Marija Klopčič

Methods for estimation of daily and lactation milk yields from alternative milk recording scheme in Holstein and Simmental cattle breeds.

Abstract The aim of this study was to compare different statistical methods for the estimation of daily and 305-day lactation milk, fat and protein yields of Holstein and Simmental cattle breeds using an alternative milk recording scheme. Data included 6,824 individual test-day milk yield records collected according to the A4 milk recording method on 668 cows reared on 15 family farms. Daily milk, fat and protein yields were estimated using several statistical methods with regard to breed. The 305-day lactation yields were calculated from estimated daily yields using the Test Interval Method. The correlation between estimated and true yields, as well as the mean difference among estimated and true yield were used as the evaluation criteria for estimation methods. The linear regression of daily to partial milk, fat and protein yields while taking into account the interval between successive milkings was shown to be the most accurate model for estimating daily values, either from morning or evening records. The simple doubling of morning or evening records overestimated and underestimated the daily yields, respectively. When 305-day lactation milk, fat and protein yields were compared no difference between evaluated methods were found. Also, a separate estimation of daily and 305-day lactation yields according to breeds did not result in increased estimation accuracy.

Consumer perceptions of home made, organic, EU certified, and traditional local products in Slovenia

This study provides information on the position of regular, organic, PDO/PGI (Protected Designated Origin/Protected Geographical Indication), mountain and farm made cheeses and sausages in the minds of Slovene consumers, and identifies opportunities to improve the positioning of these products. We present the results of a questionnaire sent to 2,300 Slovene consumers, of which 360 were returned, and 315 did not have any missing values and were used for statistical analysis. The sample provides a reasonable representation of the Slovene population. Respondents answered questions on the relevance of 16 food characteristics, such as nutrition, healthiness, price, animal friendly production, specific region production, taste, and ease of preparation. Respondents gave scores between 1 (not important) and 7 (very important). Also consumers’ perceptions of regular, organic, traditional and farm-made products on these food characteristics were measured. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) identified the following main components: healthiness, good price, sustainable production, traditional production, indulgence and convenience (shopping and preparing). The results show the components which determine Slovene consumers’ intentions to buy different types of cheeses and sausages. It appears that a high score on the relevance of a food characteristic is not necessarily reflected in the buying decision. Implications of the results for the marketing of cheeses and sausages are discussed.

Prediction of lactation milk yield using various milk recording methods

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of various milk recording methods (A4, AT4, A6, AT6) on prediction accuracy of 100, 200 and 305-day milk yield. The data used in this study were 11,430 individual test-day milk yield records collected from November 2004 to November 2006 on 813 cows reared on 15 family farms in Croatia. Milk recording was performed according to A4 and A6 milk recording method by the field officer of the Croatian Livestock Centre. From the corrected database with test-day records, two different datasets were created. The first dataset (A4; n = 7,500) included test day records collected every four weeks, while the second dataset (A6; n = 3,830) included test day records collected every six weeks. When lactation milk yields were predicted from alternative milk recording methods (AT4, AT6), daily (24 h) milk yield was estimated from single evening or morning milk yield using linear model that taken into account effect of interval between successive milkings. Lactation milk yield was calculated for three different days in milk (100, 200 and 305 days) using the Test Interval Method (TIM) that is reference method by ICAR (ICAR, 2003). Results show that the alternate milk recording method at 4-week intervals provides low bias and high accuracy of prediction of 100, 200 and 305-milk yields, while milk recording methods at 6-week intervals gives prediction of 305-milk yield with higher bias and lower accuracy.

Review of stakeholders influencing food chain in Slovenia in the context of food consumer science

The stakeholders affecting functioning of food chain in Slovenia are reviewed taking into account the context of food consumer science. All segments directly or indirectly connected to the food chain are described. The deliverers of food, i.e. producers, processors and distributors, and the consumers’ life and consumers’ mind/culture are given main consideration. Interrelationships are discussed between these groups themselves, and between these groups and administrative bodies such as research and educational organisations, facilitators, investors and media.

