Food System Dynamics (E-Journals)
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Bringing Blue Ocean Strategy to FMCG Markets
Get PDFAn emerging concept in strategic management directed at finding new business and value propositions is the framework coined ‘Blue Ocean Strategy’ (BOS) by Kim and Mauborgne, from INSEAD, Fontainebleau. The authors developed the BOS-framework, which comprises of a set of tools, on the basis of ex post studies of over 150 cases from 30 industries. The results were most extensively covered in the book ‘Blue Ocean Strategy’, published in 2004. The success of their work may be illustrated by, for example, Deloitte, Procter & Gamble, and HP, who use this strategic management concept.This scientific paper is one of the first that tests the applicability of BOS in Fast-Moving-Consumer-Good Markets (FMCG). Our prime objective is to investigate whether the application of BOS enables the identification of an uncontested market, or not. The second objective concerns the adaptations required to make the BOS applicable to the FMCG Industry. The field of research is the European fruit and vegetables industry (EFVI), which is one the most competitive industries in Europe, lacking fundamental innovations. The complexity of bringing BOS to FMCG Markets required a two-stage research strategy; the first stage comprises of the combination of desk research with orientational case study research, followed by a second stage comprising of a large survey. In the first stage, six CEOs, chairmen and consultants, were interviewed to tailor the research to the insider perspective. In the second stage, a quantitative questionnaire was send to 299 fruit and vegetable companies, active in Europe. The realized response was 24 (response rate: 8%). Although not high, the response may be understood as sufficient, because the research was primarily intended to learn whether the BOS-framework is strong enough to identify uncontested market spaces even in very competitive industries
Food Cooperatives’ Innovations and System Dynamics in Local Food Networks
Get PDFFood cooperatives play an important role in local food networks as business organizations that use innovative business strategies to market local foods to their members and consumers. We utilize data from a national study of the members of eight food cooperatives in the U.S. The objective of this study is to understand the innovations and system dynamics of food co-ops as they are promoting and marketing local foods to their members/owners. Our findings show that food co-ops are much better rated by their members than mainstream grocery stores are rated by their consumers, especially in terms of store characteristics and quality of products offered. Food co-ops face significant competition from other grocery stores especially in terms of offering lower prices. We find that most consumer heterogeneity is among food co-ops, while periphery, mid-level, and core consumer groups seem more homogeneous in their perceptions. The results highlight that some local food promotion strategies that work well at some food co-ops may not work well at others because of different consumer composition and co-op size. Our conclusion is that food co-ops are an important player in local food supply chains, mostly in a niche, highly-differentiated markets
Food labelled Information: An Empirical Analysis of Consumer Preferences
Get PDFfeatures. Nevertheless, the space available on packaging is limited and some indications are not used by consumers. This paper aims at analysing which kinds of currently labelled information are of interest and actually used by consumers, and which additional kinds could improve consumer choices. Moreover, we investigate the attitude of consumers with respect to innovative strategies for the diffusion of product information, considering in particular the development of a smart label for mobile phones. The empirical analysis is organised in two phases: first, three focus groups have been carried out and, second, a survey on 240 consumers was conducted on the basis of an ad hoc questionnaire. The results showed that, among nutritional claims, those more important to consumers are vitamins, energy and fat content, whereas sodium received a low score. Moreover, consumers show a high interest in the origin of the products and GMOs. Among the types of information that are currently scarcely available on food products, the major interest was received by the environmental impact, animal welfare and type of breeding
An Integrated Analysis of Food Information to Consumers: Problems, Pitfalls, Policies and Progress
Get PDFThe purpose of this paper is to contribute to the discussion on the positive and negative aspects of food information requirements, especially in the light of the acceptance of a new food information regulation (EU) 1169/2011. The methods which are used are legal and literature studies, case studies as well as the provision of supplementary data on the effects of food information requirements on consumer choices, costs and benefits. The field of food information is complex, since it includes legal, socio-psychological as well as economic aspects. The paper describes the major recent changes in food information law and the barriers to competitiveness of the European food industry as a consequence of connected problems and pitfalls. It suggests technical and legal solutions for improvement. The paper especially focuses on the major barriers to innovation: the competition on the package of legal and commercial information, the labelling of novel foodstuffs, (i.e., nanotechnology and gmo), and the authorisation of health claims. It advices to overhaul food information law: to integrate, simplify and to improve its logic
Quality of Communication and Types of Communicators in German Veterinary Authorities
Get PDFRecent crises in the agricultural sector, such as the 2011 German dioxin scandal and deaths from EHEC or the last swine fever outbreak in Germany in 2006, have caused immense economic damage. As a result, German veterinary authorities at the district, state, and federal levels have been put in charge as crisis managers and leaders of active preventative organizations. To perform their tasks successfully, they require effective communication skills as well as close cooperation with stakeholders in the agribusiness sector. However, despite clear evidence that identifies these relationships as crucial, there is only very little research that directly addresses communication quality and intensity of public authorities responsible for food safety. The relevant literature so far primarily deals with the technical design and implementation of new information and communication systems. However, it often fails to address the particular needs and communication behaviour of individual users. It is the objective of this study to identify determinants of communication quality and to differentiate between types of communicators in order to shed light on the construct of communication behaviour in veterinary authorities. To do so, the determinants of the quality of communication between public authorities and their external stakeholders were identified based on a causal model. These determinants were used as cluster-building variables in a cluster analysis to determine different types of communicators in veterinary services
