Differentiated Food Products Research Articles

Consumer Profile and Product Knowledge Affect the Usefulness of a Quality Label as a Tool to Differentiate a Product: A Chilean Survey.

Quality labels are useful tools to differentiate food products, but only if consumers recognise them and associate them with specific characteristics. An online survey was conducted to investigate whether Chilean consumers knew about Novillo de Osorno, for which a quality label is being developed. The survey was divided into five blocks: lifestyles, meat consumption and purchase habits, meat choice behaviour, knowledge about Novillo de Osorno, and consumers’ socio-demographic information. The place of residence and consumer gender, age, or income were important cues in defining consumers’ lifestyles, meat consumption and purchase habits. Respondents could be grouped into three main groups: 1. Younger people: urban with medium-high incomes, which search only for pleasure; 2. Foodies uninvolved and Females uninvolved: females with the highest income level that chose food for nutritional reasons; and 3. Traditional people: men older than 55 with low incomes, living in the Northern areas and interested in taste and in the meat’s origin. Nearly 60% of respondents had never heard about Novillo de Osorno. Hence, the supply chain has an opportunity to extend the market. Since price and confidence in the origin are important cues, they must be considered in the design of promotion strategies.

Assessing consumer willingness to pay for Arctic food products

The food industry increasingly seeks to differentiate food products based on sustainability assurances, the use of traditional or ‘authentic’ production methods, a unique origin, or an association with a distinct cultural identity, often relying on certification to enhance the credibility of a quality claim. The natural conditions of the Arctic circumpolar region, its pristine environment, and the relational tie to Indigenous cultures in many circumpolar Arctic nations, distinguish Arctic foods from other commercially available foods, however, little is known about how consumers respond to foods from the Arctic. This paper examines consumers’ perceptions of and willingness to pay (WTP) for foods originating from the Canadian Arctic, and their receptivity to certification for sustainability, authenticity, and origin in the presence of multiple credence attributes. Data from an online survey of 1342 Canadian consumers show that preferences for Arctic foods are driven by the unique geographic origin and a connection with Indigenous cultures and traditions, as well as a desire to improve social and economic conditions in northern Canada. A discrete choice experiment featuring Arctic char elicits consumers’ WTP for attributes related to origin, certification, wild vs farmed fish, and Indigenous vs non-Indigenous fishers. Random parameters logit and generalized mixed logit models allow for both preference and scale heterogeneity. The analysis informs strategies to promote the Arctic food system, both from a Canadian regional economic development context and across the broader Arctic circumpolar region. Limitations imposed by the current seafood labelling regulatory environment in Canada are noted.

Importance of intrinsic and extrinsic quality food characteristics by different consumer segments

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine intrinsic and extrinsic food quality characteristics and the relative importance placed on these characteristics by different consumer segments. Moreover, relationship between segments of consumers and consumption frequency of differentiated food products (traditional, functional and organic) was analysed.Design/methodology/approachA three-stage stratified random sampling approach was employed and data were collected via 500 face-to-face interviews conducted in respondents’ homes. A version of the Food Choice Questionnaire was used to examine the motives of consumers’ underlying food choices. The collected data were analysed by factor analysis followed by cluster analysis.FindingsFour factors were identified: health and sensory characteristics, price and availability, body weight and digestion, and convenience. Resulting clusters were named as: healthy and tasty food lovers, convenient, concerned, and indifferent consumers. Differences were identified between the segments according to consumers’ frequency of consumption of the different types of food products.Practical implicationsThe findings have impact implications for food producers and distributors in developing communication strategies for consumer segments with different attitudes and motives. The findings of this study not only contribute to the organic, traditional, and food with health claim literature, but also help industry, government, and consumer associations fully understand consumer perceptions of intrinsic and extrinsic foods characteristics and enhance consumers’ responses to the different types of food products.Originality/valueThe study represents one of the first assessments of the importance of food quality characteristics, segmentation, and consumption frequency of traditional, organic, and functional food products in Central and Eastern Europe.

Values-based Food Chains from a Transatlantic Perspective: Exploring a Middle Tier of Agri-food System Development

Growing demand for local and organic food sourcing in the EU and the US has inspired inquiry into mid-level food supply chains that can distribute differentiated foods at a regional level in the relational and market space between large-scale commodity markets and direct markets. Values-based food chains (VBFCs) have been identified as a particular type of mid-tier supply chain formed through creating alliances between producers and their supply chain partners to distribute significant volumes of high-quality, differentiated food products while maintaining transparent relationships and fair distribution of revenues. The values associated with VBFCs may be social, cultural, economic, environmental or quality related; they may be linked to the products, the production process, and/or the characteristics of the relationships among the supply chain participants. This introduction to the Special Issue contextualizes empirical studies from the EU and North America and compares the VBFC framework with other approaches to understanding food system change.

