Stefano Pascucci

Indications for drivers of innovation in the food sector

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to analyse the main dynamics of the Italian food system, focusing on the relationships between the inclination to innovate and a set of firm characteristics.Design/methodology/approach – The empirical analysis includes two steps. In the first, principal component analysis is carried out in order to identify factors that can explain the features that differentiate Italian food firms. In the second phase the role of such factors on innovation behaviour is quantified by means of a logit model.Findings – The empirical analysis showed that, in the Italian food sector, innovation adoption follows different patterns when product or process innovation is considered. In particular, the probability of introducing product innovation is influenced by the quality of human capital, the geographical context and, to a lesser extent, the age of the firm.Research limitations/implications – The research is restricted in so far as it only considers the Italian food sector. Because the da...

The “dark side” of food banks? Exploring emotional responses of food bank receivers in the Netherlands

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to address how food, social status as well as the interactions at the food bank induce emotions in receivers, such as shame, gratitude and anger. Since early 2000s a steadily growing number of low-income and/or over-indebted households in the Netherlands alleviate their situation with food donations from local food banks. Such food banks collect from companies edible food that would otherwise have gone to waste. The growing demand for food assistance indicates it is a welcome contribution to the groceries in many households. However, receiving food assistance as well as eating the products forces the receivers to set aside embodied dispositions towards food and norms about how to obtain food. Furthermore, it places them in interactions of charitable giving that may be harmful to the self-esteem of receivers. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on a qualitative study at a food bank in the Netherlands, consisting among others of in-depth interviews with 17...

Paying to see a bug on my food: how regulations and information can hamper radical innovations in the European Union

– The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of the European Novel Food Regulation (ENFR) on consumers’ acceptance of and willingness to pay (WTP) for radical food innovations. The research question is focussed on determining whether the ENFR is hampering the market potential of insect-based food products in the European Union (EU). The authors position this question within the domain of regulatory barriers related to food innovations. , – Using a choice experiment, the authors assess the presence and relevance of these failures through the analysis of consumers’ acceptance and WTP for insect-based food products with different product attributes directly imposed by the ENFR. Namely, the authors assess the effect of the visualization of insects in the product, the use of logo, and nutritional information. , – The results show that consumers prefer and are willing to pay a premium price for insect-based products with a nutritional health claim and logo, but they are not willing to pay for a product with a visualized insect. , – This paper highlights the risk of regulatory failures for novel foods in the EU, such as insect-based food products due to the ENFR.

Open Innovation: A Case‐study of the Hungarian Wine Sector

An effective innovation system is crucial for food companies to counteract international competitive pressure. An important issue is whether it is more effective to innovate by sharing ideas and resources with other companies, or to innovate in-house. The question is how to arrange external ties without compromising unique knowledge and assets. This is particularly controversial in the wine sector, where innovative marketing strategies have to be combined with ‘exclusive’ and ‘secret’ recipes. We use primary data on the Hungarian wine industry. We find that Hungarian wine companies are actively using ‘open sources’ in their innovation processes, even more than commonly acknowledged in the literature and the policy debate. Furthermore, we find that both regional and company-specific factors affect the openness of innovation processes. Our findings point to the importance of the flow of new ideas that comes from global trends and from dealing with foreign companies and stakeholders. This result is supportive of internationalisation strategies at both company and sector level. Furthermore, our findings are supportive of policies oriented towards the creation of business parks and rural clusters, where farmers, processors and tech-companies can establish networks to create new products and/or processing technologies.

The importance of stakeholder-initiatives for business models in short food supply chains: the case of the Netherlands

While the interest in Short Food Supply Chains (SFSCs) is growing, we still await management studies that explore the impact of stakeholders of SFSCs in substantial numbers. This article investigates the differences in the business models of SFSCs that may be attributed to the initiator-stakeholder, interacting with other stakeholders. Essential to business models are the value proposition, value creation and value capture, but it is the ambition of the initiator-stakeholder that starts a SFSC. Initiator-stakeholders of 57 SFSCs were interviewed on a combination of both multiple choice and open questions. The data converges on three categories of business models. First and foremost, a large majority of SFSCs is driven by the aim of the initiator-stakeholder to increase economic viability, uses the market as governance structure, resulting in profit margins likely to be above margins in conventional business. Two other categories of business models of SFSCs group around the theme of producer-support, and, producer-consumer interaction, respectively.

