Quality Labels Research Articles

Consumer Preferences for Packaged Chili Brand Bu Rudy (Case Study at Pusat Oleh-Oleh Bu Rudy in Surabaya City)

Fluctuating chili prices in Indonesia provide business opportunities for derivative products such as packaged chili sauce. In Surabaya City, the competition in the packaged chili sauce market is intense, including the "Bu Rudy" brand sold at Pusat Oleh-Oleh Bu Rudy. Therefore, strategic planning based on consumer preferences is needed to achieve competitive advantage. The objectives of this study are: 1) to analyze consumer preferences for the attributes of packaged chili sauce products at Pusat Oleh-Oleh Bu Rudy in Surabaya, 2) to analyze the importance and satisfaction level of the attributes of packaged chili sauce products at Pusat Oleh-Oleh Bu Rudy in Surabaya. The sampling method used purposive sampling with a total of 100 respondents. This study employed descriptive analysis, multi-attribute Fishbein, and IPA (Importance Performance Analysis). The results of the study indicate that 1) The most important attribute considered by consumers is the spicy sensation. The order of attributes in terms of attention is packaging, variety of flavors, price, product quality label, and size. ) Packaging and variety of flavors fall into Quadrant I, spicy sensation falls into Quadrant II, while price, product quality label, and size fall into Quadrant IV.

Consumer perceptions of sustainability labels for alternative food networks

PurposeSustainability labels play a crucial role in providing consumers with quick and easily accessible information to assess the environmental, social and economic impacts of products. This research examines how different sustainability labels influence consumer perceptions and assessments of alternative food networks (AFNs).Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted three cross-sectional studies to explore consumer perceptions of sustainability labels for AFNs. The authors tested labels representing the three sustainability dimensions, labels of different graphical quality and different awarding bodies.FindingsConsumers did not differentiate between sustainability dimensions but assessed labels in a holistic manner. The overall rating of a label positively influenced perceived sustainability. Self-designed and professionally designed labels had a positive effect on the intention to buy from an AFN. Professionally designed labels also enhanced the perceived authenticity of the networks. Notably, the source of the label, whether self-awarded or awarded by an official body, did not significantly impact consumer perceptions. However, interaction effects revealed professionally designed labels had a stronger positive effect on purchase intention when they were self-awarded.Practical implicationsAFNs can derive benefits from using labels. Self-organized, non-profit AFNs are well advised to have labels professionally designed.Originality/valueThis research contributes to the understanding of the effects of sustainability labels for community-based AFNs, diverging from the traditional focus on individual products.

Reinforced active learning for CVD-grown two-dimensional materials characterization

Two-dimensional (2D) materials are one of the research frontiers in material science due to their promising properties. Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) is the most widely used technique to grow large-scale high-quality 2D materials. The CVD-grown 2D materials can be efficiently characterized by an optical microscope. However, annotating microscopy images to distinguish the growth quality from good to bad is time-consuming. In this work, we explore Active Learning (AL), which iteratively acquires quality labels from a human and updates the classifier for microscopy images. As a result, AL only requires a limited amount of labels to achieve a good model performance. However, the existing handcrafted query strategies in AL are not good at dealing with the dynamics during the query process since the rigid handcrafted query strategies may not be able to choose the most informative instances (i.e., images) after each query. We propose a Reinforced Active Learning (RAL) framework that uses reinforcement learning to learn a query strategy for AL. Besides, by introducing the intrinsic motivation into the proposed framework, a unique intrinsic reward is designed to enhance the classification performance. The results show that RAL outperforms AL, and can significantly reduce the annotation efforts for the CVD-grown 2D materials characterization.