Vertical Integration within the Fresh Fruit Chain
Get PDFThe “fruit trade chain” is a commonly accepted term used in the industry to describe the system of trading fresh fruit. The fruit trade chain includes procurement, production, packaging, shipment and delivery to the consumer. Within this chain, numerous components are involved: picking, grading, packing, terminals, depots, exporters, importers, and more (FPEF Advanced Manual, 2010). Within each component, failure or mismanagement of one element can affect the chain as a whole. Different commodities may contain differing components within the chain. These operations typically involve separate organizations, each accruing some margin, which is inevitably subsidized by the consumer. Even though each operation adds additional cost to the consumer, logistics are coordinated by specialists within in that commodity, allowing for the best quality of fruit to reach consumer outlets.Recently the market, specifically the fresh fruit trade chain, is encountering the possibility of restructure through the declared intentions of mass retail merchandisers such as Wal-Mart. Through backward integration, a process that will allow for the control of all, or most, of the stages in the production and sales of their products, Wal-Mart is actively increasing its presence while also removing cost accruing players from the chain.With, potentially, a larger share of the market, one needs to ask whether these mass merchandisers have the capacity to implement a similar process over a variety of commodities. If so, what would be the potential benefits of this channel? If there are possible benefits, are they experienced both up and down-stream? For the local industry, if undertaken successfully, what consequences will this transformed chain have on the existing logistic infrastructure? The question of the frequency of transactions and the effect of significant relationships within the chain amidst these transactions is also explored
Green Connections and Emotional Wellbeing: Sustainability as a Factor of Occupational (Dis)Satisfaction in Catering
Get PDFCatering in Finland and Sweden constitutes a large industry serving annually 800 million meals and 1,9 billion meals, respectively. On the sector public caterers constitute an influential professional subgroup responding to political pressures for sustainability and illustrating the use of local, organic and fairly traded food. However, heavy cost pressures and currently dilemmatic interpretations of sustainability present public caterers as objects of cultural expectations and arouse their emotions in terms of sustainability in professional environments. This paper highlights caterers’ ‘emotional life-world’ due to their green connections as a micro-sociological phenomenon. The paper investigates how professional emotions as a social force promote structural changes within food systems, as local, organic or environmental interpretations of sustainable food gain preference. In-depth interviews with 16 Finnish caterers were extracted into three exemplary cases of a happy caterer, procuring organic and highly local food, a ‘luke-warm’ contract caterer moving after the trendy demand and a stressed caterer, looking for scientific evidence for sustainability. The caterers’ emotional wellbeing was clearly affected by their green connections, whereby both positive and negative emotions were seen to drive towards sustainable catering, albeit differently interpreted; either as a local and organic or an environmental-technical orientatio
Sustainability Management in Agribusiness: Challenges, Concepts, Responsibilities and Performance
Get PDFThe idea of sustainable management has recently gained growing attention in the agribusiness sector. This is mainly due to a widespread discontent with the industrialization of agricultural production and food processing and growing public pressure on agribusiness firms to implement more sustainable management practices. In this paper we present the results of an explorative empirical study of sustainability management in German agribusiness firms. The study shows that agribusiness firms have developed a broad understanding of sustainability management and perceive a multi-facetted spectrum of societal demands they have to meet. The most important arguments for implementing more sustainable management practices are that companies have to make sure that they are trusted by society in the long run and that the perception of a company by external stakeholders has become more and more important. The companies surveyed know quite a number of sustainability programmes and standards, but the number of companies that actually participate in these initiatives is much smaller. Nonetheless, the majority of the respondents feels that their company is more successful with regard to sustainability management than industry average
Strategic Capabilities and Performance: An Application of Resource-Based View in Italian Food SMEs
Get PDFThe characteristics of the EU and Italian food market, dominated by evolving regulations, rise of new emerging countries, globalisation, advances in ICT and technology sector, increase of retailers’ bargaining power, and changes in consumer patterns, affect especially SMEs, which are forced to develop successful strategies in order to survive on the market. Thus, it is useful to understand the potential sources of competitive advantage for SMEs. Following the theoretical model of Resource-based View, we analysed the effect of SME capabilities on performance, by identifying the significant ones playing a leading role to reach a competitive advantage. In particular, four capabilities have been selected, according to literature: innovation, marketing, network, and acquiring information. The analysis is carried out in 67 food SMEs located in Lombardy, a Northern Italian region, by applying a Structural Equation Model. The results revealed that marketing, network and innovation capabilities positively affect the performance. In particular, process innovation should be exploited in SMEs to act incremental innovations. Moreover, adopting appropriate pricing policies and operating a right consumer targeting help SMEs in perform well, also if they spend time in acquiring information about the market and the other agents of the supply chain. Strong vertical relationships, besides facilitating the information flow, allow SMEs to control each stage of the chain and to monitor the quality level of products
Towards an Ecologically Intensive Agriculture From Concept to Implementation by an Agricultural Cooperative
Get PDFFrench agriculture is now facing a double challenge, environmental and productive. Following the Grenelle environment forum (organized by French government in 2007), ecologically intensive agriculture (EIA) has emerged as a new concept to reach this dual challenge. The large Agricultural Cooperative TERRENA in western France chose to refer to the EIA as a structural element of its business strategy. The aim of this paper is to present an economic approach of the emerging concept of EIA, and its implementation by the cooperative and its members