Retail Food Chains Research Articles

Hybrid Fungicides – An Easy Bridge to Trial of Biological Component for Improved Resistance Management and Better Crop Protection

The global search for plant-protection solutions that are both environmentally safe and effective is driven by the need to supply food to the ever-growing world population. The call for chemical load reduction is an important aspect for sustainable agriculture. Toxicity to non-target organisms and negative effects on human health by synthetic agrochemicals have led to a resurgence of interest in 'natural' means of pest and pathogen control, including new sources of biopesticides and botanical pesticides. In addition, there has been increasing pressure concerning the main challenges in crop protection, including better resistance management, regulatory demands, and consumer concerns. The control of plant diseases has depended increasingly on the extensive use of toxic pesticides. Inappropriate and prolonged applications of traditional chemical pesticides lead to environmental damage and adverse health effects. Furthermore, the extensive use of chemical pesticides led to the development of resistance to various plant pathogens. Therefore, improving resistance management is important. Also, consumers, including retail food chains, today demand healthier foods and more sustainable products with less chemical residue. Furthermore, an increasing number of governments and retail food chains have established strictly enforced chemical residue limits. If crops exceed these limits, they will not be allowed to enter these countries and retail food chains. However, there are several barriers to trial of biological products by growers, including the following: a). Biological products have a reputation for not working very effectively. Today there are many biological products that are as effective as synthetic chemicals, but the early impression from years ago remains among many growers, b) growers are very busy with current demands on their time, with most not having the time to learn new biology, reformulate their treatment regime, mixing and testing, and c) general resistance to change. Therefore, a new concept of 'hybrid products', as an easy bridge to trial biological component is suggested. Hybrid fungicides i.e., a combination of a natural product such as Tea Tree Oil (TTO) with broad-spectrum activity and a traditional site-specific chemical can be the 'bridge' between conventional agrochemical farming and sustainable farming. That is because it is a 'pre-mix' and is used in the same way as the grower's current chemical pesticide. Unlike other combinations based on two synthetic chemicals which in most cases have limited mechanisms of action, a premix with a botanical product provides multiple modes of action with an advantage for resistance management.

Trends of Augmented Reality for Agri-Food Applications.

Recent years have witnessed an increasing interest in deploying state-of-the-art augmented reality (AR) head-mounted displays (HMDs) for agri-food applications. The benefits of AR HMDs to agri-food industry stakeholders (e.g., food suppliers, retail/food service) have received growing attention and recognition. AR HMDs enable users to make healthier dietary choices, experience novel changes in their perception of taste, enhance the cooking and food shopping experience, improve productivity at work and enhance the implementation of precision farming. Therefore, although development costs are still high, the case for integration of AR in food chains appears to be compelling. This review will present the most recent developments of AR HMDs for agri-food relevant applications. The summarized applications can be clustered into different themes: (1) dietary and food nutrition assessment; (2) food sensory science; (3) changing the eating environment; (4) retail food chain applications; (5) enhancing the cooking experience; (6) food-related training and learning; and (7) food production and precision farming. Limitations of current practices will be highlighted, along with some proposed applications.

First report from supermarket chicken meat and genomic characterization of colistin resistance mediated by mcr-1.1 in ESBL-producing, multidrug-resistant Salmonella Minnesota

Plasmid-borne colistin resistance is considered one of the most complex public health concerns worldwide. Several studies reported the presence of the mcr-1.1 harboring Salmonella from the foodstuffs worldwide; still, there is a knowledge gap about the occurrence of these isolates in the Middle East. In this study, we report an mcr-1.1-mediated colistin resistance in two multidrug-resistant (MDR) S. Minnesota (denoted as Sal_2 and Sal_10), with both being also extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) producing. These isolates have been recovered from two independent samples out of 315 chilled chicken meat tested from retail supermarkets in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Based on whole-genome sequencing (WGS) analysis, both isolates belonged to the same Sequence Type (ST) ST548. They shared the same genes encoding resistance to the following antimicrobials: polymyxin (mcr-1.1), phenicol (floR), quinolone (qnrB19), aminoglycoside (aac(6′)-Iaa), tetracycline (tet(A)), and sulfonamide (sul2). However, the isolates featured different patterns of β-lactamase resistance genes, which included blaCTX-M-55 (ESBL-β-lactamase) and blaCMY-2 (AmpC-β-lactamase) in the isolate Sal_2, and blaTEM-215 (ESBL-β-lactamase) in the isolate Sal_10. WGS analysis inferred that both S. Minnesota isolates in this study carry an IncX4 plasmid harboring the mcr-1.1 variant. To understand the possible origin of the two mcr-1.1 carrying S. Minnesota isolated from retail chicken meat in this study, we conducted a phylogenomic analysis using available genomes of S. enterica, which harbored mcr-1.1 gene (n = 240, from the Middle East and Asian countries) deposited in the NCBI database. We found that Sal_2 and Sal_10 independently clustered together with other isolates detected in China, mainly from the chicken origin and to a lesser extent from human clinical origin. The finding of mcr-producing colistin-resistant strains in retail chicken meat warrants a more comprehensive One Health investigations involving strains from animals, retail food chains, and human clinical isolates at the national level in the UAE.