Physicochemical, Microbiological and Sensory Properties of Honey from Yewaland, South-West Nigeria

Consumers are concerned about the authenticity and general quality of honey in Yewaland, Nigeria. Physicochemical (moisture, protein, ash, fructose, sucrose contents; total titratable acidity, total soluble solids, specific gravity, viscosity, electrical conductivity, refractive index and pH), microbial tests (total plate and identification), and sensory properties of honey samples were evaluated. Samples were collected from bee breeders in the different areas of the region. The results ranged from 13.6-15.0% moisture, 0.2-5.2% protein, 0.24-0.38% ash, 40.5-45.6% fructose, 3.0-5.8% sucrose, 1.40-1.47 specific gravity, 1607-2037 viscosity, 6.3-14.9 \(\mu\)S/cm electrical conductivity, 40.3-75.5mg/l total soluble solids, 3.60-4.2 pH, 0.39-0.46 titratable acidity and 1.34-1.35 refractive index. Staphylococcus, shigella, and Bacillus spp were identified in some samples. The appearance of the samples was lighter. Samples from Oja-Odan and Iwoye had the best overall acceptance scores of 8.7 and 8.5 respectively. Thus honey samples were of good quality compared to the international standard and their acidic pH values reveal that they are unadulterated and have good shelf stability potentials. Their characterization will make it possible to obtain Nigerian quality labels.

Understanding the Importance of Eco-Labeling for Organic Foods at UNESCO Biosphere Reserves: A Case Study of the Cocoa Powder at the Dong Nai, Vietnam

This study examined the willingness-to-pay (WTP) of consumers and the determinants of eco-labeling for the organic cocoa powder produced in the Dong Nai UNESCO Biosphere Reserve (DNBR), Southern Vietnam. Eco-labels are designed according to the tiers of eco-labeling for biosphere reserves (BR) introduced by UNESCO; they include BR Destination (Tier 1), BR Quality (Tier 2), and Professional Certification (Tier 3) labels. Questionnaires were delivered to 203 customers in the DNBR and nearby places, such as Dong Nai and HCMC. This study employed a hybrid approach using descriptive statistics, an ANOVA test, and a Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM). The results indicate that gender and educational level have a positive effect on consumers’ preferences. Customers are willing to pay more for cocoa powder with an eco-label than one with an organic label. Perceived food safety and product knowledge lower customers’ WTP, whereas agricultural environment and pricing concerns increase it. Tier 2 is suggested for labeling cocoa powder in the DNBR. The DNBR Management Board, together with the federal and provincial governments, should all follow a similar certification process. Increased eco-label awareness is crucial for the future of environmentally responsible shopping and responsible business practices.

Legitimate or Not, Does It Really Matter? A Reading of the PDO Label's Legitimacy through Consumers' Perception.

The proliferation of quality labels for the same food product questions the relevance of labeling schemes. Based on the theory of legitimacy and research on food-related consumer behavior, this study aims to examine the influence of the perceived legitimacy of a label (PDO) on consumers' perceptions of the quality and purchase intentions of the labeled product. A conceptual model was, therefore, developed to estimate the influence of four dimensions of legitimacy on the perceived quality and purchase intention of PDO-labeled cheese, French cheeses being products whose quality is traditionally linked to their regional origin. Our model was tested on a sample of 600 consumers representative of the French population. Using Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling, results show that for surveyed consumers, the pragmatic, regulative, and moral legitimacy of the PDO label positively influences the perceived quality of PDO-labeled cheese. Furthermore, pragmatic legitimacy has a substantial and direct influence on purchase intention, whereas both regulative and moral legitimacy influence purchase intention only indirectly through perceived quality. Unexpectedly, our findings do not show a significant influence of cognitive legitimacy either on perceived quality or purchase intention. The output of this research contributes to a better understanding of the link between a label's legitimacy, perceived quality, and purchase intention.

Grapevine yield gap: identification of environmental limitations by soil and climate zoning in the region of Languedoc-Roussillon (South of France)

Often unable to fulfill theoretical production potentials and to obtain the maximum yields set by wine quality labels, many vineyards and cellars need to solve the issue of so-called grapevine yield gaps in order to assure their durability. These yield gaps particularly occur in Mediterranean wine regions, where extreme events have intensified because of climate change. Yield gaps at the regional level have been widely studied in arable crops using big datasets, but much less so in perennial crops, such as grapevine. Understanding the environmental factors involved in yield gaps, such as those linked to climate and soil, is the first step in grapevine yield gap analysis. At a regional scale, there are numerous studies on ‘terroir’ linked to wine typicity and quality; however, none have classified spatial zones based on environmental factors identified as being involved in grapevine yield. In the present study, we aggregated into one big dataset information obtained from producers at the municipality level in the wine region Languedoc-Roussillon (South of France) between 2010 and 2018. We used a backward stepwise model selection process using linear mixed-effect models to discriminate and select the statistically significant indicators capable of estimating grapevine yield at the municipality level. We then determined spatial zones by using the selected indicators to create clusters of municipalities with similar soil and climate characteristics. Finally, we analysed the indicators of each zone related to the grapevine yield gap, as well as the variations among the grapevine varieties in the zones. Our selection process evidenced 6 factors that could explain annual grapevine yield annually (R2 = 0.112) and average yield for the whole period (R2 = 0.546): Soil Available Water Capacity (SAWC), soil pH, Huglin Index, the Climate Dryness Index, the number of Very Hot Days and Days of Frost. The clustering results show seven different zones with two marked yield gap levels, although all the zones had municipalities with no or high yield gaps. On each zone, grapevine yield was found to be driven by a combination of climate and soil factors, rather than by a single environmental factor. The white wine varieties showed larger yield gaps than the red and rosé wine varieties. Environmental factors at this scale largely explained yield variability across the municipalities, but they were not performant in terms of annual yield prediction. Further research is required on the interactions between environmental variables and plant material and farming practices, as well as on vineyard strategies, which also play an important role in grapevine yield gaps at vineyard and regional scale.

A survey on willingness-to-pay for food quality and safety cues on packaging of meat: a case of Poland

AbstractSince meat is an important source of protein needed for human development across the world, responsible production and consumption of meat products with a food quality and safety scheme label is one potential option to maintain social, economic and environmental sustainability. The implementation of this option depends on high willingness-to-pay (WTP) for certified safe foods among citizens. The overarching aim of the study is to examine WTP for national food quality and safety cues on the packaging of meat products. Using a questionnaire on-line survey of 1000 individuals, this study examines relationships between demographic variables and WTP for certified meat products. Relatively younger and higher-income consumers living in households composed of 4 and more members, which are the decision-makers of the future, are most willing to pay a premium price for guaranteed quality meat products. The strongest predictor of WTP for certified quality meat is the number of household members which can be related to children raising and care. A choice of guaranteed quality meat products is putting into practice “less but better” meat approach which tackle sustainable challenges of meat production and consumption regarding issues related to animal welfare, human health and environment.

Is food insecurity related to sustainable and healthy eating behaviors?

In this cross-sectional study, it was aimed to investigate the relationship between sustainable and healthy eating behaviors such as nutritional insecurity and a healthy and balanced diet, interest in regional and organic food products, consumption of seasonal food and avoidance of food waste, preference for locally produced foods, reduction of meat consumption, preference for eggs from free-range chickens, and sustainable fishery products, and consumption of low-fat food products in adults. The study included 410 adults who were reached through social media applications. Data were collected through an online questionnaire including the Descriptive Information Form, the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS), and the Sustainable Healthy Eating Behaviors Scale (SHEBS). The proportion of participants determined as mildly food insecure, moderately food insecure, and severely food insecure was 10.2%, 6.6%, and 7.6%, respectively. Linear regression analysis revealed that in Models 1, 2, and 3, there was a statistically significant negative association between food insecurity and the components of sustainable and healthy eating behaviors such as healthy and balanced diet (β - 0.226, p < 0.001), quality labels (β - 0.230, p < 0.001), seasonal foods, which are of avoidance of food waste (β - 0.261, p < 0.001), animal welfare (β - 0.174, p < 0.001), and fat intake (β - 0.181, p < 0.001). In conclusion, food insecurity negatively affects healthy and balanced diet behaviors, interest in regional and organic food products, seasonal food products consumption and avoidance of food waste, consumption of low-fat food products, and the choice of products such as free-range chicken eggs, and sustainable fisheries.

What Is the Value of a "Mountain Product" Claim? A Ranking Conjoint Experiment on Goat's Milk Yoghurt.

