Spanish Food Research Articles

Palletizing in the Spanish food industry

Palletizing in the Spanish food industry

Sources of technological development in the spanish food and drink industry. A ?supplier-dominated? industry?

This article analyses the sources of technological change in the Spanish food and drink industry (F&DI). The increasing importance of technical change has called for a better understanding of the innovation process and sources of technical advances in particular. The article examines the generally accepted view of the F&DI as a “supplier-dominated” industry. Empirical results show the important contribution of national and foreign suppliers of machinery and equipment to the Spanish F&DI's technological level. However, Spain F&DI's reliance on externally generated technology has brought about low levels of technological autonomy in general, and process technology in particular. Logistic regression analysis underlines the importance of in-house technological capabilities in innovation, and thereby the problems an industry faces if it largely relies on external sources of technical change as opposed to internal developments. [Econ-Lit citations: L660, O300, O300] © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Frecuencia de consumo de alimentos en los adolescentes escolarizados de Cantabria. Comparación con el documento de consenso Guías Alimentarias para la población española

To analyze food consumption patterns among schoolchildren in Cantabria and to compare results obtained with Spanish food guidelines for this population group. A food frequency questionnaire was the chosen method, with some 53 food types divided into 15 groups. A total of 1,205 teenagers of both sexes aged between 14 and 18 attending 18 secondary schools in Cantabria completed the questionnaire. Milk, bread, fruit, greens and vegetables are the foodstuffs mostly consumed at the recommended frequencies. On the other hand, fish, meat, eggs, dairy products and pulse make up the least adequately consumed categories. Alcoholic drinks are imbibed to a high degree, with beer being the alcoholic most frequently drunk. Spirits are also drunk in larger quantities than wine. Alcohol consumption (beer, wines and spirits) increases significantly with age, being higher among males than females. Cantabrian schoolchildren follow a food consumption pattern which, generally speaking, does not tally with Spanish food recommendations for their age group. Educational and interventional strategies need to be developed with the aim of modifying such inappropriate food consumption.

Sources of technological development in the spanish food and drink industry. A “supplier‐dominated” industry?

Sources of technological development in the spanish food and drink industry. A “supplier‐dominated” industry?

Spanish food demand: a dynamic approach

Other empirical works have demonstrated that Spanish food demand seems to have a dynamic structure. However, the commonly used dynamization processes are too restrictive to explain the dynamic food consumers' behaviour. A more general model that is able to incorporate different dynamic structures (partial adjustment, first autoregressive, and static) and allows for direct estimation of long-run coefficients has been used. This general framework is applied to the Generalized Addilog Demand System (GADS) for annual Spanish data covering 1964 to 1991. Results indicate that an autoregressive GADS fits well the data, satisfying the theoretic restrictions. Finally, the expenditure and price elasticities are calculated.

Alternative strategies in the Spanish large-scale retail food sector

In this paper we analyse the strategic behaviour adopted by the main Spanish retail firms at the beginning of the 1990s. Using strategic groups as a tool of analysis, we identify seven patterns of strategic behaviour used by these retailers. Specifically, two groups implement clearly different strategies by way of the hypermarket commercial formula; another four exploit supermarkets with very different characteristics; while the final group is identified by its clear linkage with the wholesale trade. Throughout the article we also place special emphasis on the various methodological aspects that it is necessary to consider in research into strategic groups.

La demande de viandes et poissons en Espagne : une analyse micro-économique

The demand for meat and fish in Spain : a microeconomic analysis. In this paper the evolution of meat and fish consumption in Spain during the last decade is first described. Beef, pork and chicken consumption declined whereas the other processed meat products increased. The Almost Ideal Demand System has been used to analyse the demand structure for these products with pooled household data for the October 1989 - September 1992 period, based on a microdata set from the Spanish Food Consumption Panel that is being used for the first time in empirical studies. Demographic variables have been introduced using the translation method. The likelihood ratio tests substantiate that the AIDS model with demographic variables performs well for estimating the demand relations. Based on a parametric test, separability between meat and fish has been tested. The result has showed that the purchase decision is taken together and therefore they have to be considered in the same system. Results show that demand is responsive to prices, total expenditure and demographic variables. Beef and fish consumption is higher in urban areas compared to rural areas, as a result of better distribution channels. However, lamb and chicken consumption is higher in rural areas, as a response to a more traditional consumption pattern. Calculated elasticities, based on the estimated model with both homogeneity and symmetry imposed, are more sensitive to variations of total expenditure and own prices than cross prices. The demand is inelastic, except for pork meat. Both chicken and processed meat products are revealed as necessity goods. Substitution relationships have been pointed, showing the strong competition between several types of meats. Comparison with other studies has showed the benefit from using disagregated data and demographic effects when estimating demand relations.