Exploring information technology success of Augmented Reality Retail Applications in retail food chain

Augmented reality retail applications (ARRAs) have emerged as rapidly developing innovative and futuristic retail innovation used in both physical store and online shops to improve the retail settings and customer experience. So, the objective of this research was to identify predictors of user benefits of ARRA in the retail food chain. By integrating the theory of information system success model, this study proposes a model to investigate the mediating effect of two values: (1) user satisfaction and (2) user continuance intention between quality perspective as explanatory variables (system, service, and information quality) and user benefits as the outcome variable. Both the mediating factors are found positively playing mediating roles among all proposed relationships. This paper provides valuable course of action for retailers and marketers on assessing customers satisfaction and using ARRA to create marketing strategies effectively.

ANALYSIS OF CONSUMER’S DISPOSITIONS IN THE FOOD MARKET OF UKRAINE IN 2016-2019

The article analyzes consumer`s dispositions in the food market of Ukraine in 2016-2019. Attention is paid to inflation and devaluation factors, which caused changes in the consumer sentiment of Ukrainians and reflected primarily in the food market and activity of retailers of food products. The behaviors of the main players of grocery retail, change of ratings of their success, features of geographical expansion towards the regions of Western Ukraine are investigated. It is concluded that local operators will develop within their regions, not significantly extending into the territory of adjacent areas, national retail food chains will develop by opening stores or seeking to absorb small ones. It is recommended that the domestic grocery retailer take into account the global growing trend – market consolidation, which allows players to increase their share, strengthen their position in the market and offer a more interesting price at the expense of economies of scale. It is noted that the grocery retail market in Ukraine is undergoing significant transformations today – both under the influence of global trends and under the influence of local consumption characteristics, consumer sentiment. The key trends affecting consumer sentiment and determining market development and doing business in the field of food retail in Ukraine are identified. It is concluded that consumer activity in the retail sector in the food market is gradually recovering. The most significant features that characterize consumer sentiment in the near term are identified: increase in consumer demands for product quality; resumption of the tendency to increase consumption of imported goods; an increase in the average check due to the number of items purchased; growing demand for quality service, unique consumer experiences and atmosphere, new impressions when shopping; reducing the effectiveness of promotions and discounts as tools for consumer engagement.

Compliance in 2017 With Federal Calorie Labeling in 90 Chain Restaurants and 10 Retail Food Outlets Prior to Required Implementation.

To examine early compliance with the delayed federal calorie labeling regulation that requires posting calories on menus and menu boards at retail food chains with 20 or more establishments nationally. We explored implementation of calorie labeling at 90 of the largest US chain restaurants and the 10 highest-grossing supermarket chains from May to December 2017. We contacted corporate offices and at least 2 locations for each chain, made site visits when possible, and supplemented these efforts with targeted Internet searches. Overall, 71 (79%) restaurant chains partially or fully implemented labeling, as did 9 (90%) supermarket chains. Fast-food and fast-casual restaurants fully implemented labeling at a modestly higher rate than did full-service restaurants. Most of the retail food chains we assessed implemented calorie labeling policies in advance of the May 2018 compliance date. Public Health Implications. Although implementation of federal calorie labeling has been delayed repeatedly in the 8 years since the passage of the legislation, retail food chains have demonstrated a high rate of compliance with calorie labeling in advance of the required May 2018 implementation date. Despite reports from some retail food industries that compliance will be difficult, current implementation shows the feasibility of complying.