Rural development is complex in marginal and disadvantaged areas, such as mountains, which impose high labour costs and restrict farmers in their choices of crop and livestock. To recognise this problem, the European Union regulates the use of the optional quality term "Mountain product" on the label. Consumers may recognise this label and be more willing to pay for it, resulting in higher revenues for producers using it. This study estimates the willingness to pay (WTP) for a mountain quality label. This WTP is then compared to that of functional and nutrition claims. For this purpose, we used a ranking conjoint experiment, using goat's milk yoghurt-a typical mountain product-as a case study. Using a rank-ordered logit, we show that mountain quality labels generate a significant WTP, higher than that of functional claims. WTP differs by the demographic profile of the consumer. The study provided useful insights about the combination of the mountain quality label with different attributes. However, future studies are needed to adequately understand the potential of mountain certification as a supporting tool for farmers in marginal areas and for rural development.

Color Inspection Label Checking System for Aimar Printer Model at PT. Indonesia Epson Industry (IEI)

Consumer purchases are influenced by four main psychological factors including motivation, perception, learning, and beliefs and attitudes. The desire or motivation of consumers to make purchases according to certain needs and times. So that the perception of a motivated consumer will be ready to act to make a purchase, and usually consumers will be motivated based on the influence of perception on a particular situation. Here the company wants to increase consumer or buyer satisfaction and the label is a part of the product in the form of a description of both pictures and words which functions as a source of product and seller information. Labels generally contain information in the form of product names or brands, raw materials, composition additives, nutritional information, expiration dates, product contents, and legality information. performance achievement of company targets. This study aims to help understand quality control issues for the assembly process, especially printers for types of defects at the printing stage. As well as providing references for people who need quality labels and Color Inspection Label Checking Systems and as additional input for quality reporting performance analysis for companies

Time Domain NMR Approach in the Chemical and Physical Characterization of Hazelnuts (Corylus avellana L.).

'Tonda Gentile Romana' and 'Tonda di Giffoni' (Corylus avellana L.) are two Italian hazelnut cultivars, recognized under the quality labels "Protected Designation of Origin" (PDO) and "Protected Geographical Indication" (PGI), respectively. Hazelnut seeds are characterized by a complex microstructure and the presence of different physical compartments. This peculiarity has been studied and evidenced by Time Domain (TD) Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) experiments. This technique allowed the assessment of the presence of different diffusion compartments, or domains, by evaluating the distribution of the spin-spin relaxation time (T2).The aim of this research was to develop a method based on 1H NMR relaxometry to study the mobility in fresh hazelnut seeds ('Tonda di Giffoni' and 'Tonda Gentile Romana'), in order to determine differences in seed structure and matrix mobility between the two cultivars. TD-NMR measurements were performed from 8 to 55 °C in order to mimic post-harvest processing as well the microscopic textural properties of hazelnut. The Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) experiments showed five components for 'Tonda Gentile Romana' and four components for 'Tonda di Giffoni' relaxation times. The two slowest components of relaxation (T2,a about 30-40% of the NMR signal, and T2,b about 50% of the NMR signal) were attributed to the protons of the lipid molecules organized in the organelles (oleosomes), both for the 'Tonda Gentile Romana' and for the 'Tonda di Giffoni' samples. The component of relaxation T2,c was assigned to cytoplasmic water molecules, and showed a T2 value dominated by diffusive exchange with a reduced value compared to that of pure water at the same temperature. This can be attributed to the water molecules affected by the relaxation effect of the cell walls. The experiments carried out as a function of temperature showed, for 'Tonda Gentile Romana', an unexpected trend between 30 and 45 °C, indicating a phase transition in its oil component. This study provides information that could be used to strengthen the specifications underlying the definitions of "Protected Designation of Origin" (PDO) and "Protected Geographical Indication" (PGI).

COMPASS: a formal framework and aggregate dataset for generalized surgical procedure modeling.

We propose a formal framework for the modeling and segmentation of minimally invasive surgical tasks using a unified set of motion primitives (MPs) to enable more objective labeling and the aggregation of different datasets. We model dry-lab surgical tasks as finite state machines, representing how the execution of MPs as the basic surgical actions results in the change of surgical context, which characterizes the physical interactions among tools and objects in the surgical environment. We develop methods for labeling surgical context based on video data and for automatic translation of context to MP labels. We then use our framework to create the COntext and Motion Primitive Aggregate Surgical Set (COMPASS), including six dry-lab surgical tasks from three publicly available datasets (JIGSAWS, DESK, and ROSMA), with kinematic and video data and context and MP labels. Our context labeling method achieves near-perfect agreement between consensus labels from crowd-sourcing and expert surgeons. Segmentation of tasks to MPs results in the creation of the COMPASS dataset that nearly triples the amount of data for modeling and analysis and enables the generation of separate transcripts for the left and right tools. The proposed framework results in high quality labeling of surgical data based on context and fine-grained MPs. Modeling surgical tasks with MPs enables the aggregation of different datasets and the separate analysis of left and right hands for bimanual coordination assessment. Our formal framework and aggregate dataset can support the development of explainable and multi-granularity models for improved surgical process analysis, skill assessment, error detection, and autonomy.

Dual-aware Domain Mining and Cross-aware Supervision for Weakly-supervised Semantic Segmentation

Weakly Supervised Semantic Segmentation with image-level annotation uses localization maps from the classifier to generate pseudo labels. However, such localization maps focus only on sparse salient object regions, it is difficult to generate high-quality segmentation labels, which deviates from the requirement of semantic segmentation. To address this issue, we propose a dual-aware domain mining and cross-aware supervision (DDMCAS) method for weakly-supervised semantic segmentation. Specifically, we propose a dual-aware domain mining (DDM) module consisting of graph-based global reasoning unit and salient-region extension controller, which produces dense localization maps by exploring object features in salient regions and adjacent non-salient regions simultaneously. In order to further bridge the gap between salient regions and adjacent non-salient regions to generate more refined localization maps, we propose a cross-aware supervision (CAS) strategy to recover missing parts of the target objects and enhance weak attention in adjacent non-salient regions, leading to pseudo labels of higher quality for training the segmentation network. Based on the generated pseudo-labels, extensive experiments on PASCAL VOC 2012 dataset demonstrate that our method outperforms state-of-the-art methods using image-level labels for weakly supervised semantic segmentation.

Shallow-groundwater-level time series and a groundwater chemistry survey from a boreal headwater catchment, Krycklan, Sweden

Abstract. Shallow groundwater can respond quickly to precipitation and is the main contributor to streamflow in most catchments in humid, temperate climates. Therefore, it is important to have high-spatiotemporal-resolution data on groundwater levels and groundwater chemistry to test spatially distributed hydrological models. However, currently, there are few datasets on groundwater levels with a high spatiotemporal resolution because of the large effort required to collect these data. To better understand shallow groundwater dynamics in a boreal headwater catchment, we installed a network of groundwater wells in two areas in the Krycklan catchment in northern Sweden for a small headwater catchment (3.5 ha; 54 wells) and a hillslope (1 ha; 21 wells). The average well depth was 274 cm (range of 70–581 cm). We recorded the groundwater-level variation at 10–30 min intervals between 18 July 2018–1 November 2020. Manual water-level measurements (0–26 per well) during the summers of 2018 and 2019 were used to confirm and re-calibrate the automatic water-level measurements. The groundwater-level data for each well was carefully processed using six data quality labels. The absolute and relative positions of the wells were measured with a high-precision GPS and terrestrial laser scanner to determine differences in absolute groundwater levels and calculate groundwater gradients. During the summer of 2019, all wells with sufficient water were sampled once and analyzed for electrical conductivity, pH, absorbance, and anion and cation concentrations, as well as the stable isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen. The data are available at https://doi.org/10.5880/fidgeo.2022.020 (Erdbrügger et al., 2022). This combined hydrometric and hydrochemical dataset can be useful for testing models that simulate groundwater dynamics and evaluating metrics that describe subsurface hydrological connectivity.

Novel groundtruth transformations for the aesthetic assessment problem

Aesthetic assessment evaluates the quality of a given image using subjective annotations, commonly user ratings, as a knowledge base. Rating complexity is usually relaxed in state-of-the-art works by employing a binary high/low quality label computed from the mean value of rating votes. Nevertheless, this approach introduces uncertainty to average-quality images, which may affect the performance of machine learning models trained from annotated data.In this work, we present a novel approach to aesthetic assessment based on redefining the rating-based groundtruths present in most datasets. Our intent is twofold: to reduce the rating uncertainty and to automatically group them into clusters reflecting high and low quality patterns, thus avoiding an arbitrary threshold like 5 in 1–10 ratings. The experimentation uses the well-known AVA dataset, which consists of more than 255,000 images, and we train several CNN models to test our new groundtruths against the baseline ones. The results show that our approach achieves significant performance gains, between 3% and 9% more balanced accuracy than the baseline groundtruths.