Brands and religious labels: a spillover perspective

With different religions mixing in many societies, religious consumer groups receive increasing attention as target segments. Trying to appeal to such religious segments, companies differentiate food products by adding religious labels (e.g. kosher or halal) to packaging. But while this makes the products more attractive to the consumers of the focal religion, adding a religious label may also impact the brand evaluation by consumers with no religious beliefs or a different religious orientation. Drawing upon social identity theory to explain the psychological basis of inter-group discrimination, and taking account of information integration theory to analyse how religious labels affect product and brand evaluations, this article aims to assess the spillover effects between religion and brand among consumers who are not part of the religious communities addressed by these labels. The findings indicate that the perception of religious labels on food packaging is influenced by the attitudes towards the religion and the brand, while the relative importance of both antecedents is dependent upon several consumer characteristics. The theoretical and managerial implications of our findings, the limitations of our work and directions for future research are discussed.

Socio-environmental multi-labelling and consumer willingness to pay

The objective of this article is to assess the impact of a gradual increase in the number of labels appearing on some food products on consumer valuation of the given product. Three empirical studies were designed to measure the effects of using labels to differentiate food products (Organic Farming, Fairtrade, and Label Rouge (a French label that concerns organoleptic quality)) on the willingness of 519 French consumers of honey to pay a premium. These three studies shed light on a complementarity effect, often dominating the effects of redundancy and information overload. This effect differed depending on the features and the number of associated labels, and was influenced by consumer trust in the labels. These findings should encourage producers to associate their products with labels on packaging when they are consistent in terms of reputation but complementary in terms of attributes.

Investigating the drivers that influence the adoption of differentiated food products

PurposeOver the last years, food safety, health, environmental and societal issues are a few among many other reasons that force people to adopt new differentiated food products. This interesting shift of the consumption pattern from conventional food products to new differentiated products that incorporate innovative features, consist the main reasoning of the present study. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the drivers that influence the adoption of those differentiated food products and shed new light on consumer's behavior, by modeling and understanding better their attitude.Design/methodology/approachA two‐step cluster analysis was employed to explore the different levels of differentiated products adoption and a categorical regression model was estimated to explain this variation. Data were collected through a survey addressing 500 consumers, carried out in 2009 in a typical Greek urban area.FindingsFrom the three different food product categories (organic, functional and genetically modified) four consumers' profiles were identified which were found to differ in terms of several socioeconomic characteristics. The increased level of disposable income, along with exposure to innovative food products, may well explain such a differential food product adoption.Research limitations/implicationsDue to the small sample, the indefinable number of food products adopters (population) and to specific characteristics of the study area consumers, the results might face generalisability deficiencies.Practical implicationsFrom a practical point of view, to identify the reasons driving consumers to adopt or not new differentiated products with novelties is important generally for society, policy makers, food‐producing companies and related economic sectors.Originality/valueThe contribution of this research is in having examined, the adoption drivers of differentiated food product categories, for which there has been longstanding interest. The food product categories are examined comparatively as a group (organic, functional and genetically modified) and not individually.

Small and Midscale Food Value Chains: A State of the Art

First paragraph:In this issue of JAFSCD we present the state of the art in small and medium-sized food value chains — primarily from a North American perspective, but also with perspectives from Europe and South America. Values-based food supply chains (value chains) are strategic alliances between farms, ranches, and other supply chain partners who deal in sufficient volumes of high-quality, differentiated food products and distribute rewards equitably across the supply chain. As Stevenson and colleagues remind us, in FVCs, farmers and ranchers are treated as strategic partners, not as interchangeable — and exploitable — input suppliers. Ideally, all partners in these business alliances recognize that creating maximum value for the product depends on significant interdependence, collaboration, and mutual support.

Acting Collectively to Develop Mid-Scale Food Value Chains

This paper uses case studies of four innovative U.S. midscale food value chains to provide models of how midsized farms and ranches and associated processing, distribution, and retail businesses can prosper by acting collectively to construct a third tier in the U.S. agri-food system. Specifically we consider the importance of acting collectively at three distinct levels: horizontally among producers, vertically within food value chains, and horizontally across food value chains. These midscale food value chains represent strategic alliances among midsized farms and other agri-food enterprises that operate at regional levels, handle significant volumes of high-quality, differentiated food products, and distribute profit margins equitably among the strategic partners. From a market perspective, the key advantage of these food value chains is their ability to provide these high-quality, differentiated products that are not available through the mainstream commodity market.

Midscale Food Value Chains: An Introduction

This introductory discussion positions midscale food value chains as business models for a "third tier" in the U. S. food system, distinct from direct marketing to local consumers and global marketing of agricultural commodities. Responding to a growing demand for food that is differentiated from conventional products, midscale food value chains are developing strategic business alliances among small and medium sized farms or ranches and other agri-food enterprises. These supply chain alliances: (a) handle significant volumes of high-quality, differentiated food products; (b) operate effectively at regional, multistate levels; and (c) distribute profits equitably among the strategic partners. Value chain business models place emphasis on both the values associated with the food and the values associated with the business relationships within the food supply chain. Farmers and ranchers are treated as strategic partners, not as interchangeable input suppliers. Midscale food value chains employ two distinct, multifarm marketing strategies: direct-to-wholesale and direct-to-consumer. Both marketing strategies are based on organizational structures that achieve the necessary volumes of high-quality, differentiated food by aggregating product from multiple farms or ranches. The introduction concludes with a discussion of the challenges associated with developing successful midscale food value chains and of needed research and public policies to support the growth of this third tier.

