Dutch Meat Research Articles

Replacing meat, an easy feat? The role of strategic categorizing in the rise of meat substitutes

This study investigates categories and categorization strategies in the transition towards sustainable diets. We look at the rise of meat substitutes and understand the meat substitute category as a hybrid one, covering products that are to replace meat while implicitly appealing to vegetarian/vegan diets. The category is negatively defined, solely and explicitly indicating the product to be substituted. The category's fuzzy nature presents an innovation challenge for producers. We investigate the strategies of nine Dutch meat substitute producers that seek to resemble meat along five dimensions. We conclude that by privileging meat resemblance innovation strategies, most producers tend to ‘fit and conform’ to the meat regime, largely copying dominant production and consumption practices. However, we also show that, as a hybrid category that is negatively defined, the meat substitute category provides opportunities for more radical innovations that have the potential to ‘stretch and transform’ the regime in the longer run.

State of care for EU mobile workers' rights in the Dutch meat sector in times of, and beyond, COVID-19

PurposeWith a focus on the position of EU mobile workers in the Dutch meat industry, this article discusses the multi-level State efforts to enhance protection of workers who experienced limited protection of existing State and private enforcement institutions. The COVID-19 pandemic, with virus outbreaks at Dutch meat plants, fuelled public and political will to structurally improve these workers' precarious work and living conditions. Yet, the process of policy change is slow. The authors show it is the gradual transformation in the institutional environment that the State needs to counter to become more protective for EU mobile workers.Design/methodology/approachUsing the gradual institutional change approach and the concept of State ignorance, the authors examine State responses drawing on interviews with expert stakeholders in the public and private domain, public administration records and newspaper articles.FindingsThrough knowledge creation, boosted social dialogue mechanisms, enhanced enforcement capacity and new housing legislation, the Dutch State focuses on countering gradual institutional change through which existing institutions lost their effectiveness as protectors of EU mobile workers. The organization of work is, nevertheless, not (yet) fundamentally addressed with tighter public legislation.Originality/valueThe findings contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the role of the State as multifaceted actor in institutional change processes towards increased protection for EU mobile workers.

Substituting meat and the role of a situational context: exploring associations and motives of Dutch meat substitute-users

PurposeThe Dutch market for meat substitutes has grown steadily, however, their market share is still low, and meat consumption in the Netherlands is not decreasing. For a transition towards a more plant-based diet, understanding consumer motives regarding meat substitutes is important. The purpose of this study was to explore what motives lay behind the appropriateness of the use of meat substitutes in different usage situations.Design/methodology/approachIn total, 20 semi-structured in-depth interviews were performed to discover Dutch consumers’ associations with the terms “eating vegetarian” and “meat substitutes”, as well as motives regarding the situational appropriateness of meat substitutes.FindingsThe most mentioned motives for eating vegetarian were “environmental impact”, “health” and “animal welfare”, while meat substitutes were mainly eaten to replace meat in the meal. Most participants perceived vegetarian stir-fry pieces appropriate for almost all situations; the appropriateness of other meat substitutes was more situation-specific. The thematic content analysis yielded seven categories for the motives given for the (in)appropriateness of the four meat substitutes in six usage situations: “Functionality”, “Convenience”, “Properties”, “Preferences”, “Association with meat”, “Association with meals” and “Nutrition”. Mainly motives in the categories convenience and functionality (function of the meat substitute in a meal) were mentioned for all situations and other motives were situation-specific.Originality/valueThe focus in the development of plant-based foods is mostly on the product properties. The situational appropriateness and the underlying motives regarding meat substitutes have not yet been studied. This exploratory study suggests that these should be taken into consideration in the design of new meat substitutes.

