In several countries around the world, grain commodities are traded as assets on stock exchanges. This indicate that the market and effectively the prices of the grain commodities in such countries, are controlled by several local and international economic, political and social factors that are rapidly changing. As a result, the prices of some grain commodities are volatile and trading in such commodities are prone to price-related risks. There are different trading strategies for minimising price-related risks and maximising profits. But empirical research suggests that making the right decision for effective grain commodities trading has been a difficult task for stakeholders due to high volatility of grain commodities prices. Studies have shown that this is more challenging among grain commodities farmers because of their lack of skills and the time to sift through and make sense of the datasets on the plethora of factors that influence the grain commodities market. This thesis focused on providing an answer for the main research problem that grain farmers in South Africa do not take full advantage of all the available strategies for trading their grain commodities because of the complexities associated with monitoring the large datasets that influence the grain commodities market. The main objective set by this study is to design a framework that can be followed to collect, integrate and analyse datasets that influence trading decisions of grain farmers in South Africa about grain commodities. This study takes advantage of the developments in Big Data and Data Science to achieve the set objective using the Design Science Research (DSR) methodology. The prediction of future prices of grain commodities for the different trading strategies was identified as an important factor for making better decisions when trading grain commodities and the key factors that influence the prices were identified. This was followed by a critical review of the literature to determine how the concepts of Big Data and Data Science can be leveraged for an effective grain commodities trading decision support. This resulted in a proposed framework for grain commodities trading. The proposed framework suggested an investigation of the factors that influence the prices of grain commodities as the basis for acquiring the relevant datasets. The proposed framework suggested the adoption of the Big Data approach in acquiring, preparing and integrating relevant datasets from several sources. Furthermore, it was suggested that algorithmic models for predicting grain commodities prices can be developed on top of the data layer of the proposed framework to provide real-time decision support. The proposed framework suggests the need for a carefully designed visualisation of the result and the collected data that promotes user experience. Lastly, the proposed framework included a technology consideration component to support the Big Data and Data Science approach of the framework. To demonstrate that the proposed framework addressed the main problem of this research, datasets from several sources on trading white maize in South Africa and the factors that influence market were streamed, integrated and analysed. Backpropagation Neural Network algorithm was used for modelling the prices of white maize for spot and futures trading strategies were predicted. There are other modelling techniques such as the Box-Jenkins statistical time series analysis methodology. But, Neural Networks was identified as more suitable for time series data with complex patterns and relationships. A demonstration system was setup to provide effective decision support by using near real-time data to provide a dynamic predictive analytics for the spot and December futures contract prices of white maize in South Africa. Comparative analysis of predictions made using the model from the proposed framework to actual data indicated a significant degree of accuracy. A further evaluation was carried out by asking experienced traders to make predictions for the spot and December futures contract prices of white maize. The result of the exercise indicated that the predictions from the developed model were much closer to the actual prices. This indicated that the proposed framework is technically capable and generally useful. It also shows that the proposed framework can be used to provide decision support about trading grain commodities to stakeholders with lesser skills, experience and resources. The practical contribution of this thesis is that relevant datasets from several sources can be streamed into an integrated data source in real-time, which can be used as input for a real-time learning algorithmic model for predicting grain commodities prices. This will make it possible for a predictive analytics that responds to market volatility thereby providing an effective decision support for grain commodities trading. Another practical contribution of this thesis is a proposed framework that can be followed for developing a Decision Support System for trading in grain commodities. This thesis made theoretical contributions by building on the information processing theory and the decision making theory. The theoretical contribution of this thesis consists of the identification of Big Data approach, tools and techniques for eradicating uncertainty and equivocality in grain commodities trading decision making process.

