Food System Dynamics (E-Journals)
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Innovative, Holistic, “Cradle-to-Grave” Approach to Implement more Sustainable Nutrition
Get PDFCreating more sustainable products is a major topic throughout the consumer goods industry. To succeed, it is necessary to follow a holistic, “cradle-to-grave” approach which involves stakeholders throughout the entire value chain while focusing on consumer goods. Focusing only on one specific value chain step can create unintended consequences in a later stage of a products life cycle. This paper shows how applied science and value chain management through BASF’s Sustainability, Eco-Efficiency and Traceability (SET) Initiative meets those needs. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is the quantitative technique to determine multiple environmental, social and economic impacts of a product and points out potential tradeoffs. However LCA alone cannot comprise all impacts. Therefore BASF’s efforts are not just fundamentally based on this technique but also go beyond it. This paper first explains the three pillars of the initiative, consisting of the Hot Spot Analysis (a qualitative tool), the Eco-Efficiency Analysis (a unique LCA approach) and the traceability strategy for supply chain transparency. It secondly presents examples for the 3 pillars for the pork value chain
Building Viable and Sustainable Regional Netchains: Case Studies of Regional Pork Netchains in Spain, Germany, and The Netherlands
Get PDFThe present paper aims to give insight into critical issues contributing to the successful building of viable and sustainable regional netchains, focussing on chain governance mechanisms (coordination mechanisms, quality management systems, information systems) and social embedding. It uses three representative case studies from the regional pork sector in Spain, Germany, and The Netherlands, illustrating different trajectories to commercially viable and sustainable regional netchains. By analysing the cases on each critical aspect, the present paper describes important issues and proposes specific elements of further research, including on the roles for(non)governmental organisations
Farm-to-Fork: A Proposed Revision of the Classical Food Miles Concept
Get PDFThe “Food Miles” concept was introduced in the UK nearly two decades ago in order to highlight the emissions of CO2 that arise during the transportation of food grown in distant locations. The concept has subsequently energized urban citizens to re-consider the on-purpose purchase of locally grown foods. The important contribution of CO2 emitted in heated greenhouse operations has heretofore been routinely omitted from the “Food Miles” accounting protocol. In the analysis of tomato supply to Vancouver, the CO2 emission was estimated to be about 7 times higher for tomatoes grown in local greenhouses than in local open fields
Organizational Innovation in the Face of Institutional Change: The Case of the Finnish Dairy Sector
Get PDFFirms in the agri-food industry are embedded in a system of institutions, regulations and policies that shape their economic environment and affect their conduct and performance. Changes in this system can propose new challenges for the firms that need to adequately and efficiently change and adapt to the emerging environment. The following article examines how deep structural changes in the institutional and regulatory setting can be effectively addressed by organizational innovation and what can be the catalysts behind a successful innovation effort. In doing so the analysis examines the case of Valio, the largest Finnish dairy company and its reconstruction effort due to Finland’s EU accession in 1995. After years of restructuring and changing its business model the company remains a major player in Finland and one of the most well-known brands in the region
A Holistic Approach to Consumer Research on Expectations Regarding Animal Husbandry
Get PDFBased on existing literature this paper reviews expectations of consumers, producers, other interest groups and citizens with respect to animal welfare and animal husbandry and indicates knowledge gaps as well. Findings enable us to develop a holistic research approach to analyse consumers’ and other interest groups’ preferences, expectations and concerns as well as requests of citizens. In order to reduce the gap between different perspectives regarding modern animal husbandry, these results will be used to improve communication between farmers and consumers or the society, respectively. It will facilitate the necessary integration of social concerns in the development of animal husbandry systems. An interdisciplinary network of researchers is aimed at
Obesity Epidemics: The Potential Role of Retailing Sector in Promoting Fruit and Vegetable Consumption
Get PDFAfter a deep review of the main economic studies and applications about the emerging problem of obesity, this paper focuses on a particular aspect of the issue: the improvement of FRUIT AND VEGETABLE purchasing in retailing sector. First of all it has been analyzed the actual presence of strategies aimed at improving FRUIT AND VEGETABLE consumption in the main retailing companies operating in Italy. Then the study investigates the role of price in consumers’ purchasing choices. High price elasticity of fruit and vegetable products could suggest the implementation of lower prices to consumers instead of implementing other policy interventions.The methodology is based on qualitative and quantitative research methods. In particular, in depth interviews to retailing sector experts have been run to gather useful insights about retailers’ management of FRUIT AND VEGETABLE department. Then quantitative analysis on IRI data about FRUIT AND VEGETABLE consumption in Italy has been conducted to evaluate the influence of price on consumers’ attitude towards FRUIT AND VEGETABLE. The results obtained provide meaningful insights to formulate marketing strategies and policy interventions
