Food Labels (Quality, Origin, and Sustainability): The Experience of Czech Producers

Martina Chalupová,Lenka Kauerová,Stanislav Rojík,Hana Kotoučková

doi:10.3390/su13010318

Abstract

Food labels allow producers to promote the unique selling points of their products and help consumers buy products with value-adding qualities. The aim of the present article is hence to explore Czech food producers’ expectations and experience with selected food labels. The selection was narrowed down to enterprises that had succeeded in the certification processes within the food labeling systems of European quality and origin labels (protected designation of origin (PDO), protected geographical indication (PGI), and traditional specialty guaranteed (TSG)), as well as schemes that fall under the remit of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic, such as Klasa (Česká potravina/Czech food, Regionální potravina/regional food, and BIO). The research was made using an online questionnaire in January–February 2018, and was focused on determining possible discrepancies in expectations that the companies had before applying for quality/origin labels and their actual experience with the labelling systems, the benefits they had gained, and their overall experience with the labels. To compare the respondents’ expectations and their actual experience, both the non-parametric Wilcoxon test and t-test were used. The results show that the respondents positively evaluated the effects of marketing communication, but their expectations had been higher than what they experienced.

Highlights

Food labels are gaining more importance as they assist millions of people in making better food choices [1,2,3]
The selection was narrowed down to enterprises that had succeeded in the certification processes within the food labeling systems of European quality labels (PDO, PGI, and tional specialty guaranteed (TSG)), as well as schemes that fall under the remit of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic, i.e., Klasa, Sustainability 2021, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW
This research focused on determining possible discrepancies in expectations that companies had before applying for quality/origin labels and their actual experience with the labelling systems, as well as the benefits they had gained

Summary

Introduction

Food labels are gaining more importance as they assist millions of people in making better food choices [1,2,3] They may prove to be beneficial to food producers, as the labels allow them to promote the products’ unique selling points [4]. With the growing number of labels appearing on food products, some products have labels conveying redundant or minimum information, while other ones have multiple labels that contain overlapping information [5,6]. It is questionable which labels are relevant for the consumers’ buying decisions, and as such, represent a benefit for the producers as a tool for their competitive advantage. The purpose of the food labeling schemes is to provide information to consumers about certain aspects of the food or its production

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Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion