Transparency in Meat Production – Consumer Perception at the Point of Sale

As a result of a large number of food scandals, societal interest in transparency in the food sector has grown considerably. Deficits have been discovered, which new legal frameworks of the EU and the German legislative body have attempted to address. Hence, the creation of transparency in the production process has been the focus of the legislation. In this context, traceability systems for animal-based foods, for instance, have been established (Regulation (EC) 178/2002). In addition to tracking and tracing, one finds in the public discussion an increasing number of demands for further information, for instance information on food safety, animal and environmental protection and generally for sustainability of the production processes for foods. This is intended as a response to the general call for more transparency or a "gläserne Produktion ". It has not been sufficiently clarified which information about the production process, and thus which level of transparency is actually desired, or can actually be processed, by consumers at the point of sale. This is related to the question of to what extent the demands for more transparency in meat production are influenced by new campaigns of many consumer organisations and NGOs, or whether these actually represent user preferences at the point of sale. In order to analyse this topic from the viewpoint of the consumer, a large-scale empirical study has been conducted. This is intended to determine what transparency expectations, in the form of information on packaged pork, consumers have, using an adaptive conjoint analysisTransparency, pork production, adaptive conjoint analysis., Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Labor and Human Capital,

Networking in Meat Production Systems: The Influence of Cooperative Structures on Farmers’ Participation

Increasing competitive pressures as well as growing requirements with regard to quality and safety pose a continuous challenge for farmers in European agrifood netchains. Against this background, the significance of network‐wide collaboration has been pointed out in recent years, especially for German livestock farming (Petersen et al., 2007). In the literature, it is generally agreed that participation in specialized networks can be beneficial to the competitiveness of individual farms and firms (Gellynck, Vermeire and Viaene, 2006). (more....

Standortvorteil Nordwestdeutschland? Eine Untersuchung zum Einfluss von Netzwerk- und Clusterstrukturen in der Schweinefleischerzeugung

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The Influence of Clusters on the Competitiveness of Hog Production: The Example of Northwestern Germany

In recent decades the northwestern part of Germany (Weser-Ems region) has come to focus on intensive pork production. This has led to public outrage about the disposal of biological waste, farmers’ complaints about the high cost of leasing land, soaring risks of animal diseases, and the decreasing popularity of intensive animal husbandry. However, despite these problems, due to a beneficial cluster structure, the region is a successful market participant. To shed some light on the relationship between network relationships in clusters and competitiveness, an empirical survey was undertaken to compare this pork-intensive region with non–pork-intensive regions. Bi- and multivariate analyses reveal a better access to knowledge and information on the part of farmers in the Weser-Ems region as well as a higher regional competitiveness. As a result, the cluster region characterized by intensive hog production is economically more successful

Von der Wertschöpfungskette zum Netzwerk: methodische Ansätze zur Analyse des Verbundsystems der Veredelungswirtschaft Nordwestdeutschlands

In der modernen Veredlungswirtschaft nimmt Nordwestdeutschland mit den Intensivregionen Weser-Ems und Westfalen-Lippe eine herausragende Position im internationalen Wettbewerb ein (Spiller et al. 2005; Windhorst und Grabkowsky 2008). Vor dem Hintergrund neuer ökonomischer, rechtlicher und gesellschaftlicher Herausforderungen gilt es, diese Position kontinuierlich zu verteidigen. Vor allem Fragen zur Qualität und Sicherheit von Lebensmitteln und deren Herstellungsprozessen, aber auch das Erstarken ausländischer Wettbewerber sowie steigende Futtermittelkosten erlangen zunehmende Bedeutung insbesondere für die Fleischproduktion..

