Food Marketing: : An International Perspective

Citation

Salvacruz, J.C. (1998), "Food Marketing: : An International Perspective", European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 32 No. 9/10, pp. 924-926. https://doi.org/10.1108/ejm.1998.32.9_10.924.2

The authors have chosen an ambitious task of producing a book that integrates marketing management applications with the management of the food industry at the international level. The book was written to serve the needs of sophomore and junior students, preferably those with backgrounds in agricultural economics, and marketing principles, and those with interests in business, economics and food studies.

A book that accomplished the goals of integrating knowledge bases from two fields would be welcome, particularly in the food industry which accounts for a great contribution to most country’s national income. Overlooked for many decades, the food industry has been transformed into an area of great business opportunity primarily due to:

1. 1

   technological developments which have transformed the product from a minimally‐differentiated (if not totally undifferentiated) commodity into highly differentiated and high‐value added food products; and

2. 2

   the dynamic changes that are taking place in food consumer markets, both domestic and global.

Faced with greater opportunities, albeit increasing competition, business managers must explore ways and means to best serve customer needs and wants ‐ the basic essence of marketing.

The number of current textbooks that deal with this topic are superficial in the sense that they are either straight agricultural economics or marketing principles textbooks in the guise of food marketing references. Despite the authors’ attempts to achieve a greater understanding of the application of marketing principles to the food industry, most of them have totally failed. Schaffner, Schroder and Earle have addressed this gap in the food marketing discipline by systematically focusing on two important parts of the food marketing discipline ‐ the food system and the consumer.

The motivation for publishing a comprehensive textbook on food marketing was probably constrained in the immediate past by the relatively small number of enrollees in the area of food marketing management. Traditionally, students either enroll in straight agricultural economics (at most, agricultural marketing, tackling structural rather than management issues) or take up a degree in business administration with a major in marketing, taking a food distribution course as an elective. The publication of Food Marketing should serve as a signal that the time has come for the food marketing discipline to be taken seriously.

Food Marketing has several strong points. It highlights relevant economic (both general and international trade) theories, as well as marketing principles, which are essential in understanding what effective international food marketing is all about, particularly from a managerial point of view. Unlike most food marketing textbooks currently available, Food Marketing moves quickly from theoretical treatments to applications in the business setting. This approach has been strengthened by the inclusion of “Think Breaks” sections to encourage student analysis and interaction. However, the inclusion of more substantial case studies would have improved the effectiveness of the text to illustrate the applications of the theories presented.

The chapters are generally well‐written and logically presented, with a smooth flow of thoughts and a smooth transition from one topic to another. However, there are some minor exceptions to this observation. For instance, although Chapter 2 (Economics of the Food System) presented a comprehensive discussion of the economic theory of demand, exploring the concept of elasticities exhaustively, much greater impact could have been created by the authors had they incorporated sound business policy implications to go along with the theories. This chapter could also have served as an appropriate forum for integrating the behavioral focus of marketing professionals and the economist’s simplistic model which limits the explanation of demand to prices and income in exploring the concept of demand, particularly for food products.

The same criticism goes for Chapter 9 (International Food Trade). Although it is an important component of the subject, very little has been said about the presented theories’ implications for food marketing, particularly from a strategic perspective. Cross‐country comparisons and illustrations would have been very helpful in this respect. An improvement in this area would strengthen the international perspective of the book in the manner in which the authors planned it to be.

Although most academics, particularly from the agricultural economics discipline, would argue that Chapter 11 (Commodity Price Risk and the Futures Markets) is a necessary component of the book, I believe that the chapter would have been better treated as an appendix in order to preserve the smooth flow of thoughts in the book. The chapter appears to be out of place in the company of the more‐applied sections on strategic branding and pricing.

More updated illustrations would also be helpful in building the merits of the book. For instance, Figure 8‐1 (Food retailing in the Philippines) is not an accurate representation of the food retailing scene in the country. While corner mom and pop stores (traditionally called “sari‐sari stores”) still abound in rural areas and in some parts of the metropolis, the Philippines have comparatively larger supermarkets in terms of per capita allocation and on a space area basis than most countries in the dynamic Southeast Asian region (although the situation depicted in the book may be representative of the retailing situation in the most remote rural areas). A possible interesting addition is an exploration of why traditional wet markets (or farmers’ markets as they are known in the western world) provide a strong challenge against the modern supermarket outlets in even the developed countries of Southeast Asia.

While consumer issues have been highlighted in the treatment of the text (i.e. nutritional concerns and food safety), the international aspect of these issues have been quite weak. Evidences of cross‐cultural differences in attitudes toward these issues could have been put to great use to highlight the necessity of “international market research” and “international market assessment and segmentation”, for example.

An obvious omission is an exhaustive discussion of the concepts and applications of service and relationship marketing‐topics which are currently in the forefront of debate among marketing academics and practitioners as well. I must commend the authors, though, in their efforts to motivate analytic thinking in the area by citing the importance of relationships, albeit in a structural context, in Chapter 6 (Organization of the Food System).

In general, a greater strategic orientation would be a welcome revision. This should differentiate this book from the traditional agricultural economics/ agricultural marketing and marketing principles publications, and from the currently available food marketing books.

Food Marketing is a superior introductory textbook for food marketing management students. It could be a much better book with fairly minor revisions. A more advanced edition ‐ one which concentrates on more detailed applications and a strategic approach ‐ would be a welcome addition to the family. I commend the authors for taking the significant first steps in alleviating the status of International Food Marketing as a field of study by coming up with a relevant textbook in Food Marketing.