A Review of Quantitative Models for Sustainable Food Logistics Management: Challenges and Issues
Get PDFThe need to further improve food quality and reduce food waste leads to increased attention for the development of Food Supply Chain Management (FSCM), which considers intrinsic characteristics of food supply chains besides traditional supply chain management (SCM) objectives such as cost and responsiveness. Growing consciousness of society towards sustainable development brings additional objectives to the food supply chains and the fast evolution of sustainable development results in the development of a new fast-growing concept: Sustainable Food Supply Chain Management (SFSCM). In response to these developments, researchers have developed various decision support tools that can be used for handling progressively increasing complexity along the alteration process from SCM to FSCM and now to SFSCM. In this study, we have reviewed literature on sustainable food logistics management to identify logistical key issues and relevant quantitative modelling challenges. The evaluation of the reviewed papers shows that towards obtaining sustainability together with considering intrinsic characteristics of food supply chains, there is a gap between the needs of the practice and the current available methods. In this study, we have also presented improvement opportunities for future developed models by revealing the aforementioned missing points
Price Heterogeneity and Vine Homogeneity: An Ordered Logit Hedonic Price Estimation
Get PDFConsumers face complex choices when they buy wine: wine is a highly differentiated product sold at prices that vary over a wide range. This paper aims to provide monetary valuation of some relevant credence attributes of the wine, such as certifications and quality ratings made by expert tasters. In order to value the latter, a hedonic price estimation was performed on a specific Italian grape variety (Aglianico). The implicit price of DOC-DOCG certification is of extreme importance. It gives access to a collective reputation and enables a premium price to be captured from consumers
Material Footprint of a Sustainable Nutrition System in 2050 – Need for Dynamic Innovations in Production, Consumption and Politics
Get PDFThe field of nutrition is facing numerous social, ecological and economic challenges in the coming decades. The food industry belongs to the most significant economic sectors worldwide and the increasing population of 9 billion in 2050 will cause a growing demand on food. So far, changing lifestyles, especially the global rising consumption of meat and dairy products are increasing environmental damage. Moreover our health and wellbeing are the direct result of healthy or unhealthy nourishment and influence follow-up indicators like individual and public health, the expense of the health sector and work productivity.The material footprint is a tool to measure and optimize the resource consumption of both products and their ingredients and the production processes along the whole value chain. It covers the whole life cycle of the products, from the extraction of raw materials to the processing industry, distribution, consumption, recycling, and disposal. In order to decrease resource consumption to a level in line with the planetary boundaries, the material footprint of household consumption should achieve a level of six to eight tonnes per capita in a year by 2050. This means a reduction in natural resource consumption by a factor of 5 to 10 in Western European countries. In order to ensure a decent lifestyle for all people in 2050, also the material footprint of nutrition has to be reduced significantly by 2050.The paper shows the relevance and role of nutrition in the overall material footprint of households on the basis of existing studies on the overall resource consumption caused by household consumption. Quantified meal and diet examples are given. It also discusses the causes of food waste and raises the question how a reduction of food waste is possible and can help decreasing the resource consumption in the food sector
Member Company Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Food Valley as a Cluster Organization
Get PDFThis paper aims to analyze the effectiveness of the different cluster organization functions (services, activities and information sources) of Food Valley Organization in the Dutch agifood innovation system, as evaluated by its member companies. It is concluded that, in accordance with cluster organization theory, the networking formation function is the most important one, next demand articulation and innovation process management. However, our findings indicate that also visionary leadership, regional development and internationalization, stimulating entrepreneurial experimentation and providing downstream (market) information should be included in future analyses of cluster organization functions in innovation systems