Market Differentiation Potential of Country-of-origin, Quality and Traceability Labeling

Product labeling has gained considerable attention recently, as a means to both provide product-specific information and reduce quality uncertainty faced by consumers, as well as from a regulatory point of view. This article focuses on whether and to what extent origin, quality and traceability labeling is an appropriate way to differentiate food products. The focus is on fresh meat and fresh fish, two mainly generic food product categories with a high degree of credence character. Insights into the potential for market differentiation through origin, quality and traceability labeling are provided and discussed using primary data collected during the period 2000-2005 by means of four consumer surveys. In general, direct indications of quality, including mandatory information cues such as best-before dates and species names, but also including quality marks, are found to be more appealing to consumers in general than origin labeling, and the latter more than traceability. The different studies yield the conclusion that the market differentiation potential of origin and quality labeling pertains mainly to a product’s healthiness appeal, and this potential seems stronger for meat than for fish. The differentiation potential of traceability per se is rather limited. Instead, traceability is needed as the regulatory and logistic backbone for providing guarantees related to origin and quality.

Ability of physico‐chemical measure‐ments to discriminate rabbit meat from three different productive processes

AbstractBACKGROUND: To fulfil consumers' requirements for food traceability, it is necessary to have effective tools to differentiate food products according to their origin. The aim of the study was to identify a limited number of physico‐chemical measurements that could differentiate rabbit meat from three different rearing systems: standard production system or a high quality norm system or a very low growth breeding system.RESULTS: The stepwise linear discriminant analysis (LDA) provided 14 physico‐chemical variables, then combined into two discriminant factors. Most of them (n = 8) were related to bone traits, and especially (n = 5) to mechanical femur assessments. Mechanical characteristics of meat were also relevant in this analysis. Decision tree analysis (DTA) selected two variables only (femur stiffness, and ratio of femur weight to chilled carcass weight) to discriminate the three groups. A total of 96% and 90% of rabbits were correctly assigned to their original group according to LDA and DTA, respectively.CONCLUSION: This work demonstrated that simple physico‐chemical traits recorded in carcasses and meat were efficient to discriminate rabbits from three different rearing systems using LDA or DTA procedures. These systems could have further implications for future traceability of breeding origin. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry

Organizational Economics in Agriculture Policy Analysis

The ongoing industrialization of U.S. agriculture encompasses important changes in farm production practices, in the organization of farm input and output markets, and in the mix of activities carried out by farm operators. These shifts raise important issues for the role of government in the sector and for the design of research and data programs to support public-policy analysis. Basic frameworks of organizational economics—in particular, concepts from principal-agent models, organizational design, and transaction costs— have direct applications in addressing these issues. 1 While organizational economics has been used in some areas of policy analysis, the concepts are underutilized in other areas. “Industrialization” encompasses four important organizational shifts, to more differentiated food products; to more explicitly coordinated production and marketing channels, such as contracts; to expanded use by farmers of leasing arrangements, alliances, and service purchases; and to increased farm sizes. These shifts are the most prominent organizational responses to an underlying collection of causal forces at play, including the mechanical, chemical, and biological innovations that drove twentieth century advances in agricultural productivity, as well as more recent information and biotechnology advances. The forces underlying agricultural industrialization affect the design and impact of, and support for, various public policies in agriculture. Policy has long encompassed commodity programs designed to support farm household incomes and manage supplies; market

Identity Preservation and International Trade: Signaling Quality across National Boundaries

Changing consumer preferences, technological advances, global agri‐food markets and increasing regulation of food quality and safety have created the need for identity‐preserved production and marketing (IPPM) systems, which bridge the gap between differentiated consumers' wants and traditional commodity‐based agri‐food production and marketing systems. The international trading regime is ill equipped to deal with these changes. In the absence of an agreed set of trade rules to regulate trade in differentiated food products, relying on IPPM systems or barring imports of “low‐quality” goods become domestic policy choices. The latter is shown to be an inferior policy option. The sustainability of an IPPM across national boundaries is dependent upon its ability to credibly signal quality to consumers. Incentives to cheat erode this credibility. Horizontal and vertical cooperation through thirdparty certification are key to the long‐run sustainability of IPPM systems.

Evaluating Price Enhancement by Processing Cooperatives

AbstractSection 2 of the Capper‐Volstead Act requires the secretary of agriculture to determine whether a cooperative has unduly enhanced its prices. There has been no consensus about what level of price enhancement is too high. This paper contrasts pricing of cooperative and proprietary brands of differentiated food products. Empirical evidence indicates that market share and advertising do not generally provide cooperatives any more power to enhance prices than they give proprietary firms. The paper suggests a standard for undue price enhancement, the predicted price level of proprietary brands in similarly structured markets.