Analisis Product Quality, Price dan Sertifikasi Halal terhadap Keputusan Pembelian Produk Kecap Manis Cap Nasional

The background of this research is that it is currently known that “Nasional” brand Soy Sauce is not very well known and we rarely find promotions through television media, but the level of sales of Nasional soy sauce in second place after ABC soy sauce, thus making researchers interested in conducting research and proving what factors influence the buyer's decision by using several variables, that is product quality, price, and halal labeling. This type of research is survey research and uses a quantitative approach with data collection methods: observation, questionnaire, and documentation. While data collection techniques used are primary data and secondary data. The results of the study indicate that the product quality variable, the price, and the halal labeling are able to explain the purchasing decisions variable of 52.1% and the remaining 47.9% explained by other variables outside the research. Partially, the product quality variable (X1) does not affect purchasing decisions. The price (X2) and the halal labeling variables (X3) have an effect on purchasing decisions. Meanwhile, simultaneously, the product quality (X1), the price (X2), and the halal labeling variables (X3) haveas an effect on the purchasing decisions.Keywords: Product Quality, Price, Halal Labeling, Purchasing Decisions.

Differentiated implementation and European integration: the development of EU food quality labelling

The article examines how differentiated national implementation of EU policies affects later European integration – whether it leads to renewed unified vertical integration, differentiated integration, the status quo or renationalisation. It examines the case of geographical indications (GIs), an EU labelling system for food and drink based on place of origin and processes of production. Despite features such as diverse national interests and gastronationalism, differentiated implementation has resulted in renewed unified vertical integration. The article identifies three processes: EU legislative requirements encouraging the establishment of producer groups; European Court of Justice decisions which gave priority to quality over cross-border trade; the use of free trade negotiations to alter EU rules. While the integration outcomes are those expected by neo-functionalist analyses, the processes are more institutionally-based. Differences in implementation may aid rather than hinder further integration due to institutional features of EU legislation and decision making.

Dietary Live Yeast Supplementation Influence on Cow’s Milk, Teat and Bedding Microbiota in a Grass-Diet Dairy System

The supplementation of animal feed with microbial additives remains questioning for the traditional or quality label raw milk cheeses with regard to microbial transfer to milk. We evaluated the effect of dietary administration of live yeast on performance and microbiota of raw milk, teat skin, and bedding material of dairy cows. Two balanced groups of cows (21 primiparous 114 ± 24 DIM, 18 multiparous 115 ± 33 DIM) received either a concentrate supplemented with Saccharomyces cerevisiae CNCM I-1077 (1 × 1010 CFU/d) during four months (LY group) or no live yeast (C group). The microbiota in individual milk samples, teat skins, and bedding material were analysed using culture dependent techniques and high-throughput amplicon sequencing. The live yeast supplementation showed a numerical increase on body weight over the experiment and there was a tendency for higher milk yield for LY group. A sequence with 100% identity to that of the live yeast was sporadically found in fungal amplicon datasets of teat skin and bedding material but never detected in milk samples. The bedding material and teat skin from LY group presented a higher abundance of Pichia kudriavzevii reaching 53% (p < 0.05) and 10% (p < 0.05) respectively. A significant proportion of bacterial and fungal ASVs shared between the teat skin and the milk of the corresponding individual was highlighted.

Understanding Consumer Purchase Intention for Halal Cosmetics: Product Quality, Halal Label and Celebrity Endorser

The purpose of this study is to analyze and examine the effect of product quality, halal label, and celebrity endorser on consumer purchase intention for halal-labeled cosmetics in East Java. The subjects of this study are Muslim women in East Java. This study uses primary data collected using purposive sampling technique and involves a sample of 110 Muslim women who live in various areas in East Java. The variables used in this study are the dependent variable of purchase intention and the independent variables of product quality, halal label, and celebrity endorser. The results of this study show that product quality and halal label have a significant positive effect on the purchase intention for halal cosmetics, while celebrity endorser has an insignificant positive effect on the purchase intention for halal cosmetics.