperature-controlled food companies could share temperature information with its chain partners which emphases a food quality and logistics cost balance in supply chain
The Market for Animal-Source Foods in Uganda: Looking Beyond Quantity: Rapid Apprasial of Consumer Preferences for Retail Outlets, Retail Forms and Safety and Quality Attributes
Get PDFThis paper presents the results of a rapid consumer survey undertaken in Uganda. The survey aimed at identifying preferred quality and safety attributes, retail forms and retail outlets for major livestock products and by type of consumers. Results of the survey, combined with nationally representative household datasets, allows description of both the quantitative and qualitative dimensions of the developing market for animal-source foods, which is anticipated to provide major business opportunities for small-scale livestock producers in the short and medium terms
Drivers of Eco-Innovation in the Italian Wine Industry
Get PDFThe importance of eco-innovations for industry has been rising exponentially in recent years. However, even if recent trends show that firms are increasingly committed to eco-innovations, there is little knowledge on why and how companies integrate environmental sustainability into new product development. In this paper we offer a comprehensive analysis of the drivers of eco-innovation in the Italian wine industry on the basis of a large survey on Italian wine producers. We analyse the impact of firms’ characteristics and their technological and organizational capabilities on the introduction of eco-innovations. The relevance of the drivers in influencing the probability of introducing eco-innovations is measured with a latent class econometric model. Our evidence shows that business characteristics and firms’ scientific search processes and their general innovative behaviour are key drivers of eco-innovation. Therefore, according to our results, firms’ commitment to eco-innovate does not differ substantially from other types of innovation activities
Does the Sustainability of Food Products Influence Consumer Choices? The Case of Italy
Get PDFIn this paper we analyse if there is a diffused interest among consumers about the environmental impacts of their food choices, and try to capture the different types of attitudes of Italian consumers with respect to environmental sustainability of food products. The analysis builds on a survey based on vis-a-vis interviews with 240 consumers in Milan, and on a cluster analysis. The results highlight a high level of stated concern about environmental issues and about possible impacts of personal food consumption choices on the environment. Nevertheless, when investigating their actions during everyday shopping we have identified four groups of consumers: (1) those who take into consideration the environmental information on labels and do not require additional information; (2) those for which environmental information on labels does not have a great effect on purchase, but would like to receive more information; (3) those for which the presence of environmental information directs product selection and would also like to receive more; (4) those that do not take into account environmental issues when purchasing and are not interested in receiving more information about the impacts of the products
The Metadistrict as the Territorial Strategy: From Set Theory and a Matrix Organization Model Hypothesis
Get PDFThe purpose of this proposal is to explore a new concept of 'Metadistrict' to be applied in a region of Southern Italy – Apulia ‐ in order to analyze the impact that the activation of a special network between different sector chains and several integrated projects may have for revitalizing the local economy; an important role is assigned to the network of relationships and so to the social capital. The Metadistrict model stems from the Local Action Groups and the Integrated Projects of Food Chain frameworks. It may represent a crucial driver of the rural economy through the realization of sector circuits connected to the concept of multi‐functionality in agriculture, that is Network of the Territorial Multi‐functionality. It was formalized by making use of a set of theories and of a Matrix Organization Model. The adoption of the Metadistrict perspective as the territorial strategy may play a key role to revitalize the primary sector, through the increase of economic and productive opportunities due to the implementation of a common and shared strategy and organization
Food Awareness and Transparency: Current Practices and Future Tools
Get PDFWithin the SmartAgriFood project the envisaged functions of Future Internet (FI) were collected and explained to the business users. 135 in depth interviews in 6 countries, and 8 focus group discussions in 5 countries were carried out for identifications and evaluation of the potential applications in the agri-food chain in the Smart Food Awareness area. Privacy was seen as a key function of the FI. The majority of the potential application ideas were rated as applicable to ensure improved awareness for the food chain members. There is a need for systematic explanation of the new enabling functions of the FI to the potential business users in a user-friendly way to foster the identification of new application opportunities. In some cases there is a difference between the priorities set by them and the behaviour of the consumers
A Qualitative Analysis of Sensory Experiences and Expectations in the European Organic Market: Findings from Italian and German Consumers
Get PDFThe organic food market grew steadily during the past decade (Hamm and Gronefeld 2004, Spiller 2006). This increase is accompanied by challenges in market structures, distribution channels as well as differentiation of expectations and buying motives of organic food consumers. On this regard, the “hedonistic” motives for purchasing of organic food, that also include sensory features like taste or appearance, gained importance in comparison to other motivations. Therefore, some scientists pointed out that sensory attributes are important elements that should be taken into account in the marketing strategies by organic food distributors (Brennan and Kuri 2002, Padel and Midmore 2005) than even before. The objective of this paper is to explore sensory experiences, expectations and perceptions of Italian and German organic consumers underlining differences between the two countries when purchasing and eating organic food. Ten focus group interviews composed by 6-10 consumers were performed during 2009 in different locations in Italy and Germany. The focus groups content was transcribed and then analyzed using qualitative content analysis.Results indicated that, although sensory attributes are not the main purchase driver, taste and, especially for Italy, odour are the most important sensory features taken into account by organic consumers especially for the first purchase. However, it seems that the ability to differentiate between various categories of sensory perception is characterized by a low level of development which may limit the set of possibilities when trying to reach consumers by affecting their senses. Furthermore, consumers were able to mention several aspects such as intensity, naturalness and authenticity that they consider to be important when it comes to the sensory properties of organic products. Other findings suggests that sensory perception is a learnable ability which offers an opportunity for the actors of the organic food market to bring their customers closer to their products by a corresponding training of consumers’ sensory abilities.Regarding the concept of standardisation consumers pointed out that sensory properties should not be standardized, especially for heavy users. In both countries, one part of the organic consumers seem to appreciate sensory marketing activities whereas another part apparently does not. For Italian consumers who appreciate sensory marketing, non-subjective as well as subjective marketing information is considered to be suitable, whereas in Germany non-subjective aspects seem to be predominant. Further research may be useful in order to detect the right marketing tools that are able to support a sensory-based strategy of product presentation and positioning