Business opportunities Croatian fruit and vegetables growers

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has asked Wageningen Economic Research to carry out a study on the Croatian fruit and vegetables sector and value chain to make a contribution to the enhancement of the position of growers in the value chain. The study shows that the Croatian fruit and vegetables farming sector has opportunities in the development of the domestic supermarket channel and tourism markets. In the short run, growers will benefit from improving yields, efficiency and product quality. Increasing supply volumes and hence marketing efficiency can also be achieved by improved cooperation between farmers and further land reform measures. A good competitive position on the domestic market is a necessary pre-condition for increasing exports. In the longer term, in order to be able to develop export markets, the sector will benefit from the development of a buyers network, marketing, EU quality labels, and export logistics

Food waste reduction in supply chains through innovations: a review

Purpose – Agri-food supply chains are facing a number of challenges, which cause inefficiencies resulting in the waste of natural and economic resources, and in negative environmental and social impacts. Food waste (FW) is a result of such inefficiencies and supply chain actors search for economically viable innovations to prevent and reduce it. This study aims to analyse the drivers and the barriers that affect the decision of supply chain operators to adopt innovations (technological – TI, organisational – OI and marketing – MI) to reduce FW. Design/methodology/approach – The analysis was carried out using a four-step approach that included: a literature review to identify factors affecting the decision to adopt innovations; analysis of FW drivers and reduction possibilities along agri-food supply chains through innovations; mapping the results of Steps 1 and 2 and deriving conclusions regarding the factors affecting the adoption of innovations to reduce and prevent FWFindings Results show that different types of innovations have a high potential in reducing and preventing FW along the supply chain; however, they still must be economically feasible to be adopted by decision makers in the food supply chain. TI, OI and MI are often interrelated and can trigger each other. When it comes to a combination of different types of innovation to reduce and prevent FW, a good example of combining TI, OI and MI may be observed in the retail sector in Europe. Here, innovative smartphone apps (TI) to promote the sale of products nearing their expiration dates (OI in terms of organising the sales differently and MI in terms of marketing it differently) were developed and adopted via different retailing channels, leading to the creation of a new business model. Practical implications This study analyses the drivers of FW generation together with the factors affecting the decision to adopt innovations to reduce it and provides solutions to supply chain operators to prevent and reduce FW through different types of innovations. Originality/value Literature has not systematically addressed innovations aiming at the reduction of FW yet. This paper provides a comprehensive literature review of the determinants of innovation adoption and offers a novel view on the problem of FW reduction by means of innovation, by linking factors affecting the decision to innovate with FW drivers. Supply chain, Food waste, Technological innovation, Organisational innovation, Marketing innovationpublishedVersio

The use of systems models to identify food waste drivers

In developed countries, the largest share of food waste is produced at household level. Most studies on consumers’ food waste use models that identify covariates as significant when in fact they may not be, particularly where these models use many variables. Here, relying on EU-level Eurobarometer data from 2013, we use alternative analytical methods that avoid these problems (Bayesian Networks) to identify the impact of household characteristics and other variables on self-assessed food waste. Our analysis confirms that the country, the age of the respondent, the status (student/non-student), and a belief that the family wastes too much are related to the level of self-assessed food waste. But we found no evidence that waste behaviours differ between people living in urban and rural areas, and little support of a difference between genders. Households from lower-income EU countries (e.g. Portugal, Greece, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Latvia), as well as students and young adults tend to report higher levels of food waste. Hence, the adoption of an EU strategy based on the concept of subsidiarity, and of country-level policy measures targeting different age groups is suggested. Furthermore, our analysis shows that policy makers need to be wary of relying on analysis based on large datasets that do not control for false-positives, particularly when sample sizes are small

Behavioural economics : assessing food waste innovations diffusion through ABM models - insights from Italy and the Netherlands

Food Waste is problem related to all the actors of the Food Value Chain: producers, retailers and consumers. In this context, retail sector plays an important role in tackling the food waste problem. Food waste at the retail level can be reduced through the adoption of food waste reducing innovations. The authors investigate the most relevant factors that promote the adoption of those innovations among retailers

Monitoring of prices and margins in EU food supply chains

Unfair trading practices and other imperfections of food supply chains have been continuously discussed at EU and Member State level in recent years. Consequently, both the EU and many Member States have started operating price and margin monitoring systems in order to obtain a better insight into developments of prices, costs and profits along food supply chains. This study provides an inventory of the characteristics of food price and margin monitoring systems at EU and Member State level, in international organisations, the OECD and other countries. A typology of the existing monitoring approaches has been developed based on their quantitative in-detail evaluation. This is accompanied by a review of scientific literature empirically assessing asymmetric vertical price transmission along EU food supply chains. We have identified gaps in these existing methodologies and available datasets. Based on this comprehensive evaluation of the state of the art, three alternative food price and margin monitoring approaches have been proposed. The existing and alternative monitoring approaches have been ranked according to their cost efficiency. The practical use and value of two of these alternatives is illustrated by applying them to the supply chains of dairy, pig meat and apples in Bulgaria, France, Poland and the Netherlands.JRC.D.4-Economics of Agricultur

Topkeurmerken en kringlooplandbouw

The Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality wants to stimulate the switch to circular agriculture and is aiming at increasing (conscious) purchasing behaviour. In this perspective, the Ministry explores which sustainability certifications could be included in its policy to stimulate circular agriculture. Therefore, the study answers the question which relevant top sustainability certifications in the Netherlands connect to circular agriculture. Top sustainability certifications related to the Dutch agriculture are ASC, Better Life 1 star label for dairy, Better Life 2 stars label for eggs and meat, and Better Life 3 stars label for eggs, meat and dairy, EU label for organic vegetables, fruit and animal products, with the exception of organic farmed fish, MSC and On the way to PlanetProof. These top sustainability certifications all fit in with circular agriculture. The inventory in this study is based on the benchmark from the vision document of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, and on the assessment criteria for top sustainability certifications from Milieu Centraal