Organic Food Industry Research Articles

Consumer Behaviour Towards Organic Food in France with a Special Focus on Brittany

This research paper explores French consumer behaviour towards organic food with a particular focus on Brittany. The paper evaluates the demand towards these types of products as well as understanding the main motives for organic food consumption. The research question investigates: ‘What are the main drivers in consumer behaviour that influence organic food consumption in Brittany?’ This research contributes to the current body of literature by providing up-to-date information with a focus on a specific demographic area that is relevant in the organic food industry in Europe. The results are based on primary research, by conducting a survey among French consumers. Drivers that have the most strength in predicting organic consumption behaviour in Brittany are health benefits, absence of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), environmental impact and price. Variables that have a relatively weak influence are certification warranties, natural appearance of the product and availability. The study provides insight into this growing industry and forms a basis for further research.

Impact of E-Marketing Tools towards the Consumer Behavior during the COVID-19, With Special Reference to Organic Food Industry in Sri Lanka

Impact of E-Marketing Tools towards the Consumer Behavior during the COVID-19, With Special Reference to Organic Food Industry in Sri Lanka

Economic Aspects of Organic Farming

This article examines the economic and environmental factors unique to tiny, landless, and marginal farmers, and then suggests ways in which such farmers might increase their income via the practice of organic farming. The majority of farmers are economically marginalized, making it unrealistic to expect them to invest in large quantities of fertilizers and chemicals, thus they must turn to organic practises instead. And for the many individuals who own just a few acres of farmland, organic farming is a great option. The Fair-Trade Alliance of Kerala (FTAK) is a group of local farmers with the goal of expanding their access to the international fair-trade market. In comparison to the free market, the method results in lower prices for goods, which is good news for fair trade exporters. By analysing FTAK, this study highlights its positive effects on income and highlights the importance of the growing organic food industry, premium pricing, and incentives for farmers. According to the findings, organic farming is a more effective way to increase Indian farmers' income by 20-50%, and that fair trade farmers received higher prices (20-50%) for their commodities when selling them directly to international buyers.

Consumers’ Awareness on Organic Food: Case of Urban Sri Lanka

The organic food market is rapidly expanding all over the world with the recent rise of concern in food safety and environmental protection. Thus, examining information about consumers’ awareness on organic food is one of the inspiring areas for producers and marketers to capture a greater market share successfully. Therefore, this study aimed at analyzing the consumer awareness towards organic food products while addressing socio-demographic factors affecting consumer awareness on organic food, knowledge of consumers about organic food, and their purchasing pattern. A sample of 600 consumers was selected from the main cities of six urban districts in Sri Lanka for the study. Data were collected via a consumer survey using a pre-tested questionnaire, from November 2018 to May 2019. The data analysis was carried out using frequencies, percentages, and multiple linear regression analysis. According to the results, the majority of the respondents were married females. The results revealed that Sri Lankan consumers have a better awareness on organic food. The results of the regression analysis highlighted that the consumers’ awareness is significantly affected by factors such as gender, marital status, education, and monthly income. Although most respondents have a good level of awareness on organic food, their buying trend is at a lower level. The findings of the study play an important role in promoting the organic food market and are essential for food marketing planners, researchers, and policymakers to enhance the organic food industry in the country in the future.

The Moderating Effect of Food Safety Knowledge on Organic Food Purchase Intention in a New Normal

The emergence of a ‘new normal’ life caused by pandemic Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) leads to consumer perception and business practices changes. However, there is limited data on the current market demand and condition on consumer purchase intention of organic food associated with food safety knowledge. Thus, this study aimed to examine consumer perception toward organic food in a new normal life. A total of 330 valid responses were received for analysis using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) and PROCESS. The data were collected in Malaysia using an online questionnaire mainly because of physical distances and Movement Control Order (MCO). The finding revealed that personal attitude, perceived social pressure, and perceived autonomy influence organic food purchase intention in a new normal life. However, it is not perceived as green trust. Besides, food safety knowledge significantly moderates the relationship between personal attitudes toward organic food purchase intention. The finding is valuable for current producers, marketers, and the government body to understand the changes in consumer purchase intention in a new normal life and assist future planning and operationalising to protect, develop and maintain the organic food industry.

Similarity Effect and Purchase Behavior of Organic Food Under the Mediating Role of Perceived Values in the Context of COVID-19.

Due to the influence of COVID-19, people pay more attention to the balance between human and nature and pursue more healthy, environmental and nutritional sustainable products (such as organic food). However, the mainstream consumption of organic food is far less, especially in developing countries like China. Therefore, it is urgent to take effective measures to promote the development of China's organic food market. This current study investigated the relationships between consumers' similarity (i.e., information anxiety, uncertainty, and sustainable consumption attitude), perceived values (i.e., functional value, health value, and environmental value) and organic purchasing behavior based on the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) theoretical model and information similarity effect. And considering gender differences in consumers' similarity, perceived values and organic purchasing behavior. Meanwhile, the mediating effects of perceived values on the relationship between consumers' similarity and purchasing behavior were also discussed, considering the background of COVID-19. Data were collected using structured questionnaire survey in first-tier cities in China. A total of 344 consumers of organic foods participated in the study. Structural equation modeling was employed for data analysis. The results indicated the significant association of information anxiety, uncertainty and sustainable consumption attitude with perceived values. And perceived values and sustainable consumption attitude had a positively significant influence on purchase behavior. In addition, environmental value played mediating effects in the relationships between organic purchasing behavior and information anxiety, uncertainty and sustainable consumption attitude. And the impact of sustainable consumption attitude and environmental value on organic purchasing behavior differed in gender. The research not only provides novel insights for understanding organic consumption, but also provides reference for organic sellers to develop sales strategies and policy makers to formulate policies to guide organic consumption, which are conducive to promoting China's organic food industry.

Implementation of 3D Printing Technology in the Food Industry

This project involves the implementation of 3D printing technology on designing and fabricating food holders in the food industry. Food holders are designed to hold the food packages in the filling line for food manufacturing industries that apply retort technology. Therefore, this study aims to implement the 3D printing technology in particular FDM to fabricate food holders for the food processing industry. The approach of using this technology is focused on giving more view on the capability of 3D printing technology, aiming at reducing the overall process fabrication cost and fabrication time. Hence, the fabrication cost and time between FDM and conventional machining methods were compared. This study revealed that Organic Gain food industry was able to reduce the cost and fabrication time for the food holder up to approximately 96.3% and 72% respectively. This project gives an insight into the ability of 3D printing technology in delivering the demands of the industry in producing parts as well as the adaptability of the technology to the industry in new product development. The project was carried out successfully and the 3D printed food holder has been tested and functions smoothly.

Regulations on the corporate social irresponsibility in the supply chain under the multiparty game: Taking China's organic food supply chain as an example

This paper considers the lack of corporate social responsibility in the organic food supply chain in a new context, that is, the fraudulent subsidies claiming behavior of the manufacturers and the lack of organic food supervision of the fast-growing e-commerce retailers in China. We construct a three-party evolutionary game model among government regulatory departments, manufacturers and e-commerce retailers to analyze the evolution process of the behaviors of manufacturers and e-commerce retailers under government's changing regulation. The results show that: (1) The government can promote the production of organic food by the moderate supervision of manufacturers; Low intensity supervision cannot restrain fraudulent subsidies claiming behavior, while high intensity supervision will restrain the orderly development of organic food industry. (2) The greater the government subsidies on technology and R & D of manufacturers, the more conducive the manufacturerss will be to overcome technical problems and realize the scale of the organic food industry, so that it will eventually evolve towards the direction of active production of organic food. (3) The government's low-intensity fine on e-commerce retailers when they fail to fulfill their responsibilities is not enough to prompt them to choose the strategy of responsibility fulfillment, and the greater the fine is, the more conducive it is for them to evolve towards fulfilling their social responsibilities. (4) Appropriate government funding for e-commerce retailers will encourage them to fulfill their responsibility, but excessive funding will make e-commerce retailers over rely on government funding. Our research provides a better understanding of the irresponsible behavior of organic food supply chain enterprises, our management insights can help improve the government's regulation performance of such behavior, and can also provide a reference for other countries facing similar challenges.