Social capital, power and information sharing – evidence from the Dutch meat processing industry

PurposeBuying companies in the food industry increasingly recognize the need to cultivate relationships with their suppliers. Social capital and power are important to understand buyer–supplier relationships. Maintaining these relationships appears highly dependent on the degree of information sharing.Design/methodology/approachThe study investigates how power and social capital dimensions are related to information sharing. A survey of first-tier suppliers in the Dutch meat processing industry was carried out. The data from 82 suppliers was analyzed using partial least squares.FindingsIt appears that expert power contributes to the cognitive and structural social capital. In contrast, coercive power showed no influence at all. Cognitive and structural social capital dimensions have a direct link to relational social capital, which significantly improves buyer–supplier information sharing in the food industry.Practical implicationsBuying companies can encourage supplier information sharing by building up their own expertise and cultivating social relationships. They should refrain from strong-handed practices.Originality/valueCompanies in the food and food processing industry are dependent on effective information exchange for their very survival. This study investigates the role of power and social capital in making such exchange possible and sustainable.

Effectiveness and Cost-benefit Evaluation of a Comprehensive Workers\u2019 Health Surveillance Program for Sustainable Employability of Meat Processing Workers

Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of a comprehensive workers’ health surveillance (WHS) program on aspects of sustainable employability and cost-benefit. Methods A cluster randomized stepped wedge trial was performed in a Dutch meat processing company from february 2012 until march 2015. In total 305 workers participated in the trial. Outcomes were retrieved during a WHS program, by multiple questionnaires, and from company registries. Primary outcomes were sickness absence, work ability, and productivity. Secondary outcomes were health, vitality, and psychosocial workload. Data were analyzed with linear and logistic multilevel models. Cost-benefit analyses from the employer’s perspective were performed as well. Results Primary outcomes sickness absence (OR = 1.40), work ability (B = −0.63) and productivity (OR = 0.71) were better in the control condition. Secondary outcomes did not or minimally differ between conditions. Of the 12 secondary outcomes, the only outcome that scored better in the experimental condition was meaning of work (B = 0.18). Controlling for confounders did not or minimally change the results. However, our stepped wedge design did not enable adjustment for confounding in the last two periods of the trial. The WHS program resulted in higher costs for the employer on the short and middle term. Conclusions Primary outcomes did not improve after program implementation and secondary outcomes remained equal after implementation. The program was not cost-beneficial after 1–3 year follow-up. Main limitation that may have contributed to absence of positive effects may be program failure, because interventions were not deployed as intended.

Process Evaluation of a Workers\u2019 Health Surveillance Program for Meat Processing Workers

Objective To evaluate the implementation process of a workers’ health surveillance (WHS) program in a Dutch meat processing company. Methods Workers from five plants were eligible to participate in the WHS program. The program consisted of four evaluative components and an intervention component. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used to evaluate seven process aspects. Data were gathered by interviews with stakeholders, participant questionnaires, and from registries of the company and occupational health service. Results Two recruitment strategies were used: open invitation or automatic participation. Of the 986 eligible workers, 305 participated in the program. Average reach was 53 %. Two out of five program components could not be assessed on dose delivered, dose received and fidelity. If components were assessable, 85–100 % of the components was delivered, 66–100 % of the components was received by participants, and fidelity was 100 %. Participants were satisfied with the WHS program (mean score 7.6). Contextual factors that facilitated implementation were among others societal developments and management support. Factors that formed barriers were program novelty and delayed follow-up. Conclusion The WHS program was well received by participants. Not all participants were offered the same number of program components, and not all components were performed according to protocol. Deviation from protocol is an indication of program failure and may affect program effectiveness.

Horse Trading: Food Sourcing in the Twenty-First Century

In January 2013, Irish authorities were the first to uncover the year's first food sourcing scandal: horsemeat sold as beef on supermarket shelves. It was not long before regulators and retailers realized the problem was truly a continental one. The incident involved French exporters, Luxembourger production facilities, Cypriot and Dutch meat traders, British and Swedish retailers, and Romanian horsemeat. Food service providers and retailers were forced to test beef products to ensure they were horse-free, pulling products that contained traces of equine meat. British supermarkets alone disposed of an estimated 10 million “beef” burgers in the wake of the scandal. This case is an example of the challenges of managing the complex global supply chains that make up the modern food industry. In this class discussion, students will use concepts from management, economics, and public policy to assess the damage of this event and to analyze strategies for preventing similar incidents in the future.

