Conventional Food Products Research Articles

How important is country-of-origin for organic food consumers? A review of the literature and suggestions for future research

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review the literature on the country-of-origin (COO) effect in the context of organic food and develop suggestions for further research in this area. Research has investigated COO effects and consumer responses to organic food, but there is little research on the combination of the two.Design/methodology/approachA narrative review of two research streams and their intersection, forming the basis for the development of a research agenda.FindingsThere are few studies analysing the possible interaction between the effects of organic and COO on consumers’ food preferences and choices. In general, COO seems to lose impact when other quality cues are salient. This suggests a lower impact of COO for organic than for conventional food products. However, there is still no research on the possible impact of organic labelling in categories where products from a foreign country are able to demand a premium, and little is known about consumer preferences for different import countries regarding organic food. Six potential future research directions are suggested.Research limitations/implicationsThere is a need for research that more systematically investigates the possible interactions between COO and organic labelling on consumers’ food product preferences and choices. A research agenda is suggested as a starting point.Originality/valueThis literature review highlights the lack of research on the interaction between COO effects and consumer responses to organic food. The literature review creates a basis for future research and a possible research agenda is suggested.

The Additional Costs of Organic Food Products – A Basket of Goods-based Analysis Differentiated by Income

Sustainable consumption is an urgent issue regarding the rising global environmental pressures. Consequently, sustainable consumption is an important matter for more and more consumers in Germany. But the perception that sustainable consumer goods incur additional costs is a widely mentioned barrier. We have developed a statistical method based on the Laspeyres price index and the product descriptions of the Purchasing Power Parities (PPP) in order to examine the additional costs of organic food products compared to conventional food products. These costs depend on the households’ expenditure structure, so called weighting scheme. Based on Engel´s law, we predict a negative correlation between net equivalent income and the additional costs for organic food products. We verify and quantify this relationship by using income-related weighting schemes. The results show that organic food products are about 80 % more expensive than conventional food products. Furthermore, we find that households cannot afford to purchase solely organic food products without getting into debt when their net equivalent income is below median.

Flare gas recovery for algal protein production

Concern about the sustainable supply of energy and food for future generations has motivated researchers to investigate alternative production pathways. Algal systems represent a promising environmentally favorable production platform for fuel and protein production, however there are many barriers to commercialization, including high energy and intensive fertilizer demands. Meanwhile the volume of flared natural gas around the world has approached 140 billion cubic meters per year. This study investigates the energy return on investment (EROI) of the synergistic integration of flare gas with a microalgae biorefinery. The biorefinery modeled herein includes all sub-processes required for the coincident production of biomass and conversion to biocrude along with a protein-rich feed product. The performance of the biorefinery was estimated by conducting a mass and energy balance for all of the sub-processes. For this design, flare gas is utilized in a combined heat and power plant to generate heat, electricity, and ammonia for use onsite. Using this method, the baseline EROI is 159, which is higher than conventional energy and food production systems. A life-cycle assessment indicates significant emission reductions with a total well to product emission of −786gCO2-eqMJ−1. Alternative accounting scenarios and sensitivities are evaluated. Results show the proposed pathway as an opportunity to utilize flare gas for the production of biofuel and protein from algae representing an environmentally beneficial system.

Estimating the demand curve for sustainable use of pesticides from contingent-valuation data

Stated-preference valuation techniques are often used to assess consumers' willingness-to-pay for food items produced in farming systems that adopt a sustainable use of pesticides (SUP). We propose an innovative valuation methodology in which dichotomous-choice contingent valuation is used to estimate the demand curve (price-quantity relationship) for such food items where price means price premium for the SUP output, quantity is the probability of choosing SUP and the conventional food product is kept available in the market at the current market price. This methodology can be used to evaluate market differentiation as a policy option to promote the SUP.The methodology is tested with data from a sample of urban consumers of fruits and vegetables in Portugal. The estimated demand curve is used to define the price level maximizing the total premium revenue for the SUP sector as a whole. This optimal level of the price premium is €77.55 (or 163% of the value of the monthly basket of fruits and vegetables at current prices). Adopting the optimal price premium will decrease the number of consumers of SUP food by 54%. The reduction is even higher for low income consumers (80%) leaving them more exposed to the risks of pesticide use.

Consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) premium price for organic fruits and vegetables (OFV) in Western TamilNadu

Organic food market of India is estimated of 1,000 crore which is growing 20-22 per cent, with about 95 per cent of the brands existing in top 10 metros and other tier II cities (Business Standard, 2012). There are variety of factors that can potentially influence consumers towards OFV consumption like concern for health, environmental protection and chemical residues in conventional food products, pesticides, nutritional concern, as well as improved taste and flavour in organic food products (Ngui et al., 2011). It is also important to understand how willing people are to pay premium price for organic products. The objective of the study is to identify the factors influence the consumer's Willingness to pay (WTP) premium price for Organic fruits and vegetables in Coimbatore city. Primary data were collected with the aid of pretested interview schedule from the selected 400 sample consumer by adopting mall intercept survey method (Phau and Teah, 2009). Percentage analysis and ordered logit model were used to analyze the data. Themajor share of the sample respondents were young, middle aged males, mostly educated and employed, with the annual income ranging from Rs. 2 lakhs to Rs. 5 lakhs. Income, awareness, knowledge and education had significantly influenced the consumers' willingness to pay more for organic fruits and vegetables.

Urban versus conventional agriculture, taxonomy of resource profiles: a review

Urban agriculture appears to be a means to combat the environmental pressure of increasing urbanization and food demand. However, there is hitherto limited knowledge of the efficiency and scaling up of practices of urban farming. Here, we review the claims on urban agriculture’s comparative performance relative to conventional food production. Our main findings are as follows: (1) benefits, such as reduced embodied greenhouse gases, urban heat island reduction, and storm water mitigation, have strong support in current literature. (2) Other benefits such as food waste minimization and ecological footprint reduction require further exploration. (3) Urban agriculture benefits to both food supply chains and urban ecosystems vary considerably with system type. To facilitate the comparison of urban agriculture systems we propose a classification based on (1) conditioning of the growing space and (2) the level of integration with buildings. Lastly, we compare the predicted environmental performance of the four main types of urban agriculture that arise through the application of the taxonomy. The findings show how taxonomy can aid future research on the intersection of urban food production and the larger material and energy regimes of cities (the “urban metabolism”).

Marketing of Organic Food Products at Madurai City

The organic farming sector in developing countries is still diminutive. However, the traditional practice of organic farming by the indigenous farmers is an advantage that would help India to become a global market leader in this sector. India has the potential to emerge as a major exporter of organic produce. Organic products mature without the use of fertilizers, artificial chemicals, and pesticides. The Indian organic food market, although in its nascent stage, has started growing rapidly. Generally, consumers prefer organic food due to safety, human health, and ecological concern. Sometimes it could also be due to attributes like nutrition value, taste, originality and look of organic food. Worldwide trade in organic products is growing incredibly which has prompted experts to project consumption of organic food to be more than 25% of total food consumption by 2020. Universal consumption growth rates over the next 3-5 years will be fairly high (25 – 30%) when compared to most other categories of food. In the last decade, organic food products have been measured to do a healthier business than conventional food products. Thus the expansion of organic agriculture is seen as a part of promising promotion trends. This research reveals the percentage consumption of organic food products and provides suggestions to implement the various marketing strategies adopted by the retailers to sell the products and other factors impacting the preference of the consumers in the various strata of the society.

A Study of the Consumer Motives which Influence the Purchase of Organic Food in Serbia

Abstract The organic food market in Serbia is in its initial phase of development and can be considered a developing market. A deeper understanding of consumer motivation is possible through an adequate marketing approach which will provide increased organic food purchasing per capita and the quicker development of the national market. This paper presents a selection of the most important findings, which the author obtained from a quantitative study carried out in Serbia. We studied and analyzed the main reasons why people purchase organic food and the obstacles to buying these products, as well as the willingness of consumers to pay a higher price for organic products in comparison to the alternative products obtained from conventional food production systems. The presented results support the theoretical conclusions acquired from numerous previous studies carried out in various countries. Starting from the obtained research results, the conclusion offers a recommendation for the implementation of successful strategies of the marketing mix instruments.

Price relationships between qualitatively differentiated agricultural products: organic and conventional wheat in Germany

AbstractOrganic agriculture, which produces commodities that can be qualitatively differentiated from conventional food products, has grown into an important market in many countries. The dynamics of commodity prices in both sectors are partly interdependent, but are also shaped by independent determinants and have rarely been studied. We analyze organic food markets and their interdependencies with conventional markets in the context of wheat markets in Germany, which have been subject to a number of fundamental changes during the last two decades. Based on institutional market characteristics, we suggest a flexible Markov‐switching asymmetric time series model. We find a pronounced temporal sequence of market phases that differ in their asymmetric dynamics and the extent to which the organic price is influenced by the conventional price. Organic wheat prices tend to be increasingly connected to prices of conventional wheat.

ХАРЧОВА ЦІННІСТЬ ТА БЕЗПЕЧНІСТЬ ЛОКШИНИ З ПРОРОЩЕНОГО ЗЕРНА ПШЕНИЦІ

The results of research of the chemical content of flour «Zdorovja» made of wheat germinated in sea salt solution, are given in this article. On the basis of the results of the research the chemical content of flour «Zdorovja» and rational concentration of carrageenan (2 %) in the flour mixture are determined. The technology of noodles «Kolosok» made of flour «Zdorovja» is developed, and the results of studying its chemical content are given. The use of carrageenan and all parts of the grain in the technology of noodles made it possible to increase the total content of dietary fibers to 3.8 g. The mineral content of the product has improved due to the increase of content of potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron and zinc by 1.7 – 4 times, respectively. The content of vitamins B 1 , B 2 , B 3 , B 6 , B 9 , E increased respectively by 2.3, 2.6, 4.2, 2.9, 1.9 and 1.8 times, respectively. In comparison of developed noodles with the standard the biological value profiles were made. The conventional food product containing macro-, microelements and vitamins 30 % of the daily requirement was accepted as a standard, which complies with requirements to functional foods. The area of the described profile surface of noodles «Kolosok» is higher compared with the control by 7.3 times and is close to standard values. It is proved that the safety indexes of the developed product within the fixed shelf life comply with acceptable health standards. Flour «Zdorovja» can be used in production technologies of floury culinary products with higher nutritional value. Social impact of the production of noodles is to provide population of Ukraine with flour possessing increased biological value that can be recommended in the diets of all segments of the population.

Tools for exploring habitat suitability for steppe birds under land use change scenarios

In this study, scenario development based on changes in key socioeconomic drivers (namely, the prices of conventional food products, rural development policies and agro-environmental regulations) was used together with resource-based habitat suitability models to develop plausible visions of future pathways of agricultural land use and evaluate their potential consequences on conservation of target species. Analyses focused on three steppe bird species in a protected Natura 2000 area, located in the Iberian Peninsula. Our results showed that changes in land use composition under different scenarios can have important effects on habitat suitability, but that the size of those effects would vary depending on species-specific requirements and spatial distribution of land use changes. Positive effects of some new crops in the study area (grain legumes and aromatic plants) on studied species were suggested by our analyses. A positive effect of aggregation of land use changes was also found for two of the studied species. Scenario building and forecasting using transferable inter-disciplinary knowledge can therefore improve our capability to anticipate future changes and provide timely advice towards long-term conservation planning in agricultural systems.

Availability, cost and nutritional composition of gluten-free products

Purpose – A gluten-free diet is the only possible treatment for coeliac disease, but studies about the nutritional content of gluten-free products and coeliac individual's diet quality are scarce. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the availability, price, and nutritional composition of gluten-free products in retail stores of a Brazilian capital city. Design/methodology/approach – All retail stores listed by the Brazilian Coeliac Association as gluten-free product selling places in the city of Florianópolis were visited. All available products were catalogued and their labels analysed for nutritional content. Similar gluten-containing products were systematically selected in order to allow comparisons. t-test, analyses of covariance, and cluster analysis were performed, all considering a 5 per cent significance level. Findings – Availability and variety of gluten-free products was limited and prices were high. Cluster analysis found similarities in the nutritional content of gluten-free and conventional food products, suggesting that although raw materials different than wheat were being employed, the composition patterns are the same. Certain advantages in the composition of gluten-free products were observed, regarding mainly calories and sodium, however, protein and dietary fibre values were inferior. Social implications – Results observed may negatively impact diet adherence and stimulate the intake of conventional products with harmful consequences to the quality of life and health of coeliac individuals. Originality/value – This paper conducted a careful evaluation of nutrition composition of gluten-free products from different categories, available in retail stores, which is rare in researches on this topic. Moreover, results call attention to the need of better care in product formulation and dietary guidance for coeliac individuals.

Consumers’ Grouping of Organic and Conventional Food Products—Implications for the Marketing of Organics

A detailed account of the way consumers choose to group different varieties of organic and conventional food produce might have practical implications in terms of improved space management in supermarkets and better targeted promotions of organic products. The results presented here were obtained in a case study using a web-based questionnaire and 849 Danish consumers. The consumers were asked to group the contents of a virtual basket of organic and non-organic fruits and vegetables into two smaller baskets. A significant share of the consumers grouped the food products according to whether or not they were organic. These consumers were found to have significantly higher levels of confidence in the benefits of organic produce, to state significantly higher levels of organic consumption and higher willingness to pay for organoleptic attributes of fresh milk, than consumers who placed fruits in one basket and vegetables in the other.

Cyanobacteria in Scandinavian coastal waters — A potential source for biofuels and fatty acids?

Since land-based biofuel production competes with conventional food production, a water-based biomass and biofuel production from cyanobacteria offers large potential. This study investigates the application potential of cyanobacteria for fuel production and by-products by mimicking nutrient depleted environmental conditions. Three Baltic cyanobacteria strains (Aphanizomenon flos-aquae, Dolichospermum lemmermannii and Nodularia spumigena) were inoculated in full nutrient levels, as well as phosphorus and nitrogen depleted medium, before being monitored for 14days. For screening reasons, multiple parameters such as fatty acids, photosynthetic pigments including phycobilins, biovolume, photosynthetic activity, inorganic nutrients, particulate organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous were investigated every seven days. We observed a strong negative relationship between lipid content, growth and nutrient availability, resulting in high lipid and pigment production in combination with a limited growth rate in nutrient depleted treatments. Our results suggest that cultivation and harvest of bloom-forming cyanobacteria for fuel and by-product production are feasible in Scandinavia, but strongly depends on the desired compounds and biomass. Each cyanobacteria species originally has a species-specific chemical fingerprint that may be modified by rearing conditions and harvesting period to meet the needs of the consumer. This leads to important conclusions regarding future culturing conditions and biomass production of the desired compounds.

The role of price as a product attribute in the organic food context: An exploration based on actual purchase data

High prices are often quoted as an obstacle to consumer purchase of organic food products. This article investigates the market performance of organic food products at different price levels and whether high price is necessarily a disadvantage for organic food products, especially with regard to generating repeat purchase. Based on analyses of panel purchase data from 2011 in Denmark, the study explores the effects of production method (organic vs. conventional) and price on consumers’ repeat purchase and cross-purchase across four product categories: red meat, chicken, milk and hard cheese. Results show that a high price is a disadvantage for generating repeat purchase of organic food products. Although organic products enjoy higher repeat purchase than conventional products overall, a high price generates less repeat purchase of organic products than a low or a medium price in all product categories; whereas in the case of conventional food products the situation is the reverse. At the same time, the cross-purchase analysis reveals that consumers who buy organic products from the high price tier are less likely to switch to other price tiers than consumers who buy low or medium price organic products (i.e. there is a spillover of high price organic food purchases to other product categories). Implications for pricing strategies for organic food products are discussed.

Discriminating organic and conventional foods by analysis of their microbial ecology: An application on fruits

Traceability of foods is mainly done at the administrative level, and the use of analytical tools is rare. Previous studies have demonstrated that microbial ecology analyses at the molecular level (such as PCR-DGGE) could be used to provide food with a unique biological signature that could be linked to the geographical origin of food. The present study aimed at testing this approach to differentiate farming types by analyzing organic and conventional food products. To this end, the microbial ecology of organic and conventional nectarines was analyzed and statistically compared.Our results show that yeast and bacterial communities were specific of the farming type allowing organic fruits to be discriminated from conventional ones. Several microbial species were identified as potential, biological markers which detection could be used to certify the origin as well as the mode of production of foodstuff. We proposed this analytical tool as a first step to control and authentify organic foods.

Local food networks as catalysts for food policy change to improve health and build the economy

Local food networks (LFNs) are growing in popularity, in part as a response to broader criticisms of conventional food production. Municipal policy-makers have the opportunity to work with stakeholders to build LFNs to increase access to healthy foods in cities and ultimately improve population health and well-being. Building opportunities for healthy eating is particularly important in our study area. Flint, Michigan, is a post-industrial shrinking city suffering from the economic and health effects of deindustrialisation. Various stakeholders in Flint have responded to a significant issue with access to food by strengthening collaborations through a food policy council (FPC). Growth in the local food system has been supported by administrators and community advocates alike, through supporting community gardens, farmers' markets, and urban agriculture in a manner similar to nearby Detroit. Participant observation was conducted with stakeholders involved in the development of the LFN and the FPC in Flint. Stakeholders were exposed to existing research on the food system to help inform their policy direction. The group expressed several core concerns and prospects for future work, including a strong emphasis on consensus-based decision-making. Based on the synthesis of stakeholder opinions, policy recommendations are made to aid in continued planning of the LFN. Planning for food is an important first step in improving public health and strengthening local economic development in post-industrial cities. This research highlights the issue by making explicit the challenges and opportunities for policy advocacy in LFNs.

Biorenewable fuels at the intersection of product and process flexibility: A novel modeling approach and application

In recent years, governments, industry and academia have all invested increasing amounts of time, effort and resources into the production of biorenewable fuels. This interest owes, among other reasons, to our planet's growing demand for energy, depletion of fossil fuel resources and the negative effect of drilling for and burning fossil fuels on the health of our eco-systems and atmospheric chemistry. However, research suggests that biorenewable fuels have the potential to cause environmental and social calamities of their own—especially when produced in the same ways and at the expense of conventional food production. This paper proposes novel supply chains and land use plans for advanced biorenewable fuels which are measured for cost and environmental impact. A two-stage Stackelberg leader-follower mathematical optimization model is proposed. The model uses a series of integrated and sequenced linear programs to optimize the benefits of leveraging biodiversity for the production of advanced biorenewable fuels. Numerical experiments with our model show statistically significant cost, land use and environmental improvements on the order of 10% to 25%. Because the model captures two types of flexibilities (product and process) interfacing across firms, implications are drawn for production systems in other industries where distinct flexibilities meet and environmental impacts are critical.

Bioactive Fish Fatty Acids: Health Effects and Their Use as Functional Food Ingredients

The nutritional benefits of fish or fish oil consumption lies predominantly in its advantageous fatty acid profile, which is rich in long chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω3 PUFA). Evidence from a large number of epidemiological studies, clinical studies and intervention trials have established the protective effect of ω3 PUFA against several diseases. New experimental evidence also indicates the presence in fish oils of other class of bioactive fatty acids, such as the furan fatty acid (F-acids). Dietary recommendations suggest that the consumption of ω3 PUFA should be increased. The great variability of fatty acid composition of fish species throughout the year should be considered when fish are suggested as a means of improving health or used for oil extraction. The fish oil remains the principal source of ω3 PUFA as an ingredient into conventional food products enrichment and in ω3 PUFA concentrates production (i.e. integrator, nutraceutical), even if a variety of alternative ω3 PUFA sources, such as bacteria, fungi, plants and microalgae are currently being explored for commercial production. The present review summarizes the beneficial effects of ω3 PUFA dietary supplementation on cardiovascular disease, neurological disorder and type 2 diabetes as well as the biological actions of F-acids. Furthermore, in order to present the fish as a dietary source of bioactive fatty acids, differences in fatty acid composition of various fish species are recognized. The alternative ways to ensure an optimal ω3 PUFA intake are also provided by illustrating the possible applications of fish oil on the ω3 PUFA enrichment of functional foods. Keywords: Bioactive foods, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), fish oil, food enrichment, functional food, furan fatty acids, omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.

Comparing direct land use impacts on biodiversity of conventional and organic milk—based on a Swedish case study

Halting the loss of biodiversity while providing food security for a growing and prospering world population is a challenge. One possible solution to this dilemma is organic agriculture, which is expected to enhance biodiversity on the farmland. However, organic products often require larger areas. This study demonstrates how we can quantify and compare the direct land use impacts on biodiversity of organic and conventional food products such as milk. This study assessed direct land use impacts of 1 l of milk leaving the farm gate. Inventory data on land occupation were extracted from a life cycle assessment study of 15 farms in southern Sweden. Direct land use change data were derived from the FAO statistical database. Spatially differentiated characterization factors of occupation (CFOcc) and transformation (CFTrans) were calculated based on the relative difference of plant species richness on agricultural land compared to a (semi) natural regional reference. Data on plant species richness and regeneration times of ecosystems (for calculating transformation impacts) were derived from a literature review. To account for differences in biodiversity value between regions, a weighting system based on absolute species richness, vulnerability and irreplaceability was applied. Organic milk had a lower direct land use impact than conventional milk, although it required about double the area. Occupation impacts dominated the results and were much smaller for organic than conventional milk, as CFOcc of organic land uses were considerably smaller. For transformation impacts, differences between the two farming practices were even more pronounced. The highest impacts were caused by soymeal in concentrate feeds (conventional milk) due to large-scale deforestation in its country of cultivation (i.e. Brazil and Argentina). However, lack of reliable data posed a challenge in the assessment of transformation impacts. Overall, results were highly sensitive to differences in land occupation area between farms, the CFOcc and assumptions concerning transformed area. Sensitivity and robustness of results were tested and are discussed. Although organic milk required about twice as much land as conventional, it still had lower direct land use impacts on biodiversity. This highlights the importance of assessing land use impacts not only based on area but also considering the actual impacts on biodiversity. The presented approach allows to quantify and compare hot- and coldspots in the agricultural stage of milk production and could potentially also be applied to other agricultural products. However, more research is needed to allow quantification of indirect land use impacts.