Driving forces of repurchasing social enterprise products

PurposeThis paper aims to use utilitarian benefits, hedonic benefits and corporate social responsibility to influence the consumer’s sense of brand identity and brand trust in social enterprise products and, thus, favourably affect repurchase intention.Design/methodology/approachThis study dispatched 430 questionnaires in Taiwan. The top six social enterprises in the organic food industry in Taiwan that accounted for 84.0% of total green organic stores and they were selected for field investigation. This study used structural equation modelling.FindingsThe main path indicates that corporate social responsibility has a largely positive effect going through brand identity and brand trust, and then affecting the decision to repurchase. Therefore, the image of` corporate social responsibility was the greatest driving force. The secondary path indicated that utilitarian benefits positively affected brand identity and brand trust, which, in turn, positively affected repurchase intention. Therefore, utilitarian benefits were the secondary driving force of repurchasing social enterprise products.Practical implicationsThis study indicates that social enterprises need to carry out effective corporate social responsibility to create a sense of strong brand trust in consumers’ minds. Empirical results can benefit social marketers for their product launches and promotions. Social enterprises can realize consumer differentiation preferences. With the effective grasp the information of consumer perception, the social marketers can turn passive into active and catch the marketing opportunities by the brand identity and trust to the content of the marketing programs design.Originality/valueThe novelty of this study is to propose an identity-repurchase intention (IRI) model, based on consumer information processing lens and self-congruency theory, to investigate the social enterprise perspective.

Sustainable agriculture through organic farming in India

Organic products are grown under a system of agriculture without the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides with an environmentally and socially responsible approach. Organic agriculture is developing rapidly and today 186 countries produce organic food commercially. Currently, only 1.5 percent of the world’s agricultural land is farmed organically. The status of organic farming in India is bestowed with lot of potential to produce all varieties of organic products due to its various agro climatic regions. In several parts of the country, the inherited tradition of organic farming is an added advantage. This holds promise for the organic producers to tap the market which is growing steadily in the domestic market related to the export market. India ranks 9th in terms of World’s organic agricultural land and 1st in terms of total number of producers. The popularity of organic food is growing dramatically as consumer seeks the organic foods that are thought to be healthier and safer. As per the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare (MoAFW), 2.78 million ha was covered under organic farming in India which is about 2 per cent of the 140.1 million ha net sown area in the country. Of this, 1.94 million ha (70%) area is under National Project on Organic Farming NPOP, 0.59 million ha (21.5%) under Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY), 0.07 million ha (2.6 %) under Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North East Region (MOVCDNER) and 0.17 million ha (6.1% ) under state schemes or non-schemes. The certified organic production for all crop categories stood at 2.6 million metric tons.in 2018-19. Sugar crops (sugarcane), oilseeds, cereals and millets, fiber crops, pulses, medicinal, herbal and aromatic plants, and spices/condiments are the highest produced organic commodities in India. However, the Indian organic food industry is curtailed by multiple challenges including reduced farm production per hectare, a general apprehension among farmers to forego the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides and higher storage and transportation costs due to the lack of preservatives required for long-term storage. The states should step up their action in a concerted way to promote organic and natural farming. States can play an instrumental role in helping farmers sell their organic and natural produce by developing organic value chains, procuring organic produce and helping farmers get remunerative prices.

Identifying Suitable Areas for Plantation of Organic Products Using GIS and AHP

Organic farming is a technique, which involves cultivation of plants in natural ways. In Malaysia, because the organic food industry is still small-scale, over 60% of organic foods are still imported and it is not possible for the availability and output of organic goods to meet the local demand and need. This study was intended to utilize the GIS and AHP technique to identify suitable areas for organic farming in Sabak Bernam, Malaysia. The study was conducted based on the objectives where criteria for organic farming were identified through background research. Pair-wise comparison (PWCM) method using questionnaires answered by experts were used to determine the weights for each of the parameters used. For this study, seven (7) criteria were considered. The criteria were then weighted according to importance and those weighted criteria were combined to produce a suitability map. A site suitability model was built using the Modelbuilder tool in Arcmap. The model used the AHP and Weighted Overlay basis which provides promising result for the analysis of finding suitable sites for organic farming. Results obtained showed that the majority of land within the Sabak Bernam district is suitable to carry out organic cultivation where the land is far from road networks, contains high organic matter content, gentle slopes with flat aspects low elevation and less than 10 meters from drainages. While land deemed not suitable involves land in dense urban area. This simultaneously means that the land is too close to road networks where underground contamination is a major possibility.