Modified atmosphere packaging of fresh meats–sudden partial adaptation caused an increase in sustainability of dutch supply chains of fresh meats

AbstractIn the past decade, a major transition evolved in the Dutch fresh meat industry with ramifications for the entire meat business. In 1995, more than 95% of all fresh meat products for consumers were either sold loose or packed in the traditional way, i.e. on a white styrofoam tray with stretch wrap. Almost a decade later, about half of the meat industry has adapted the modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) technology. Strikingly, the first trials with this technology had already been conducted in The Netherlands in 1964, but it took four decades for the technology to conquer the Dutch meat industry. This paper argued that the partial adaptation of MAP diminished the product losses in fresh meat sales and hence the environmental impact of meat production and consumption. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Vegetable proteins in Dutch meat snacks

Vegetable proteins in Dutch meat snacks

Estimating calcium in mechanically deboned poultry meat by oxidimetry and atomic absorption spectrophotometry

In samples taken over six months from 68 lots of mechanically deboned poultry meat, from several Dutch meat producers, average calcium content by atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS) was 2·36 g/kg. As AAS requires expensive equipment, laboratories less well equipped need something less sophisticated. A series of ten meat samples with increasing calcium content was analysed by two oxidimetric methods and by AAS. For in-plant quality control to a maximum calcium content of 2·5 g/kg the oxidimetric methods seemed sufficiently precise and repeatable because a confidence interval of 0·40 g/kg ( P = 0·95) was found for analysis on duplicate subsamples. The relationship between the oxidimetric method of Peter (1966) and AAS could not be explained completely, whereas the oxidimetric method of AOAC corresponded well with AAS. There was a significantly ( α = 0·01) higher correlation ( r = 0·9996) between the AOAC method and AAS, so that the AOAC method is preferred more than that of Peter.

Preclusive Purchases: Politics and Economic Warfare in France during the First World War

URING the First World War, the French gradually developed a blockade policy aimed at the economic destruction of their Central Power opponents. Only gradually, and especially in retrospect, did they recognize that their wartime blockade policy had really been a programme of economic warfare-offensive economic measures designed to reinforce the more orthodox military tactics. Economic warfare procedures included those British maritime measures designed to keep overseas imports away from enemy or border neutral ports. They also encompassed such diplomatic blockade tactics as import consignment to private neutral societies, import rationing, and Allied preclusive purchases of neutral domestic products. A preclusive purchase involved a foreign buying operation whose primary objective was deprivation of the enemy rather than the satisfaction of the purchaser's domestic needs. Thus, hypothetically, goods which were totally useless to the buyer could be bought so as to keep them out of enemy hands. Generally, however, supply and preclusive purposes were not mutually exclusive. Implicit in the concept of preclusive buying was governmental rather than private initiative. Only the government could make the type of overall policy decisions which would waive normal financial considerations in the interest of wartime objectives. Clearly, private enterprises were guided by profit motives and thus sought to secure the most advantageous terms of sale. The government could weigh such normal commercial considerations as comparative product prices and transportation costs against denial to the enemy of key goods and hence a potential shortening of the war. It also could take into -account alternative uses for the same funds and decide whether a given outlay could be spent most usefully on a preclusive purchase, such as Dutch meat, or on an essential war material. It was also necessary to evaluate the effect of deprivation on the German economy and war-making potential and to ascertain whether Germany could procure the same goods or viable substitutes elsewhere. Such purchases could disrupt normal procurement patterns, since goods would be removed from markets to which the enemy had access (generally the neighbouring neutrals) rather than from those (generally overseas) where British maritime mastery made German activity almost impossible. Competition with Germany in neutral markets inevitably drove prices above world competitive levels and thus such operations could only be justified in long-range military rather than short-range financial terms. Since funds were not unlimited, a decision to implement a costly preclusive purchase meant that those funds would not be available for other wartime needs. The cost of fighting the war clearly exceeded many times over the expense of any given