Consumers’ Perceptions of Novel Process Technologies: The Case of High Pressure Processed Chilled Ready Meals

Consumers’ growing concerns with regard to the food supply chain continue to influence their perceptions of emerging novel food processes. The main objective of this study was to explore consumers’ perceptions and potential purchase motivations for chilled ready meals produced using high pressure processing. In-depth one-to-one soft laddering interviews were conducted in-home with 40 purchasers of chilled ready meals, aged between 18 and 44 years, living in Dublin City and County, Ireland. The in-depth discussions explored a range of issues concerning consumers’ acceptance of high pressure processing, as well as their preferences for high pressure processed chilled ready meal concepts. The results of the study showed that consumers were generally receptive towards high pressure processing of chilled ready meals. Subsequent discussions revealed where consumer acceptance issues could potentially arise concerning the application of high pressure processing to chilled ready meals. The soft laddering technique revealed distinct differences between consumer groups across consumption patterns and life stages with regard to their purchase preferences and potential purchase motivations. The insights generated from this research can assist companies design consumer-relevant communication strategies, which effectively differentiate high pressure processed chilled ready meal from incumbent products.Means-end Chain, Consumer Acceptance, Novel Process Technologies., Agricultural and Food Policy,

Technology Transfer in the Irish Food Industry: Researcher Perspectives

The public R&D system represents an important part of the framework conditions for carrying out innovation activities and creating commercially applicable knowledge (Drejer and Jørgensen, 2004). It is an important source of information for companies, particularly those that are developing new products (Tijssen, 2004). However, Rubenstein (2003) stated that there has been a perception that public research capacity and results were not being optimally used and thus that potential economic benefits were not entirely realised. It is also suggested that research conducted in the public sector is not efficiently or successfully transferred to industry (Markman et al, 1999) and that it is necessary to understand and improve the means of technology transfer for society to reap the benefits of public science (Geuna and Nesta, 2003). Thus, there is a growing interest, and indeed pressure, among policymakers and academics to ensure informed spending of taxpayers’ money, that useful and relevant research is conducted that represents good “value for money” and that wealth is generated from publicly-funded research (Carr, 1992; Lyall et al., 2004; Mustar et al., 2006). To achieve this requires, amongst other things, the establishment of scientific and technical human capital which is the sum of researchers’ professional network ties and their technical skills and resources (Bozeman and Coreley, 2004). This paper examines the interactions engaged in by researchers from Irish public science providers (public research centres and higher education institutions), with a particular focus on researchers- industry interactions, as well as their skills and resources. To provide context, it firstly briefly outlines the actors involved in conducting publicly funded R&D in Ireland. It then describes the methodology and presents the results of a national survey of publicly funded food researchers focusing on the extent and nature of researcher interactions with other researchers and with industry, the barriers to and motivations for researcher-industry interaction and researcher skills regarding technology transfer. It concludes with a discussion and some policy recommendations.Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Industrial Organization,

Interactions in Ireland's Food Innovation System

This paper presents an analysis of the Irish food innovation system. The research was conducted as part of a larger project aimed at developing a research commercialisation toolbox to assist public research organisations and universities improve technology transfer and commercialisation of publicly funded food research. Ireland’s food innovation system (FIS) is discussed for the first time to identify key actors, agencies and knowledge flows that contribute to food innovation nationally. Following a section in which a FIS is defined, an overview of the food industry and its research activities are presented to provide context for the current research and the discussion that follows. The methodology adopted for this research is then outlined with identification and discussion of the key actors in the FIS the focus of the next section. The main findings of the research are then presented, followed by conclusions and an outline of future research to be conducted on the Irish FIS.Agribusiness, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Knowledge Transfer in the Irish Food Innovation System: Industry and Researcher Perspectives

The new EU Animal Health Strategy suggests a shift in emphasis away from control towards prevention and surveillance activities for the management of threats to animal health. The optimal combination of these actions will differ among diseases and depend on largely unknown and uncertain costs and benefits. This paper reports an empirical investigation of this issue for the case of Avian Influenza. The results suggest that the optimal combination of actions will be dependent on the objective of the decision maker and that conflict exists between an optimal strategy which minimises costs to the government and one which maximises producer profits or minimises negative effects on human health. From the perspective of minimising the effects on human health, prevention appears preferable to cure but the case is less clear for other objectives.Knowledge transfer, technology transfer, Irish food sector, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Eating Out in the British Isles