The Sustainable Purchase Intention in a New Normal of COVID-19: An Empirical Study in Malaysia

The study investigated the effect of food safety knowledge, food safety trust and the factors influencing organic food purchase intention in the 'new normal' of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study employed non-contrived and cross-sectional methods. The data was collected in Malaysia using convenience sampling. A total of 330 valid questionnaires were analyzed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) and PROCESS for hypothesis testing. The study revealed a significant relationship involving food safety knowledge on personal attitude, perceived social pressure, and perceived autonomy. Moreover, organic food purchase intention was found to be influenced by personal attitude, perceived social pressure, and perceived autonomy. Interestingly, trust in organic food safety moderated the relationship between perceived autonomy and organic food purchase intention. The study proved valuable for stakeholders and organic food producers to understand the 'new normal' COVID-19 market scenario for a sound understanding of the market and the sustainability of the organic food industry. A new research framework is proposed and validated, related to individual purchase decision in global health issues which is limited in current literature. Hence, the study contributed to a better comprehension of green consumerism mainly in the Asian market.

Expression of novel acidic lipase from Micrococcus luteus in Pichia pastoris and its application in transesterification

BackgroundLipases are promising biocatalysts for industrial applications and attract attention to be explored. A novel acidic lipase has been isolated from the lipolytic bacteria Micrococcus luteus EMP48-D (LipEMP48-D) screened from tempeh. The lipase gene had previously been overexpressed in Escherichia coli BL21, but the expression level obtained was relatively low. Here, to improve the expression level, the lipase gene was cloned to Pichia pastoris. We eliminated the native signal sequence of M. luteus and replaced it with α-mating factor (α-MF) signal sequence. We also optimized and synthesized the lipase gene based on codon preference in P. pastoris. ResultsLipEMP48-D lipase was expressed as an extracellular protein. Codon optimization has been conducted for 20 codons, with the codon adaption index reaching 0.995. The highest extracellular lipase activity obtained reached 145.4 ± 4.8 U/mg under AOX1 promoter in P. pastoris KM71 strain, which was 9.7-fold higher than the previous activity in E. coli. LipEMP48-D showed the highest specific activity at pH 5.0 and stable within the pH range 3.0–5.0 at 40 °C. LipEMP48-D also has the capability of hydrolyzing various long-chain triglycerides, particularly olive oil (100%) followed by sunflower oil (88.5%). LipEMP48-D exhibited high tolerance for various polar organic solvents with low log P, such as isopropanol (115.7%) and butanol (114.6%). The metal ions (Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Mn+) decreased enzyme activity up to 43.1%, while Fe2+ increased relative activity of enzymes up to 200%. The conversion of free fatty acid (FFA) into fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) was low around 2.95%. ConclusionsThis study was the first to report overexpression of Micrococcus lipase in yeast. The extracellular expression of this acidic lipase could be potential for biocatalyst in industrial fields, especially organic synthesis, food industry, and production of biodiesel.

Review of ''Grocery Activism. The Radical History of Food Cooperatives in Minnesota''

Reviewer: Ion Bogdan Vasi, University of Iowa, USA Many people are familiar with the adage “tell me what you eat, and I will tell you who you are” and its abbreviated version “you are what you eat”. Many people are also familiar with the “Certified Organic” logo that is visibly displayed on many products in grocery stores nowadays. Yet, as Upright reminds us in “Grocery activism. The Radical History of Food Cooperatives in Minnesota”, the concept of “organic food” was practically unknown before the countercultural movements of the 1960s and 1970s. In fact, Upright argues that the “organic food movement” eventually became the organic food industry, an industry that has been growing during the last decades and reached over 50 billion $US in 2019. At the core of this industry are cooperative grocery stores, which created the infrastructure that allowed the organic food industry to develop nationwide. In this book,...

Food Innovation Adoption and Organic Food Consumerism-A Cross National Study between Malaysia and Hungary.

