An inventory of recent innovations in fruit and fruit products

The goals of this study were to make an inventory of recent and ongoing fruit and fruit product innovations, to assess what novelty or improvement they offer, and whether consumers could identify and/or recognise them. Researchers from 11 European countries submitted 386 examples of fruit and fruit product innovations. The list of innovations obtained has been coded, categorised, sorted, and reduced in subsequent stages. First, the examples received were categorised according to the Oslo Manual definitions. Second, product and marketing innovations were selected, as they are the only ones that were likely to be recognised by consumers. Next, analysis revealed that the novelties these innovations offered related to Convenience, Health, Differentiation, Target Group, Information, Sensory Characteristics, In Home and/or Out of Home Quality. Some innovations offered only one novel aspect, whereas others offered multiple aspects. Interrelationships between novel aspects are discussed for those innovations that offered a combination of aspects

A qualitative analysis on trends in fruit consumption in four European countries

Abstract The aim of this paper is to present future fruit consumption trends in four European countries using expert interviews. Experts from both outside and within the food fruit sector in Greece, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain were asked to elaborate on the trend factors that have influenced fruit consumption in the past and on the trend factors that are expected to have an impact in the future. Furthermore, they were asked to draw possible future scenarios on fruit consumption. As expected, the most important past trend factor that emerged in all countries was the importance of people¿s health in relation to fruit consumption. Besides the health trend, which is expected to become even more important, convenience is also indicated as an important determinant of fruit consumption in the future. In addition, future scenarios drawn by the experts were concerned with health aspects, convenience and a decreasing impact of economic factors. Moreover, all experts predicted that future fruit consumption in Europe will increase significantly

A scale for consumer confidence in the safety of food

The aim of this study was to develop and validate a scale to measure general consumer confidence in the safety of food. Results from exploratory and confirmatory analyses indicate that general consumer confidence in the safety of food consists of two distinct dimensions, optimism and pessimism, which can co-exist. Since optimism and pessimism may not be activated by the same events, or at the same time, these dimensions should be assessed and evaluated separately, in order to increase understanding of consumer confidence in the safety of food, and to develop effective food risk communicatio

Role of product characteristics for the adoption of fruit and fruit product innovations

The aim of this study was the identification of those product characteristics that are important for the adoption of fruit and fruit product innovations by consumers. Sixteen focus group discussions were held in four European countries (Greece, The Netherlands, Poland, and Spain). Different aspects of six innovative fruit products were discussed, revealing those characteristics that were important for the adoption of each of them. It was observed that the participants did not perceive fruit innovations as a homogenous group, but assigned them to different groups, which led to a number of categories of fruit innovation. Three categories concerned the level of preparation of fruit. These were fresh, prepared, and processed fruit product innovations. Another two categories, radical and evolutionary innovations, related to the level of novelty of the fruit innovation. Characteristics important for the adoption of each of these categories are given.The results will be used for further, more quantitative, research

Zorgen op het platteland

Ouderen hebben vaak zorg nodig. Doordat het platteland sneller vergrijst dan andere gebieden neemt de vraag naar zorg hier sterker toe. Het tekort aan vrijwilligers op het platteland leidt ertoe dat de informele zorg en daardoor de leefbaarheid onder druk komen te staan. Voor het werven van potentiële vrijwilligers moeten vrijwilligersorganisaties en overheid voorwaarden creëren waardoor de potentiële vrijwilligers daadwerkelijk actief worden

Kuubskist met golfbodem : Een alternatief uit de praktijk

Op het bloembollenbedrijf van de Gebroeders Klaver is sinds 1995 een kuubskist in gebruik waarvan de geperforeerde bodemplaat gegolfd is. De luchtopbrengst is door PPO doorgemeten. De kisten met de golfbodem gaven bij het sneldrogen (2 diep x 4 hoog) gemiddeld 21% meer lucht dan de kisten met een platte bodem. Hierdoor zijn de bollen 3 – 5 uur eerder droog. Dit bespaart 13 tot 34% energie. Bij 4 hoog x 10 diep in de bewaarcel bleek de spreiding in debiet over de kisten met een golfbodem slechts iets groter. De luchtopbrengst is bij een stapeling van 9 diep 3% hoger dan bij gewone kisten, bij 7 diep 5% en bij 5 diep 10% hoger. Dit betekent een energiebesparing bij de circulatie van respectievelijk 9, 16 en 26%. Omdat bewaren 3 tot 4 maanden duurt en drogen bijvoorkeur slechts 24 uur, wordt in absolute zin bij het bewaren de meeste energie bespaard

Verslag project “Aan de slag met intermediairs”

Het project State of the Art liet o.a. zien dat uiteenlopende bewaarwanden sterk verbeterd kunnen worden waarmee de luchtverdeling over de kisten gelijkmatiger wordt. Er kan dan flink worden teruggetoerd terwijl de minst beluchte laag toch nog voldoende lucht krijgt. Door het 3de machts verband tussen toerental en energieverbruik wordt dan zeer fors op elektra bespaard. Doel van dit project is intermediairs te demonstreren hoe door middel van het doormeten van systeemwanden deze verbeterd kunnen worden. Daarnaast zijn de resultaten van het State-of-the-Art project bij bloembollenbedrijven extra onder de aandacht gebracht door een artikelenreeks in Bloembollenvisie

Nieuwkomers in het landelijk gebied

Een verkennend onderzoek naar nieuwkomers in het landelijk gebied op basis van literatuur, data en gesprekken met sleutelpersonen in Reeuwijk en op Schouwen-Duiveland. De definitie van nieuwkomers is niet eenduidig. Nieuwkomers zijn nauw betrokken bij het verenigingsleven, maar zijn in het lokale beleid minder actief. De aanwezige natuur en landschap in gemeenten vormt een verbindend element tussen nieuwkomers en autochtonen. Gemeenten kunnen daar meer op inspelen. This report reviews an exploratory study of newcomers in rural areas on the basis of a literature study, analyses of data and interviews with key figures in Reeuwijk and Schouwen-Duiveland. The definition of 'newcomers' was found to be fairly different. Newcomers are involved in local societies and clubs, but are less involved in local policy. The municipalities' nature and landscape create ties between newcomers and the indigenous population. Municipalities could make more use of this potential

Driftarme doppen voor de Opzetterteelt (laanbomen)

Een aantal middelen in de laanboomteelt (spillen en opzetters) mag alleen gebruikt worden met driftarme doppen. Onduidelijk is welke. De activiteiten binnen dit project geven hierin helderheid

A Viral Branching Model for Predicting the Spread of Electronic Word-of-Mouth

In a viral marketing campaign an organization develops a marketing message, and stimulates customers to forward this message to their contacts. Despite its increasing popularity, there are no models yet that help marketers to predict how many customers a viral marketing campaign will reach, and how marketers can influence this process through marketing activities. This paper develops such a model using the theory of branching processes. The proposed Viral Branching Model allows customers to participate in a viral marketing campaign by 1) opening a seeding email from the organization, 2) opening a viral email from a friend, and 3) responding to other marketing activities such as banners and offline advertising. The model parameters are estimated using individual-level data that become available in large quantities already in the early stages of viral marketing campaigns. The Viral Branching Model is app