The mobility of food retailers: How proximity to SNAP authorized food retailers changed in Atlanta during the Great Recession

Retailer mobility, defined as the shifting geographic patterns of retail locations over time, is a significant but understudied factor shaping neighborhood food environments. Our research addresses this gap by analyzing changes in proximity to SNAP authorized chain retailers in the Atlanta urban area using yearly data from 2008 to 2013. We identify six demographically similar geographic clusters of census tracts in our study area based on race and economic variables. We use these clusters in exploratory data analysis to identify how proximity to the twenty largest retail food chains changed during this period. We then use fixed effects models to assess how changing store proximity is associated with race, income, participation in SNAP, and population density. Our results show clear differences in geographic distribution between store categories, but also notable variation within each category. Increasing SNAP enrollment predicted decreased distances to almost all small retailers but increased distances to many large retailers. Our chain-focused analysis underscores the responsiveness of small retailers to changes in neighborhood SNAP participation and the value of tracking chain expansion and contraction in markets across time. Better understanding of retailer mobility and the forces that drive it can be a productive avenue for future research.

The Making and Breaking of Food Preservation Practices in a Rural Albertan Community

AbstractAmid growing concerns over nutrition, food safety, and the relationship between health and environment, anxiety about the general deskilling around food‐related activities has garnered significant public interest and academic inquiry. Mainstream agriculture commodity and retail food chains are failing to meet the concerns citizens are expressing about their food. This has contributed to a relearning of skills of procuring, preparing, and preserving food. This qualitative study looks at the practice of home preserving in a rural Albertan community through a social practice theory framework. I test two premises set out by Shove, Pantzar and Watson (2012): First, social practices consist of three elements (materials, competencies, and meanings) that are integrated when practices are enacted; second, that practices emerge, persist, and disappear as links among these defining elements are made and broken. I demonstrate how the integration of the elements enabled canning as a practice to flourish during a certain period. I then explore how the disintegration of the elements contributed to the decline of the same practice in later years. By examining the connections and breakages in the links between materials, meanings, and competencies, I illustrate the essentiality of integration of elements in order for practices to exist.

The changing perspective of food habits in Kolkata: a case on Monginis Kolkata

In today’s dynamic environment, the change is inevitable and is the only constant thing, whether it is a change in attitude or thinking. The fast-food joints are a depiction of contemporary expertise, the conception of ‘ready-cooked food to go’. Today’s society depicts a contemporary swing like having a day’s meal away from home and it represents a substantial positive trend setting. Recurrently, the targeted groups are teenagers and the middle income households, unbalanced diet and unacceptable hygiene have been the lingering factors. The augmentation of fast food joints in Kolkata was pioneered by Monginis, whose infiltration objective followed a franchise model launching improvised product line. Do lifestyle changes, faster living trends affect food habits – its distress on Monginis? How would Monginis hold the varying trend of taste among Indian consumers? Where would one position Monginis in comparison to other food retail food chains in Kolkata?

Energy consumption and conservation in food retailing

Abstract The total annual CO2 emissions associated with the energy consumption of the major retail food outlets in the UK amount to around 4.0 MtCO2. The energy consumption and emissions from supermarkets varies widely and can depend on many factors such as the type and size of the store, business and merchandising practices and refrigeration and environmental control systems used. This paper provides energy consumption data of a sample of 2570 retail food stores from a number of major retail food chains in the UK. The sample covers all major store categories from convenience stores to hypermarkets and includes approximately 30% of the total number of stores in the UK having a net sales area more than 280 m2. The data show a wide variability of energy intensity even within stores of the same retail chain. A power law can be used to describe the variation of the average electrical energy intensity of the stores in the sample with sales area. If the electrical intensity of the stores above the average is reduced to the average by energy conservation measures, annual energy savings of the order of 10% or 840 GWh can be achieved representing 355,000 tonnes annual reduction in CO2 emissions. The paper also discusses the major energy consuming processes in retail food stores and identifies opportunities for energy savings.