Marketing Channel Selection by Smallholder Farmers

This article aims at analyzing Beninese smallholder famers’ selection of high value markets, such as export and processing-oriented marketing channels, in the pineapple supply chain. Four main marketing channels were investigated: rural, urban, and export fresh pineapple markets and processing-oriented markets. Primary data collected from 285 pineapple farmers through a field survey in different locations in South Benin were used to analyze simultaneous selection of multiple channels. A multivariate probit approach has been used in our empirical strategy. Farmers’ characteristics, production systems features, quality attributes, and types of marketing context have been used as main explanatory variables. Results indicate the Beninese pineapple farmers select market channels with high values when they have the expertise and know-how for coping and complying with quality issues.

The “Young” Consumer Perception of Functional Foods in Italy

We analysed the role of acceptance of functional foods (FFs) focusing on the preferences expressed by three distinct groups of young Italian consumers. FFs represent an innovation both in terms of technology and marketing for Italian food companies, and the segment of young consumers would appear especially interested in them. Our results showed that a different cultural education, hence the degree of knowledge cumulated by young consumers, is a key element in the preference for, and perception of FFs. This implies the need to identify differentiated marketing strategies for firms seeking to reach this segment of FF demand in Italy.

Are in-house and outsourcing innovation strategies interlinked? Evidence from the European agri-food sector

We analyse European agri-food firms’ choices about innovation in-house or through outsourcing and provide empirical evidence about the correlation between these strategies. The relationship between the innovation strategy and firm-, industry- and innovation-specific characteristics is analysed through a bivariate probit model, which uses firm data from the EFIGE Bruegel-UniCredit dataset. Transaction cost, resource base and knowledge governance arguments are used to explain the choice of innovation strategy. Our results show that the decisions to innovate in-house or through outsourcing are independent from each other. In addition, we find that several organisational characteristics such as communication systems, human resource practices and specialisation are likely to influence both strategies. Conversely, organisational characteristics such as the allocation of authority and the business network do not seem relevant in determining the innovation strategies of the European agri-food sector.

Understanding reconfiguration pathways of agri-food value chains for smallholder farmers

Purpose – Smallholder farmers often deal with lack of information and knowledge, weak financial capacity and limited collaboration and network orientation. This is hampering their ability to adopt or co-develop innovation, and to participate in value chain exchanges. This calls for using intermediary organizations. The purpose of this paper is to understand how innovation intermediaries engage with smallholder farmers and provoke value chain reconfigurations. Design/methodology/approach – The authors systematically review literature to draw cases on intermediaries operating in the agri-food sector in several geographical and socio-economic contexts. The authors then adopt a theory building from cases approach to identify relationships between smallholder farmers and innovation intermediaries, and their effects in the reconfiguration of value chains. Findings – Consultants, knowledge transfer organizations (KTOs) and broker organizations (BOs) are the three typologies of intermediaries identified. While co...

Governance of market-oriented fresh food value chains: export chains from New Zealand

The competition in international food markets is increasingly moving towards products with higher levels of added value and higher degrees of differentiation, requiring companies to become more market-oriented. Market orientation is ‘the extent to which an actor in the marketplace uses knowledge about the market, especially about customers, as a basis for decision-making on what to produce, how to produce it, and how to market it’. Market orientation comprises three constructs: market intelligence generation, dissemination and responsiveness. Value chain governance can facilitate market orientation requirements. Value chain governance includes network governance, contracting and informal relationships. Knowledge about how governance can facilitate a value chain’s market orientation is limited. Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore how the governance of a global food value chain can facilitate the value chain’s market orientation. The study applies a multiple case study design. Four in-depth case studies were conducted on global food value chains from New Zealand to Western Europe dealing with the products apples, kiwis, venison and lamb. Interviews were conducted with actors from these four value chains in the Netherlands as well as in New Zealand. In each value chain actors with similar functions were interviewed in order to make the results comparable. Analysis of the case studies shows that network governance (i.e. leadership, shared governance and facilitation), contractual agreements (i.e. type and content: price, volume, quality) and informal relationships (i.e. trust and commitment) can contribute to the market orientation of a value chain. Leaderships and shared governance, in combination with good informal relationships in the chain, as well as contractual incentives, are main contributors to market orientation in global fresh food value chains. The paper adds to the still very scarce literature on governance of value chains and market orientation of value chains.