Food Industry Management Research Articles

Marketing aspect of young consumer behaviour in food industry management

W dobie globalizacji rynków, charakteryzującej się między innymi dużą intensywnością konkurencji między przedsiębiorstwami, coraz ważniejsze staje się posiadanie szeroko rozumianej wiedzy o konsumentach, ich potrzebach, oczekiwaniach, nawykach, aspiracjach, a przede wszystkim o determinantach tychże zachowań. Producenci żywności, chcąc funkcjonować w warunkach wciąż rosnącej konkurencji na rynku produktów żywnościowych, stają przed koniecznością monitorowania czynników kształtujących zachowania konsumentów na tym rynku, które podlegają ciągłym zmianom oraz poznawania determinantów tych zmian. W ramach części badawczej przeprowadzono badanie ankietowe na 200 osobowej grupie respondentów – niemieckich uczniów w wieku od 12 do 16 lat. Procedura badawcza opierała się o bezpośredni wywiad ankietowy, a obszar badawczy dotyczył Brandenburgii. Uwagę skoncentrowano na zagadnieniach związanych z procesami podejmowania decyzji przez konsumentów w aspekcie zakupu poszczególnych produktów żywnościowych oraz czynników oddziałujących na te decyzje.

Closing the food loops: guidelines and criteria for improving nutrient management

As global consumption expands, the world is increasingly facing threats to resource availability and food security. To meet future food demands, agricultural resource efficiency needs to be optimized for both water and nutrients. Policy makers should start to radically rethink nutrient management across the entire food chain. Closing the food loop by recycling nutrients in food waste and excreta is an important way of limiting the use of mineral nutrients, as well as improving national and global food security. This article presents a framework for sustainable nutrient management and discusses the responsibility of four key stakeholder groups—agriculture, the food industry, consumers, and waste management—for achieving an effective food loop. In particular, we suggest a number of criteria, policy actions, and supporting strategies based on a cross-sectoral application of the waste hierarchy.

An exploratory study of supply chain risk management in the New Zealand fast food industry

This paper reports on exploratory qualitative research into the current practice of supply chain risk management in the New Zealand fast food industry. The study found that the New Zealand fast food industry depends heavily on import from other countries and overseas suppliers for the large amount of raw materials required by the industry. These suppliers hold dominant power in New Zealand fast food industry. As a result, fast-food restaurants have limited room for switching to contingency suppliers in disruptive situations, such as natural disasters or earthquakes. Furthermore, the study also shows that the fast food industry has increased vulnerability due to the stringent food safety and health standards and customer’s increasing awareness of food safety issues.

Study on Frozen Food Industry\'s Integrated Information Management Strategy Based on ERP

In order to study the causes of weak frozen food industry management in China, especially for the industry that produces the high repetitive and high corrosion production using information centres, we analyze that the approach of integrated information management strategy is emphasized in developing of computer integrated Enterprise Resource Plan (ERP). ERP comprises of HRM, financial management, manufacturing management and inventory management. This study focuses on computer integrated information and ERP has impacts on the information use in an organization and how ERP has impacts on the business strategy. We hope these can accelerate the construction of frozen food industry's integrated information management strategy based on ERP, promote sustained and rapid growth in frozen food industry, constantly improve the guarantees for product quality and safety and promote the simultaneous development of integration and informatization.

Jeffrey Dorfman, Economics and Management of the Food Industry Dorfman Jeffrey, Economics and Management of the Food Industry Routledge, series “Routledge Textbooks in Environmental and Agricultural Economics”, 2014, 202 pages

Jeffrey Dorfman, Economics and Management of the Food Industry Dorfman Jeffrey, Economics and Management of the Food Industry Routledge, series “Routledge Textbooks in Environmental and Agricultural Economics”, 2014, 202 pages

Polysaccharides of higher fungi: Biological role, structure, and antioxidative activity

Fungal polysaccharides attract a lot of attention due to their multiple challenging biological properties, such as: anti-tumor, anti-viral, anticomplementary, anticoagulant, hypolipidemic and immunomodulatory and immune-stimulatory activities, which all together make them suitable for application in many quite distinctive areas, such as food industry, biomedicine, cosmetology, agriculture, environmental protection and waste water management. This article presents results with respect to biological properties, structure and procedures related to the isolation and activation of polysaccharides of higher fungi. It is considered and presented along with a review of the critical antioxidative activity and possible influence of the structural composition of polysaccharide extracts (isolated from these higher fungi) upon their antioxidative properties.

