Emerald | British Food Journal | Table of Contents

Risk Measurement Framework: An Extension and Validation of Food Safety Risk in International Travel Destinations

literatinetwork@emeraldinsight.com (Ruth M W Yeung, Wallace M S Yee) — Fri, 02 Aug 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose - Adapting from extant literature, this paper presents an empirical framework of risk measurement in the context of food safety risk in overseas destination. Design/methodology/approach - Data were collected from 715 respondents visiting Macau in October, 2008 by using intercept method. Principle Component Analysis followed by Confirmatory Factor Analysis were utilised for data analysis.Findings - The research yielded twelve factors, of which five factors, namely Dread, Framing effect, Controllable, Regulation and Past Experience measure risk characteristics; two factors, namely Uncertainty and Consequence measure tourist risk perception, and five factors, namely Travel Information, Safety Assurance, Destination Reputation, Marketing Activities and Precaution measure risk reduction, specially related to food safety risk in international destination.Practical implications - The tourist industry should understand more specifically what tourists want to know so as to devise appropriate communication management strategies at the international destination.Originality/value - The risk measurement framework provides an insight for the development of an instrument to assess the social and economic impact on tourist perception of international travel risk.

A model for measuring the performance of the meat supply chain

Fri, 02 Aug 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to analyze - characteristics and -performance of the meat supply chain by focusing on developing a model for measuring the meat supply chain’s performance in the province of Isfahan, Iran. Design/methodology/approach - Using a combination of literature review, Delphi approach and case study research, this paper examines part of the meat supply chain that consists of three industrial slaughterhouses, two cold rooms, three factories and more than twenty supermarkets and presents a framework to assess the performance of the industry in the region. Findings - The methodology proposes indices for strategic The methodology suggests indices for strategic and tactical levels in a meat industry as a case study. The proposed framework for the performance measurement of the chain was applied in strategic and tactical levels in which the ranking of indices are also among the achievements of this study. Results show that there are six main criteria required to measure the meat industry’s performance. Originality/value - Literature shows no record of an integrated measurement system for the entire food supply chain where indicators are combined into a performance function to assess the overall performance of the industry.

Consumer perception on halal meat logistics

Fri, 02 Aug 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of this research paper is to investigate the preferred minimum level of segregation for halal meat in supermarket, transport, storage and terminals; the responsibility of halal logistics; and the willingness to pay for halal logistics in a Muslim and non-Muslim country. It is a comparative study involving Muslim consumers in Malaysia and the Netherlands.Design/methodology/approach - Cross-sectional data were collected through a survey with 251 Muslims in Malaysia and 250 Muslims in the Netherlands. Data were analysed by means of nonparametric tests.Findings - There is a preferred higher level of segregation in a Muslim country than a non-Muslim country. A Muslim country has a higher willingness to pay for a halal logistics system as compared to a non-Muslim country. Furthermore, there lies a heavy responsibility with the manufacturer to extend halal assurance towards supply chain management.Research limitations/implications - The study confirms there is a need for a different level of segregation and therefore different halal logistics standard in a Muslim country and a non-Muslim country. However, during the survey in the Netherlands significant rejections were received from especially first generation Muslims due to the lack of understanding of the Dutch language. Similar surveys need to be conducted in other countries in order to be able to generalise over the various Islamic schools of thought, local fatwas and local customs.Practical implications - Halal logistics is important to the Muslim consumer and critical for the trust in a halal certified brand, which requires extending halal integrity from point of production to the point of consumer purchase. Originality/value - This study is a preliminary study investigating the consumer perception on halal logistics. This study indicates the level of segregation required for a halal meat supply chain in a Muslim and non-Muslim country.

Consumers’ expectations and needs towards healthy cereal based snacks: An exploratory study among Irish adults

Fri, 02 Aug 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose - The aim of this paper is to examine consumers’ perceptions and expectations towards healthy snacks, with particular emphasis on the cereal snack market, and to explore new areas of opportunities for healthy snacks by identifying consumer needs and wants. Design/methodology/approach - Six focus group discussions were conducted to generate attitudinal data across three different adult consumer groups.Findings - Results revealed that consumers expected a healthy snack to contain low levels of calories, fat, salt and sugar, and to contain high levels of whole-grain, oats, bran, nuts, seeds, pulses and fruit e.g. blueberries, cranberries, gogi berries. Additionally, healthy snacks were required to be free from any artificial colours, sweeteners and flavours. Major factors encouraging healthy snack consumption included reduced risk of weight gain, diabetes, heart burn and bloating. Conversely, perceived taste, portion size, the lack of available convenient nutritional snacks, accessibility and confusion over the credibility of the "healthy product" tag were the main factors preventing healthy consumption in the adult population examined. Consumers expressed a desire for a wider choice of filling snacks with specific health benefits for a variety of usage occasions, particularly those with associated health claims such as "high fibre", "omega 3 for mental health" and "reduces cholesterol". Research limitations/implications - The study sample size was not extensive and was limited to a small geographical spread of Dublin and Meath on the East coast of Ireland. A more representative sample of the entire Irish population could be the basis for further research. Practical implications - These findings increase our understanding of current expectations of the Irish adult consumer regarding healthy snack foods. They also highlight the potential new product development opportunities for snack food manufacturers to explore. Originality/value - The present paper focuses specifically on healthy snacks and contributes to a limited amount of existing literature by providing consumer research for the development of new healthy snack foods.