This paper presents a comparative analysis of the foodservice industries in both Ireland and the UK. Each industry is analysed separately using the most recently available Household Budget Survey datasets for Ireland and the most recent Expenditure and Food Datasets for the UK and is disaggregated into quick-service (fast food and takeaway) and full-service (hotel and restaurant meals), the two largest components of each industry. A double hurdle model, adjusted for misspecification, is used in this analysis. A number of variables affect both dependent variables in the same way, for example, income and age and the number of workers variable, but differences are apparent throughout the discussion. Perhaps the most interesting point to highlight is how similar the Irish and UK results for both quick-service and full-service expenditure have been despite the UK industry being at a more mature stage of growth. Health awareness significantly reduces the likelihood of participation and reduces the amount of expenditure on quick-service but no similar effect is observed for full-service in either Ireland or the UK, which in itself is significant as the UK industry is more developed than its Irish equivalent.Food-Away-From-Home, Quick-service, Full-service, Double Hurdle Model, Box-Cox Transformation., Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, D12, D13, C34, R2.,

A double-hurdle model of Irish households' foodservice expenditure patterns

The aim of this paper is to analyse the various factors fuelling demand for Food- Away - From- Home (FAFH) in Ireland. The two largest components of this industry, the quick- service sector (fast food and takeaway) and the full- service sector (hotel and restaurant meals), are analysed using the most recently available Household Budget Survey data for Ireland. The results from a Box- Cox double hurdle model indicate that different variables affect expenditure in the different sectors in different ways. Income has a greater effect on full- service expenditure than on quick- service. Similarly households that are healthconscious indicate a greater preference for full- service meals while households with higher time values indicate a greater preference for quick- service. Households of a higher social class and those with higher education levels also appear to favour full- service expenditure. In addition, younger, urbanised households favour quick- service meal options. The results emphasise the merits of adopting a disaggregated approach to analysing foodservice expenditure patterns.Foodservice, Food- Away- From- Home, Quick- service, Fullservice, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, D12, D13, C34, R2,

Beef quality attributes: a systematic review of consumer perspectives.

Informed by quality theory, this systematic literature review seeks to determine the relative importance of beef quality attributes from a consumer perspective, considering search, experience and credence quality attributes. While little change is anticipated in consumer ranking of search and experience attributes in the future, movement is expected in terms of ranking within the credence category and also in terms of the ranking of credence attributes overall. This highlights an opportunity for quality assurance schemes (QAS) to become more consumer focused through including a wider range of credence attributes. To capitalise on this opportunity, the meat industry should actively anticipate new relevant credence attributes and researchers need to develop new or better methods to measure them. This review attempts to identify the most relevant quality attributes in beef that may be considered in future iterations of QAS, to increase consumer satisfaction and, potentially, to increase returns to industry

Factors Influencing Trust-Supporting Mechanisms in European Agri-Food Chains

The role of trust in eight selected agri-food chains in four EU countries is explored. The empirical analysis is based on a qualitative assessment of 28 expert interviews conducted in summer/autumn 2005. The findings suggest that trust is more pronounced among SMEs which are characterised by the existence of personal relationships between business partners. However, as is clear for pork breeders, if a source of distrust exists, trust may not fully develop. Also, if the general economic situation is difficult, the development of trust may be hampered, because all chain participants are struggling to command a share of a diminishing margin within the chain. Finally, if economic power is distributed unevenly, as is the case in Germany, Ireland, Spain and the UK where retailers dominate most chains, trust towards the more powerful may be limited.trust, economic relationships, EU, agri-food chains, Agribusiness,

Agri-food chain relationships in Europe – empirical evidence and implications for sector competitiveness

The roles of business relationships in selected European agri-food chains are analysed. Using survey data from 1,442 farmers, food processors and retailers in two commodity sectors (meat and cereals) and across six different EU countries, we test the empirical relevance of several theory-based determinants influencing the choice of relationship type and the sustainability of inter-enterprise relationships. This is undertaken for the overall dataset and separately for different chain stages (farmer-processor versus the processor-retailer relationships), commodities and individual countries. Overall, we find that sector and enterprise-specific determinants seem to influence the choice of a certain relationship type while chain-internal, dyadic factors affect the sustainability of relationships. A logistic regression analysis reveals that the preference for a relationship type, while being highly chain-specific, depends on the long-term orientation and the strive for independence of an enterprise and the product-quality requirements within a corresponding market. As for the sustainability of the analysed relationships, structural equation modelling results suggest that its most important determinant is effective communication, with its two components, adequate communication frequency and high information quality, being equally important. The existence of personal bonds and an equal power distribution between buyers and suppliers are the second most important determinants, followed by the negative impact of key staff leaving. The analysis also reveals that the relative importance of these determinants differs significantly across the two considered chain stages and between the countries investigated. Agribusiness managers, seeking to improve their supplier or buyer relationships, need to consider the crucial role of effective communication and the positive contribution that the existence of personal bonds can make to the development and maintenance of sustainable interactions.business relationships, agri-food chains, competitiveness, Agribusiness,