The Global Food Industry and “Creative Capitalism”: The Partners in Food Solutions Sustainable Business Model

AbstractRising global food prices have driven 44 million additional people into extreme poverty—and malnutrition—in developing countries since June 2010. Partners in Food Solutions (PFS), a nonprofit social enterprise affiliated with General Mills, is proposed as the conduit for food industry managers, engineers, and scientists to initially advise small‐ and medium‐sized African mills and food processors—and later other developing countries—on improving supply chain management by addressing manufacturing problems, developing products, improving packaging, extending product shelf, and finding new product markets. In this article, the “creative capitalism” model of sustainability and social and environmental responsibility is applied to the food manufacturing industry's efforts supporting PFS. Furthermore, the evolution of the sustainable business model developed by PFS is thoroughly described, explained, and analyzed as a generic model of social enterprise to be “scaled up” by the global food manufacturing industry. A summary of salient points conclude the article.

Supplier choice criteria and the security aware food purchasing manager

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the differences in preferred supplier choice criteria between food purchasing agents who focus on supplier security and those that do not. Specifically, this research determines the relationship between purchasing agents’ supplier security preferences and their preferences for product quality, delivery reliability, price, and supplier location. The influence of international sourcing on demand for increased supplier security is also explored. Design/methodology/approach – Choice-based conjoint analysis with hierarchical Bayes (HB) estimation and t-tests are used to assess and compare the utility food purchasing managers derive from different supplier attributes. Findings – Purchasing managers that place a higher priority on security when choosing suppliers were willing to pay suppliers a higher price and receive lower levels of delivery reliability in return for higher security but placed less emphasis on suppliers’ product quality. Firms that source internationally do not have a significantly greater preference for advanced supplier security. However, purchasing managers that value supplier security were more likely to source internationally, potentially indicating that security allows for global sourcing by mitigating the increased vulnerability inherent to sourcing abroad. Research limitations/implications – This research was limited by its focus on the food industry and a relatively small sample size. Practical implications – This work illustrated that food purchasing managers can be segmented by the emphasis they place on security. Food industry managers will find results useful in formulating their future service offerings with respect to security and other supplier choice criteria. Originality/value – This is one of few works investigating security as a supplier choice criterion and utilizing HB estimation of choice-based conjoint data.

Study on Base Management Pattern of Food Producing Enterprise

When the food producing enterprises often comply with food safety regulations and industry management system passively, we need to consider can they transform their production and business pattern in order to avoid the food safety incidents completely? The answer is yes. The food producing enterprises can develop to the two directions of material planting and products in circulation through base management pattern substituting for the original operation pattern of in-plant processing and outside sales. The food producing enterprises should establish coordination and safe supervision mechanisms in order to achieve the management objectives of unified production, controllable risks and scale magnitude.

Perceptions of hygiene training amongst food handlers, managers and training providers – A qualitative study

An important element in the effectiveness of food hygiene training is the support given by managers, both pre and post training, to motivate food handlers to enact the safe food handling practices learnt during training. This study explores the personal views of food handlers, their managers, and accredited training providers towards the provision and evaluation of food hygiene training in the South-West London region, exploring the pre and post training support given to food handlers, and its effects on the attitude and behaviour of food handlers to enact safe food handling practices in the workplace. In total seventy telephone interviews were conducted. Findings demonstrate that most food industry managers are aware of their responsibilities to train food handlers, but often do not provide adequate support to promote the enactment of safe food handling practices, or evaluate its effectiveness. Thus, any positive effects gained from food hygiene training programmes, are ephemeral.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: SOCIAL VERSUS ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY PRACTICES AND PERFORMANCE OUTCOMES

ABSTRACTSustainable supply management research generally focuses on environmental practices. We show through an analysis of the food industry that sustainability requires an expanded view to encompass both environmental and social elements. We interviewed and surveyed food and beverage producers in the U.S. Pacific Northwest to both validate expanded sustainability elements in the industry and assess subsequent performance outcomes. A path analysis reveals that food industry managers perceive both direct and mediated impacts of sustainability programs on performance. Specifically, the results indicate that sustainability program effects are limited to the impact of conservation and land management environmental practices on overall environmental performance and human resources practices on quality performance. However, environmental performance improvements lead to improved quality performance, which in turn improves cost performance. The results highlight the complexity of sustainability impacts on performance and suggest that performance benefits from sustainability programs may be difficult to recognize.

Research on the conceptualization model for traceability system of meat food quality safety

The quality safety traceability of meat food has played important role in governmental law, food industry management strategies, and consumers. Many institution and software companies have develope...

Innovativeness and NPD processes/practices in the Greek food industry

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide empirical research evidence on the process innovations and the NPD (new product development) processes/practices adopted by the food industry as well as their interface.Design/methodology/approachThe study was conducted in the Greek food industry. A total of 44 companies that have developed new products were identified and personal interviews were conducted with company managers. Three different aspects of their innovativeness was investigated, namely the use of new raw ingredients/materials, new machinery and new controls. Questions were asked on the adoption of 33 different processes for the development of these new products and the importance attributed to these NPD processes/practices.FindingsFirms in the food industry may operate on the basis of a U‐shaped process innovativeness. They employ either the same raw materials/ingredients with new equipment/machinery or new raw ingredients/materials with old equipment/machinery. New controls/procedures go together with new equipment/machinery. Increased process innovativeness is associated with only a small number of NPD processes/practices. These revolve around manufacturing and its preparation.Research implications/limitationsThe small number of identified innovations and the focus sector limit the results to the target sample.Practical implicationsThe exact NPD processes used by the food industry and which of these are associated with increased process innovativeness, bear important implications for food industry managers and research.Originality/valueThe paper fills a gap regarding what is the nature of innovativeness in the Greek food industry, what new product development processes/practices are followed and which of these are associated with increased innovativeness. As such it provides further specialised evidence for the food sector across European countries.