COO labeling as a tool for pepper differentiation in Germany: Insights into the taste perception of organic food shoppers

Fri, 02 Aug 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose - Country of Origin (COO) labeling has been shown in several studies to be an impor-tant extrinsic cue for consumers in their quality evaluation of food products such as olive oil, wine or tea. COO has not been discussed in the context of pepper however pepper’s quality highly depends on the heritageDesign/methodology/approach - The study was conducted in an organic grocery store in Bonn, Germany. The first part of the face to face interviews at the point-of-sale were carried out for understanding consumer’s attitudes towards different extrinsic quality cues regarding food in general and pepper in particular. The second part covered the product-country-image of pepper as well as consumers’ knowledge regarding COO and pepper quality. Third, the contingent valuation method is used to analyze organic consumers WTP for pepper differentiated by origin and production method. Fourth a blind-tasting of black pepper from different origins and two production methods (organic versus conventional) was conducted. Findings - The study reveals that organic consumers are able to experience taste differences due to COO though only a minority expects those taste differences. Thus, also concerned and involved consumers are not sufficiently informed on COO information to rely on their purchase decision of pepper. As a result consumers are not willing to pay a significant higher price for COO labeled pepper. Research limitations/implications - As our study was conducted in an organic grocery store our sample is not representative for the German population. It can, however, be assumed that knowledge on and relevance of COO is even considerable lower for ‘conventional’ food shopper as they can be considered less involved. Thus, it might seem reasonable to focus marketing activities first on the organic consumer segment. Practical implications - Foreign countries as well as marketers using such a strategy would also increase consumers’ knowledge with respect to the link between region-of-origin and different aroma characteristics. The results reveal that cognitive and affective determinants are interdependent. This is important to consider for producers from foreign countries, NGOs and governments who should communicate a positive country-image. Originality/value - This study is the first study which combines face-to-face interviews regarding attitudes, image and knowledge with a blind tasting of pepper and an investigation of consumer's WTP for pepper from different origins and processing characteristics.

Isolation, Characterization and Utilization of Starter Cultures for the Development of Wheyghurt Drink

Fri, 02 Aug 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose - Whey products have conventionally been professed as a means of reducing ingredient the costs. The authentic benefits of adding whey products are the enhanced worth resulting from flavor, texture and nutritional improvements as well as nutraceutical or health-enhancing payback. Therefore, the present study was designed to isolate and characterize the suitable starter cultures for the production of wheyghurt drink. Design/methodology/approach - Keeping in view all the benefits of the yoghurt technology this study was planned to isolate the starter cultures and optimize the conditions for the production of wheyghurt drink. The starter cultures (Lactobacillus delbruceckii ssp. Bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus) were isolated from the yoghurt and further characterized on the basis of their morphological and biochemical characteristics. The wheyghurt drink prepared from starter cultures with varying starter culture concentrations (1, 1.5, 2 and 2.5%) was analyzed for the physicochemical and sensory characteristics to explore the potential of wheyghurt drink.Findings - During storage, color, flavor, taste and overall acceptability were affected significantly. But the interaction between treatments and storage was found non significant to all the sensory parameters. At zero day maximum score (7.40) for overall acceptability was recorded for T3 and minimum score (5.60) was awarded to T4. After 5, 10 and 15 days of storage, judges observed a slight decline in overall acceptability in all wheyghurt drink samples. Hence it was concluded that wheyghurt drink sample T3 obtained maximum scores regarding the organoleptic evaluation and remained the bestPractical implications - The key to growth is a continuous evaluation and modification of the product to match consumer expectations. Currently there are many apparent benefits that results from incorporating selected whey products into yogurt formulas. The starter cultures for the production of fermented whey products are not presently produced in Pakistan and are imported for industrial use. The use of LAB as starter culture may help to improve the quality and shelf life of the whey products.Originality/value - The research is useful for food manufactures in order to develop functional food products for consumers. Understanding consumer needs and preferences are critical to successful product development and enhancing marketing values of a product. Nutritionally improved foods, such as wheyghurt over the conventional counterpart, will be highly successful in the marketplace. Consumers will prefer such kind of foods because they are more conscious about there health and such kind of foods provide them what they desire i.e. health benefits with good nutrition.