Von der Wertschöpfungskette zum Netzwerk: methodische Ansätze zur Analyse des Verbundsystems der Veredelungswirtschaft Nordwestdeutschlands

In der modernen Veredlungswirtschaft nimmt Nordwestdeutschland mit den Intensivregionen Weser-Ems und Westfalen-Lippe eine herausragende Position im internationalen Wettbewerb ein (Spiller et al. 2005; Windhorst und Grabkowsky 2008). Vor dem Hintergrund neuer ökonomischer, rechtlicher und gesellschaftlicher Herausforderungen gilt es, diese Position kontinuierlich zu verteidigen. Vor allem Fragen zur Qualität und Sicherheit von Lebensmitteln und deren Herstellungsprozessen, aber auch das Erstarken ausländischer Wettbewerber sowie steigende Futtermittelkosten erlangen zunehmende Bedeutung insbesondere für die Fleischproduktion... --

Transparency in Meat Production – Consumer Perception at the Point of Sale

As a result of a large number of food scandals, societal interest in transparency in the food sector has grown considerably. Deficits have been discovered, which new legal frameworks of the EU and the German legislative body have attempted to address. Hence, the creation of transparency in the production process has been the focus of the legislation. In this context, traceability systems for animal-based foods, for instance, have been established (Regulation (EC) 178/2002). In addition to tracking and tracing, one finds in the public discussion an increasing number of demands for further information, for instance information on food safety, animal and environmental protection and generally for sustainability of the production processes for foods. This is intended as a response to the general call for more transparency or a "gläserne Produktion ". It has not been sufficiently clarified which information about the production process, and thus which level of transparency is actually desired, or can actually be processed, by consumers at the point of sale. This is related to the question of to what extent the demands for more transparency in meat production are influenced by new campaigns of many consumer organisations and NGOs, or whether these actually represent user preferences at the point of sale. In order to analyse this topic from the viewpoint of the consumer, a large-scale empirical study has been conducted. This is intended to determine what transparency expectations, in the form of information on packaged pork, consumers have, using an adaptive conjoint analysi

Networking in Meat Production Systems: The Influence of Cooperative Structures on Farmers’ Participation

Against the background of increasing competitive pressures and growing requirements with regard to food quality and safety, the significance of network-wide collaboration in food production has been pointed out in recent years. With this in mind, it is the objective of this paper to analyse pig farmers’ network participation in general and to explore whether cooperative structures in food supply chains influence the type as well as the quality of farmers’ network relations. Our results show that cooperative structures influence pig fattening farmers’ network participation concerning relationship quality with slaughterhouses as well as farmers’ choice of network partners for information exchange and consultancy. Furthermore, the results show that farmers delivering to cooperatively owned processors evaluate the relationship with their slaughterhouses significantly better than farmers dealing with private slaughterhouses. The results provide cooperatives with starting points for developing attractive services for farmers and improving their relationships with their suppliers

Networking in Meat Production Systems: The Influence of Cooperative Structures on Farmers’ Participation

Increasing competitive pressures as well as growing requirements with regard to quality and safety pose a continuous challenge for farmers in European agrifood netchains. Against this background, the significance of network‐wide collaboration has been pointed out in recent years – especially for German livestock farming (Petersen et al., 2007). In the literature, it is generally agreed that participation in specialized networks can be beneficial to the competitiveness of individual farms and firms (Gellynck, Vermeire and Viaene, 2006). The northwestern part of Germany – known to be one of Europe’s major centres of pig production – apparently provides good structural preconditions for farms’ and firms’ comprehensive network participation due to an agglomeration of potential interaction partners specialized in pork production. Nonetheless, empirical studies show that, despite these good preconditions, farmers’ participation in networks is often limited. Spiller et al. (2005) for instance, found weaknesses with regard to relationship quality between pig fattening farmers and slaughterhouses. This might be due to power inequalities as well as manifold principal‐agent relationships in food supply chains characterized by information asymmetries and utility‐maximizing behaviour that limits cooperation between supply chain partners and reduces transparency of food supply chains (Theuvsen, 2004; Hingley, 2005; Deimel, Frentrup and Theuvsen, 2008)