The Role of Family Business and Its Distinctive Characteristic Behavior in Industrial Activity

This article presents the findings of a research study conducted in the Spanish food and beverage industry. The objective of the research was to expand upon and clarify the knowledge available on the role family businesses play in the economy and to understand the possible behavioral differences when we compare them to non-family businesses. The results show that the family business has more difficulty in reaching the same size as a non-family business within a similar time span. Reduced risk levels, high equity control, and a tendency to be closed to outsiders are possible causes of the difficulties family businesses experience in maintaining faster growth rates.

A Cross‐Section Demand Analysis of Spanish Provincial Food Consumption

AbstractI follow the differential approach in building three demand models of Spanish cross‐province food consumption patterns. The models include quadratic income terms for estimating the widely varying income responses one expects from cross‐section data. The proposed models are also flexible in permitting alternative levels of aggregation across goods. A nonnested testing procedure is used to identify the best model. Both the flexibility of the quadratic income term and the flexibility of alternative aggregation levels are important in the analysis of Spanish food consumption patterns.

FOOD DEMAND IN SPAIN: AN APPLICATION OF THE ALMOST IDEAL SYSTEM

This paper provides an analysis of food demand in Spain for the period 1964–1989 estimating the Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS) with annual time‐series of food expenditures divided into six categories. A dynamic version of the model incorporating habit effects captures the behaviour of the Spanish food consumer over the period investigated. The theoretical hypotheses of homogeneity and symmetry are rejected, but the model provides plausible expenditure and price elasticities.

The COLOR OF WINE: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE. II. TRICHROMATIC METHODS

ABSTRACTThe trichromatic theory was applied to wines at the end of the 1930s. Trichromatic co‐ordinates, dominant wavelength, purity and luminance were determined. The Munsell system and the Lovibond method, which had industrial applicability, were compared with the simplified methods proposed by the L'office Internationale de la Vigne et du Vin (OIV). These methods are official in Spanish food regulations on wine analysis. The CIE recommendations, through the weighted ordinate method, set up the colorimetric parameters for wines, such as hue, lightness, purity or saturation, differences of color, perceptibility. Lately, attempts have been made to correlate the chromatic properties of wines with composition, origin, aging and sensory evaluation. Some authors have studied the reliability of the OIV methods versus the more rigid recent CIE methods. Improved formulae for the computation of dominant wavelength and outstanding correlations among sensorial scores, chromatic parameters and anthocyanins (polyphenols) content of wines have been established.

The adequacy of essential minerals intake in four areas of Spain as assessed by direct analysis and a data base

This study was undertaken in order to monitor the intake of some essential trace elements in four geographical areas of Spain from their habitual diets and to compare with the recommended intake (RI) and acceptable daily intake (ADI), in order to know the adequacy and the risk of toxicity. Four Spanish areas have been selected: Galicia, which presented the highest energy consumption, Valencia the lowest, Andalucia with the highest population, and Madrid. The four total diets were prepared with the number of foods providing the 95% of the total energy intake, 64, 67, 71 and 73 respectively. Cu, Zn, Fe, Ca, Mg, K and P have been determined by two methods: direct analysis and a computerized program with a data base containing the Spanish Food Composition Table, in order to know the usefulness of the latter. When daily amounts of essential minerals were compared with either, the ADI or RI, it can be concluded that all analysed elements are below ADI except copper in Madrid (265% of the ADI). Essential minerals met RI except for copper in Galicia (70%), Andalucia (56%) and Valencia (53%) and zinc in Galicia (81%), Andalucia (65%), Valencia (74%) and Madrid (91%). Variability observed between data base and direct analysis data may indicate the neccesity of analysing total diets in the case of trace elements with a tight safety margin between RI and ADI.

Dekovic, Gene. Looking at a Spanish Village: A Pictorial Introduction to Spanish Language and Culture. Lincolnwood, Illinois: National Textbook Co., 1986.; Dekovic, Gene. Looking at Spanish Food: A Pictorial Introduction to Spanish Language and Culture. Lincolnwood, Illinois: National Textbook Co., 1986

Dekovic, Gene. <i>Looking at a Spanish Village: A Pictorial Introduction to Spanish Language and Culture</i>. Lincolnwood, Illinois: National Textbook Co., 1986.; Dekovic, Gene. <i>Looking at Spanish Food: A Pictorial Introduction to Spanish Language and Culture</i>. Lincolnwood, Illinois: National Textbook Co., 1986