Physico-chemical, biochemical and microbiological changes of "Kumpia wieprzowa" during ripening

Fri, 02 Aug 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose - The aim of the study was to estimate physico-chemical, biochemical and microbiological changes during the 3-month ripening of the Polish traditional raw smoked fermented meat product "Kumpia wieprzowa", produced from pork shoulder without fore-shank. Design/methodology/approach - After 1,2 and 3 months the pH, aw, chemical composition, the content of nitrogen - total and soluble, as well as the profile of aromatic compounds and microflora were evaluated. Findings - During ripening the water content decreased from 62.7% to 47.5%, while the protein and fat amount increased from 20.8% to 25.0% and from 9.7% to 16.3%, respectively; the aw decreased from 0.95 to 0.88 and pH from 5.80 to 5.35. The proteolytic changes, measured by free amine groups and Nsoluble content, as well as the quantity of free fatty acids and percentage of most of volatile compounds increased, particularly during first 2 months of ripening. The total number of aerobic microorganisms, and Lactobacillaceae decreased during ripening from 7.9 to 6.2 and 5.6 to 4.7 log cfu/g, respectively. The count of coagulase-negative cocci changed from 5.3 to 5.2 log cfu/g. Originality/value - "Kumpia wieprzowa" is a unique pork product, entered on the "List of polish traditional products" in 2005. Up to the present, properties of "Kumpia wieprzowa" were not recognized and published in scientific literature, in spite of its very interesting raw material (shoulder spontaneously fermented as whole large primal cut).

Combined MCDM approaches for century-old Taiwanese food firm new product development project selection

literatinetwork@emeraldinsight.com (Kuei-Lun Chang) — Fri, 02 Aug 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose - Analytic network process (ANP) and technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) are integrated in this paper to help Taiwanese managers in century-old food industry firms make better decisions for new product development (NPD) project selection.Design/methodology/approach - Balanced scorecard (BSC) which links financial and non-financial, tangible and intangible, inward and outward factors can provide an integrated viewpoint for decision makers in selecting optimal NPD projects. Considering the interrelated perspectives and criteria of BSC, ANP is used to obtain the weights of the criteria. TOPSIS is used for simplifying ANP to rank the alternatives.Findings - After reviewing the literature on BSC, this study collects criteria for selecting optimal NPD projects. Likert 9 point scale questionnaires based on the BSC criteria are received from 34 senior executives to obtain the importance of criteria. Based on the geometric mean values, the top 12 criteria are: Capabilities, Well-being, Satisfaction, Lead-time, Risk, Facility, Reputation, Loyalty, New customer, Market, Profitability and New market to structure the hierarchy for century-old Taiwanese food business NPD project selection.Practical implications - Using the hierarchy based on 4 perspectives and 12 important criteria, century-old Taiwanese food businesses may select the optimal NPD projects more effectively. Moreover, the practical application of the proposed approach illustrated in Section 5 is generic and also suitable for century-old Taiwanese food businesses. Originality/value - In 2008, Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) established an association to help century-old businesses to maintain growth and competitive advantage. To maintain continuous competitive advantage, developing new products is necessary. However, NPD is a risky process. The vital issue in NPD is how to select the optimal projects for new products. The majority of century-old Taiwanese businesses are in the food industry. This paper contributes to a more effective selection of the optimal NPD projects for century-old Taiwanese food firms.

Left isn’t always right: Placement of pictorial and textual package elements

Fri, 02 Aug 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to investigate how the positioning of textual and pictorial design elements on a package affects visual attention (detection time) toward these element types. Design/methodology/approach - The study has a 3 × 2 (Stimulus × Location) between-subjects design. One pictorial and two textual package elements, located on the top right- or top left-hand side of a package, were used as stimuli. Visual attention was measured by eye-tracking. A total of 199 university students participated. The data were analysed using a two-way ANOVA and a Pearson’s chi-square analysis with standardised residuals. Findings - The results show that in order to receive the most direct attention, textual elements should be on the left-hand side of a package, whereas pictorial elements should be on the right-hand side. This is inconsistent with previous design directions (based on recall), suggesting the opposite element organisation. Originality/value - Previous research has focused on recall (whether respondents remember having seen package elements) or preference (whether respondents prefer a package based on element positioning). The focus of the present study was whether respondents actually saw the different elements on a package, and how long it took them to detect such elements. Detection time for certain element types can be viewed as a new and complementary way of evaluating the position of package elements. The paper also addresses whether preference is a result of easy information acquisition.