Collaborative commerce or just common sense? Insights from vegetable supply chains in Ho Chi Minh City

PurposeTo demonstrate that collaborative commerce is not restricted to trade in branded products between large, multi‐national organisations.Design/methodology/approachInsights from extensive field research in Viet Nam.FindingsThe benefits from collaborative commerce are plain for all to see yet very little of it is being practices in retail food chains at present, due primarily to incompatible organisational cultures and a competitive market environment that drives large corporations towards transactional relationships based on price competition. The insights from the Vietnamese vegetable supply chain demonstrate the simplicity of the principles of collaborative commerce and the ease with which they are adopted when the culture is conducive to collaboration and a partnership approach to trading relationships.Research limitations/implicationsFindings are based on research conducted in and around Ho Chi Minh city and on a narrow product range, but anecdotal evidence suggests the principles apply across all commodities and extend beyond the South of the country.Practical implicationsDemonstrates the importance of organisational culture in collaborative commerce, so businesses who wish to benefit from collaboration in the supply chain need to look at ways of developing an organisational culture that is conducive to collaboration.Originality/valueThis paper sheds new light on the application of the principles of collaborative commerce in a developing country context and in a low value‐high risk food category, without major investment in IT systems.

Growth by acquisition and the performance of large food retailers

AbstractThe latter 1990s witnessed rapid growth among the largest retail food chain companies, much of it through acquisitions. An explanatory motive is that grocery chains could achieve greater scale economies and operating efficiencies, and increase their bargaining power with packaged food manufacturer‐suppliers. This article begins to examine whether the largest retailers are realizing the promised financial rewards associated with this growth trend. We examine the performance of the three largest U.S. food retailers, Albertson's, Inc., The Kroger Company, and Safeway Inc., over 7 fiscal years beginning in calendar year 1993 and ending in fiscal year 1999, a period that covers the recent increase in acquisition activity. Overall, we find only modest evidence that the financial returns to the rapid growth strategies of the three largest food retailers have begun to be realized through fiscal year 1999. [EconLit citations: G390, G340, Q130] © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

At Our Convenience

At Our Convenience

Internal and external referents as predictors of pay satisfaction among employees in a two‐tier wage setting

Two‐tier wage structures occur when employees hired after a certain date are placed on a substantially lower pay schedule than the schedule for previously hired employees. This study examined how internal and external pay comparisons related to attitudes toward pay among low‐ and high‐tier employees in a retail food chain with two‐tier wage structure. For the low‐tier group, comparisons with low‐ and high‐tier referents, and to a lesser extent, part‐time referents and referents at other places where the respondents might obtain work predicted pay satisfaction. For the high‐tier group, comparisons with high‐tier referents and referents in heavy industries (automobile or steel) predicted pay satisfaction. The results are consistent with the notion that both groups were concerned with pay equity relative to referents with similar earnings, and with deprivation relative to referents with higher earnings.

Estimating the Effect of Ethnicity on the Demand for Food

A straightforward regression equation approach is used to investigate why different consumers buy varying quantities of the same item in outlets of the same retail food chain. Eighteen items were studied. Demand for thirteen seems to be significantly related to ethnicity, demand for five is positively related to income. As the study employs census data, the technique can easily be used by marketing managers to obtain useful market information.

Consumer characteristics associated with the selection of lean meat products

This study identifies several demographic and psychographic characteristics of consumers who have tried lean meat products from a particular retail food chain in Houston. The relevant characteristics included: (1) age, (2) residency in Texas, (3) education level, (4) household size, and (5) predisposition to buying low-fat foods. The analysis was performed using the probit specification. The source of data was survey information, gathered by telephone interviews, from a total of 200 shoppers.

Effects of the Use of Spot Cases in the Sale of Selected Dairy Products in Retail Food Chains

Effects of the Use of Spot Cases in the Sale of Selected Dairy Products in Retail Food Chains

Implications of Improved Information on Market Performance

The retail food market in Edmonton, Alberta represents an unusual market to study. The basic problem inherent in this metropolitan market area of 500,000 people, is the dominance of a single retail food chain whose food sales represent up to 65 percent of total food sales.Conventional economic theory would normally lead to the conclusion that market performance would be improved by a direct attack on the structure of the market which in turn would involve the absolution of a highly successful retail operation. However, the application of monopoly anti‐trust laws was certainly not an alternative available to the research team, even if it was considered to be a feasible solution to the problem. Therefore an attempt was made by the authors to observe the impact of improved consumer market information on corporate performance.The following article documents the research and leads towards a time honored conclusion that additional market information would improve consumer welfare in a meaningful manner.