QUALITY MANAGEMENT IN FOOD INDUSTRY

Given the conditions of a competitive, EU-integrated market economy, consumers’ behaviour with regard to the quality of agro-alimentary products and services has changed. To this respect, food industry managers have to ensure the quality and competitiveness of food products and services, as they lead to a higher loyalty of customers and the attraction of new customers, to the increase of the rhythm of sales, to price growth, and, subsequently, to profit increase.

Are co‐operation and trust being confused with power? An analysis of food retailing in Australia and the UK

Category management has been promoted as a mechanism to achieve closer working relations between suppliers and retailers. The premise has been that category management should result in a reduced reliance on the use of power as an element of the relationship and increased levels of cooperation. However, power is an element of any relationship and exists even when not activated. Further, the premise rests on the notion that cooperation is a polar opposite of power. This research confirms that food industry managers perceive the use of power in solely negative terms. Power can be defined operationally as the ability of one channel member to influence the marketing decisions of another channel member and hence must be related to cooperation. This paper reviews the nature of dependence, power and cooperation and explores the role of these constructs in the practice of category management. The results of continuing research in the area of category management relationships are reported.

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article: WHEAT FLOUR. W. H. Atwell CAREERS IN FOOD INDUSTRY MANAGEMENT, 2001. J. H. Hulse. MANAGEMENT OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT FOR FOOD INDUSTRIES, J. H. Hulse. MANAGEMENT OF SMALL AGRIBUSINESS. J. H. Hulse.

Understanding customer satisfaction – a UK food industry case study

The importance of customer satisfaction to the commercial success of businesses is widely acknowledged. However, many companies, including those in the UK food sector, struggle to satisfy their customers. Responsibility lies partly with a failure to fully understand the basic building‐blocks of customer satisfaction as a concept. Presents the results of a study by a group of UK food industry managers, led by Leatherhead Food RA. Identifies and describes six key drivers of customer satisfaction, which may be applied to all types of organisation, including those outside the food industry.

Beef producer attitudes to coordination and quality assurance in Canada and the UK

Meat quality and safety systems around the world are experiencing unprecedented change. In many cases this is leading to closer vertical coordination along the supply chain, including participation by producers in farm assurance schemes. This paper reports the results of a survey of beef producers in the UK and Canada regarding their attitudes towards farm assurance schemes. Both British and Canadian beef producers indicated that closer vertical and horizontal coordination were important to the future prosperity of the beef industry. In the UK, the severe food contamination crises of recent years and the pressure from retailer “channel captains” have had a noticeable impact, with UK producers more likely to be members of a farm quality assurance scheme. The drivers for change in Canada have been weaker and as such, movement towards closer vertical coordination has been slower. Presented at the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, World Food and Agribusiness Congress, Florence, Italy, June 13-16 1999 John Spriggs is Professor of Agribusiness, Charles Sturt University, Wagga, Australia (email: spriggs98@yahoo.com); Jill E. Hobbs is Associate Director of Research, George Morris Centre, Calgary, Canada (email: jill@georgemorris.org); Andrew Fearne is Senior Lecturer, Food Industry Management, Wye College, UK

Ethical Consumerism: The Case Of “Fairly–Traded” Coffee

Consumer concern for “ethical products”, or ethical aspects of the goods which they purchase, is a subject of increasing interest and research,which is here illustrated by an examination of the Fair Trade movement, with special reference to coffee as an indicative commodity. Kate Bird, is currently Lecturer in the Development Administration Group, School of Public Policy, Birmingham University, Birmingham B15 2TT, England, having previously worked abroad and written her MSc dissertation at Wye College on fair trade in coffee products. Dr Hughest holds the Sainsbury Chair in Agribusiness and Food Marketing at Wye College, University of London, Wye, Ashford, Kent TN25 5AH, England (email: D.Hughes@wye.ac.uk), where he is also Director of the Food Industry Management Group. He has wide international experience of food management issues.

The Status of Supply Chain Management in Argentina's Food Industry

In recent years, the food industry has evolved dramatically showing Argentina's real capacity for food production. A survey on supply chain management was developed and data were collected from both suppliers and buyers at three levels of the supply chain. Statistical significance in difference of means for both groups is analyzed and drivers and trends emerging from those samples are shown.