In order to meet the rising global demand for food and to ensure food security in line with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 2, technological advances have been introduced in the food production industry. The organic food industry has benefitted from advances in food technology and innovation. However, there remains skepticism regarding organic foods on the part of consumers, specifically on consumers’ acceptance of food innovation technologies used in the production of organic foods. This study measured factors that influence consumers’ food innovation adoption and subsequently their intention to purchase organic foods. We compared the organic foods purchase behavior of Malaysian and Hungarian consumers to examine differences between Asian and European consumers. The findings show food innovation adoption as the most crucial predictor for the intention to purchase organic foods in Hungary, while social lifestyle factor was the most influential in Malaysia. Other factors such as environmental concerns and health consciousness were also examined in relation to food innovation adoption and organic food consumerism. This paper discusses differences between European and Asian organic foods consumers and provides recommendations for stakeholders.

An analysis of factors affecting selection of organic food: Perception of consumers in China regarding weak signals

Despite the rapid growth of China's organic food industry during recent years, organic food still accounts for a relatively small share of the country's massive food market. In particular, the issue of information asymmetry hinders the further development of the organic food market in China. The current study attempted to explore the relationships between the integration capability of consumers' weak signals, health consciousness, environmental protection consciousness and organic purchases under the mediating role of their attitudes towards organic food based on the value-belief-norm (VBN) theory, thus introducing the concept of weak signals in the context of this issue. Additionally, the influence of food safety concerns on organic purchases was also discussed. Data were collected in Chinese first-tier cities using a structured questionnaire survey. A total of 420 consumers of organic foods participated in the study. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was employed for data analysis. The results showed that consumers' environmental protection consciousness significantly affects their attitudes towards organic food, and this enhancement of consumers' attitudes towards organic food promotes their organic purchases. In addition, the integration capability of consumers' weak signals has a positive impact on their attitudes towards organic food. Moreover, consumers' attitudes towards organic food significantly mediate the effects of their environmental protection consciousness and the integration capability of weak signals on organic purchases. In addition, consumers' food safety concerns significantly affect their organic purchases. These results provide valuable insights into and guidance on the development and promotion of China's organic food industry.

Metaproteomics: an emerging tool for the identification of proteins from extreme environments

Microbial communities from extreme environments, such as saline, arid, hot, cold, acidic, or alkaline are especially important because they have special genetic and physiological modifications to function properly under extreme environments. They possess extremozymes and other biomolecules that can be used in various industrial processes, e.g., pharmaceuticals, paper manufacturing, degradation of complex organic molecules, biofuel production and food industries. With the advent of new sequencing technologies and ‘omics’ approaches, such as metagenomics, metatranscriptomics and metaproteomics, new windows have been opened to study the microbial ecology and functional microbial communities from extreme environments. Recently, metaproteomic analysis has been extensively used to explore the functional microbial communities from various extreme environments around the globe. In this review, we have focused on the microbial diversity analysis, identification of novel proteins, and enzymes from extreme environments, through metaproteomic approaches.

Visual Merchandising, Premium Pricing and Ethnocentrism Marketing Strategies Adopting by Various Industrial Sectors in Sri Lanka: Comprehensive Literature Review

At present, competition within market place is in a higher level than previously. Therefore, industries need to find for effective ways to survive within the market. As an effective way, they can come up with suitable marketing strategies by persuading customers to engage with them. The objective of this literature review is to identify previous scholars’ investigations on how marketing strategies; Visual Merchandising (VM), Premium Pricing (PP) and Ethnocentrism, used by various industries in an effective way in Sri Lankan context. This paper has been divided into three sections. First, outline an introduction including definitions of VM, PP and Ethnocentrism. Then, a methodology of literature review has developed based on previous scholars’ work for strategies; VM in apparel and supermarket industries, PP in tea, tourism and organic food industries and ethnocentrism in Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), handloom and milk powder industries. Finally, the conclusion outlines comparison of strategies to the marketing effort and discussion on future directions.

Value chain analysis of organic food industry: a worldwide review of empirical evidences

Value chain analysis of organic food industry: a worldwide review of empirical evidences

Value chain analysis of organic food industry: a worldwide review of empirical evidences

Value chain analysis of organic food industry: a worldwide review of empirical evidences