Consumer preferences regarding national and EU quality labels for cheese, ham and honey: The case of Slovenia

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate consumer preferences in the Slovenian context with regard to cheese, ham and honey labelled with the national and EU protected designation of origin (PDO) indication and the protected geographical indication (PGI) associated with price and origin. Design/methodology/approach An online survey with a representative sample of the Slovenian population of 650 consumers was conducted. Consumer preferences were estimated using choice-based conjoint analysis. Findings The findings show that price is the most powerful driver of consumer preferences for cheese and honey, whereas it is origin for ham, which proved to be the most strongly desired “Slovenian” food product of all items analysed. Label is the least preferable attribute for all three products considered. Cheese, ham and honey bearing the national PDO and PGI labels were more desired than products carrying the EU PDO and PGI labels. The study findings also show the main statistically significant differences in the age and gender of consumers. Research limitations/implications The biggest limitation is that the study focused on certain labels only, related to quality, and origin in particular. Practical implications This result highlights the need to extend and intensify promotional and communication activities to increase consumer preferences for the national and EU PDO- and PGI-labelled cheeses, ham and honey. Originality/value This study contributes to relevant literature by presenting the results regarding consumer preferences for the EU and national quality labels for different food categories in Slovenia, which has no tradition in using the EU quality labels.

Country Differences in the History of Use of Health Claims and Symbols

Health-related claims and symbols are intended as aids to help consumers make informed and healthier food choices but they can also stimulate the food industry to develop food that goes hand in hand with a healthier lifestyle. In order to better understand the role that health claims and symbols currently have and in the future potentially can have, the objective of the CLYMBOL project (“Role of health-related claims and symbols in consumer behaviour”, Grant no 311963) is to investigate consumers’ understanding of health claims and symbols, and how they affect purchasing and consumption [1]. As part of this endeavour, it is important to understand the history of use of claims and symbols in Europe. What have consumers been exposed to and how were these health-related messages used and discussed among the public? In this study, we interviewed key stakeholders across Europe about how health claims have been regulated in their country, how health symbols have been and currently are being treated, what form of monitoring there is or should be and how both health claims and symbols have been debated in the public opinion. In 26 European Union (EU) Member States, opinions from 53 key informants from up to three different stakeholder groups were gathered: national food authorities, representatives of the food industry, and consumer organisations. While 14 Member States reported (at least partial) regulation of the use of health claims and/or symbols before the introduction of the EU Regulation (EC 1924/2006) on nutrition and health claims made on foods [2], mandatory reporting of use had only been in place in three EU Member States. A number of voluntary codes of practice for health claims and/or symbols (i.e. pre-approval or justification when challenged) was said to be in use in 15 Member States. There are only a few national databases on health claims and symbols available, the data for which is often incomplete. Only eight Member States reported having some form of database from which information about health claims and symbols could be extracted. The stakeholders interviewed expressed a strong interest in measuring the impact of health claims and symbols, particularly research into the effects on consumer behaviour (e.g. awareness and understanding, attitudes towards products carrying claims and symbols and purchase/consumption effects), public health (health outcomes and changes in national health status due to the introduction of claims and symbols on food products) and economic aspects including sales, return on investment and reputation measurements. Public debates were said to have evolved around the topics of consumer understanding of claims, acceptance as well as trust in the information presented but also the effects on vulnerable groups such as children and elderly consumers. Another field of debate was said to have been the question of the effectiveness of health claims and symbols. Lastly, stakeholders reported that public debates focussed mainly on the legislative aspects, i.e. how to apply the EU Regulation (No 1924/2006) with regards to wording issues, the evaluation process at the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the status of various claims and the nutrient profile modelling to be introduced in Europe.

