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Environmentally sustainable food production and marketing : opportunity or hype?

journal contribution
posted on 2006-01-01, 00:00 authored by Michael PolonskyMichael Polonsky, S Bhaskaran, J Cary, S Fernandez
Purpose: Identify and analyse the beliefs of value-chain intermediaries regarding the production and marketing of food products conforming to environmentally sustainable standards.

Methodology: In-depth, semi-structured, face-to-face interviews with senior managers of food companies across the value chain.

Findings: In Australia, the demand for foods that are produced under environmentally sustainable standards has been slow to take-off because (a) customers do not perceive these products as offering any special benefits (b) customers distrust the claims made by organisations (c) these products are much more expensive than traditional products, and (d) the implementation of environmental standards is expensive. Customers claim that the use of different terminologies such as organic, green and environmentally friendly in promoting
food products is confusing.

Research Limitations: Findings are not generalisable because the study is based on a small sample.

Practical Implications: Value-chain intermediaries are unlikely to voluntarily adopt environmental standards because of low demand for such foods and the high costs of adopting and monitoring environmentally sustainable production and marketing regimes.

History

Journal

British food journal

Volume

108

Issue

8

Pagination

677 - 690

Publisher

Uplands Press (Emerald)

Location

Croydon, England

ISSN

0007-070X

eISSN

1758-4108

Language

eng

Notes

Reproduced with the kind permission of the copyright owner.

Publication classification

C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2006, Emerald Group Publishing