Dairy farmers’ business strategies in Central and Eastern Europe based on evidence from Lithuania, Poland and Slovenia

Abstract To evaluate market-oriented strategic decision-making by farmers in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) farm development paths of dairy farmers in Slovenia, Poland and Lithuania were analysed. The influence of internal strengths and weaknesses, external opportunities and threats, and farmer goals on strategic choices and performance were explored. Principal component, hierarchical cluster and regression analyses were performed to test the conceptual framework. Seven strategic groups emerged with specific development paths, that is, Wait and see, Movers, Chain integrators, Specializers and Diversifiers. The latter two split into cooperative and independent groups. Maximisation of profit and sustainable farming ranked highest as farming goals. Availability of land and labour were weaknesses for all strategic groups in all countries. External opportunities and threats varied between countries and to a lesser degree between strategic groups. The Wait and see and Cooperating diversifier groups gave less optimistic scores than other strategic groups. The attitudes of CEE farmers towards the market and future Common Agricultural Policy remain more negative than those of a group of Western European farmers. The results of this study confirm that internal strengths and weaknesses, external opportunities and threats, together with farmers’ goals and strategies influence farmer performance, but independently of each other. Strategies do not appear to be a mediating variable between the internal and external environment of the farm and the performance of the farm. Policy makers, companies and extension workers should take the heterogeneity in strategic development into account when dealing with these and similar groups of farms.

Overview of consumer research in Western Balkan countries

A set of 205 publications from Western Balkan countries was gathered and systematically ordered as an action of the EU project ‘Focus Balkans – Food Consumer Sciences in the Balkans’. Six country reports provided the base data. Methodologically, publications were split up by the use of primary or secondary data or both, as well as being a qualitative or quantitative study. Qua research concept focus on the individual (human being), on the environment or on the product itself was analysed. As research tools interviews, focus groups and experiments as well as surveys, questionnaires and on-line panel data were considered. There is in general a lack of primary data, and a disproportion between qualitative and quantitative studies in favour of quantitative in the WBC. The majority of publications gathered were ‘environment’ oriented. There is somewhat less focus on fruit than on other product groups, being organic, traditional and health claimed. Use of interviews and written questionnaires is by far the most popular. On-line panels are not yet utilized. A study of keywords listed gave quite a useful and objective impression concerning the emphasis on different topics in the various WBC publications under consideration. The keywords indicate a focus on ‘market’ and ‘marketing’ research in most countries. Consumer ‘behaviour’ and ‘attitude’ are less listed as a main keyword, while, remarkably, ‘obesity’ as concept is hardly mentioned. It was noted that the ‘house’ of scientific expertise in this field has, perhaps, a poor foundation, while ‘the pillars behind consumer science’ are not interrelated and fastened together. Indeed, a multidisciplinary approach is rare. There is also a lack of interaction with the international community. By far the most publications are published in the local languages and nearly all are written by local authors. Some of the countries conclude that there is a huge knowledge gap on food consumers’ science and that should be used as a stimulus for developing further research and knowledge transfer in this field.

Market trends and consumer behaviour relating to organic products in the Western Balkan Countries

Organic agriculture in Western Balkan Countries (WBC) has promising perspectives. Natural resources of extraordinary richness, heterogeneity and quality are primary preconditions for a prosperous agriculture in general, and also for organic agriculture and wild plant collection. The market and consumption situation can be described as ‘patchwork’. Some elements reflect the early beginning of the organic sector in Western Europe, with direct selling, short supply chains and little processing. On the other hand, committed, strategic and highly professional market actors show within the WBC organic markets successful examples of marketing of organic products and efficient organisation of supply chains. Generally, preconditions for further positive market development are fulfilled. It is the current heterogeneity that illustrates best the potential of the organic sector in WBC, both at the production and consumption levels. Some macroeconomic and transnational factors, like the economic slowdown in Europe or the world-wide financial crisis, might hinder the development of the organic sector as they limit access to financial resources and slow down the broadening of a ‘middle class’ with more wealth and purchasing power. Apart from these factors, which are difficult to influence, the barriers to be overcome are rather typical for young markets: aggregation of critical volumes, constitution of critical production basins, producer organisation, professionalization, scaling up, and information for and communication with consumers. These are the main areas where weaknesses exist today.

Consumer attitudes to food quality products : emphasis on Southern Europe

aspects of food consumer science, relevant theory and appropriate research methods. The application in the Western Balkan countries.