For more than a decade (2001 – 2012) there has been extensive research conducted on the impact of marketing on food consumption, the promotion of healthy lifestyles and the use of media communication channels in the restaurant industry. However, no known research has focused specifically on the healthy fast-casual restaurant segment with a specific focus on media communication channels. This study attempts to address this limitation. The study deals with selected media communication channels and their influence on the healthy lifestyle perceptions and healthy lifestyle purchase intentions of young adult consumers in South Africa. The study considers the impact that a more selective choice of media communication channel can have on restaurants in the healthy fast-casual restaurant segment. Media communication channels are a vital part of a restaurant’s marketing communication program as they transmit messages between the business and its target market. In South Africa’s restaurant industry, there are numerous businesses that are conveying messages to consumers regarding their market offerings. This advertising clutter is aggravated by healthy fast-casual restaurants needing to compete against traditional fast-casual restaurants who are adding healthier items to their menus. The study’s secondary research included a literature review on marketing communication, selected media communication channels (print media, display media, broadcast media and online media) and the South African restaurant industry (with a focus on the healthy fast-casual segment). In addition, perception and purchase intention were discussed with a focus on healthy lifestyles and young adult consumers. In order to establish the influence of the selected media communication channels (print media, display media, broadcast media and online media) on young adults’ healthy lifestyle perceptions and healthy lifestyle purchase intentions an empirical investigation was also conducted. A positivistic research paradigm was used as quantitative methods were performed to identify significant relationships among the selected variables. The sample consisted of students from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. A total of 440 questionnaires were distributed, with 350 usable. Therefore, a response rate of 79.55 per cent was obtained. The empirical investigation revealed that the items in the questionnaire that were used to gather information about healthy lifestyle perception and healthy lifestyle purchase intention loaded together on one factor which was renamed healthy lifestyle buying behaviour. Multiple regression analysis indicated that positive and statistically significant relationships existed between print media and healthy lifestyle buying behaviour and between online media and the healthy lifestyle buying behaviour of young adults. These relationships imply that an increased use of print media will reflect increased buying behaviour that supports healthy lifestyles amongst young adults. Similarly, the more online media is used, the more young adult buying behaviour will reflect healthier choices. This implies that restaurants in the healthy fast-casual restaurant segment can increase the demand for their market offerings and stand out amongst the advertising clutter through a more deliberate use of print media and online media. The study includes strategies that can be used to improve the use of print media and online media in order to influence the healthy lifestyle buying behaviour of young adults. Healthy lifestyle buying behaviours essentially will increase the demand for goods that support healthy lifestyles and therefore increase the demand for healthy fast-casual restaurants. The provision of healthy menu items and a more focused marketing program can be used as a strategy to attract more young adults as consumers, to grow business relationships with this target market, to enhance business performance and to create a healthier South African community.

This research study aimed to provide the South African fast food industry and their advertising representatives with insights into 18-28-year-olds‟ perception of using sexual appeal to elicit their attention, and whether using this advertising technique is gaining positive brand recognition with this target market. This research study aimed to determine the selected sample‟s (NMMU students) perceptions of three South African fast food brands, namely KFC, Nando’s and Steers, in terms of their use of sexualised fast food advertisements. An electronic survey questionnaire was conducted with both closed and open-ended questions relating to the use of sexual appeal in advertising within the three South African fast food brands. The survey questionnaire helped determine what the selected sample‟s perceptions were of each advertisement, and whether the use of sexual appeal captured their attention. A semiotic analysis of each advertisement was conducted to determine if the advertisements do contain the use of sexual appeal, by examining the sign. This includes looking at the three aspects of a sign namely the signifier, the referent and the signified. In terms of this study, the signifier represents the T.V. advertisements; the signified represents the meaning of the advertisements and the referent represents to what the advertisements are initially referring. The results of the study indicated that each of the three fast food advertisements incorporated the use of sexual appeal in varying degrees. Respondents indicated that the sexual appeal in the advertisements was appropriate if they were directed at the right age group. The respondents indicated that these three advertisements were more likely to attract the males, in the target market and they felt that the advertisements leaned towards objectifying the women, which would be offensive to the females in the target market. It was determined that if the advertisements contained humour, they were more effective and memorable.

This case study presents the factors that define a sustainable entrepreneurship in theory and how a sustainable business can be presented in practice. The questions that will be answered are: (1) How do Oatly and Saltå Kvarn implement sustainable practices within their organisations? (2) How do the representatives of Oatly and Saltå Kvarn perceive the impact that sustainable practices have on business results? (3) How do the representatives of Oatly and Saltå Kvarn use sustainability to create innovation? (4) How are attitudes and values related to the organisation of sustainable practices in Oatly and Saltå Kvarn? Also, I will present how different practices of sustainable business is related to each other and how it can be implemented in theory. To retrieve as much useful information as possible I have collected material by conducting a literature study and semi-structured interviews with one representative from Oatly ab and one representative from Saltå Kvarn ab. The interviews aim to give the reader of this thesis an in-depth and detailed perspective of the chosen organisations. I conduct a qualitative research method where my aim is to present an exemplification of the subject and provide the reader with a deep analysis of the chosen companies in the paper. There are several motives behind why a company choose to move in a more sustainable direction and therefore engage in some practices. There might be a strong value based core at the foundation of the business or it can be a reaction of the trends in society. The reasons are many, and it is possible to see the different engagements in different levels of socio-economic management thinking. Businesses that are engaged in single issues can be defined as mere philanthropy or a compliance issue. Corporations that have taken their engagements one level further see their responsibilities related to their core business. That is, it is integrated within their business model. These firms can engage in explicit responsibility management or integrative business models. The thesis is concluded in the definition of sustainable entrepreneurship where the business itself contributes to urgent societal as well as ecological challenges by having it in their core competences. By having this new innovative approach, the sustainable entrepreneurship at its finest would increase value for business as well as increased value for society by fostering social innovations.

This study is concerned with- the effects of changes in industrial concentration on average costs of production in 17 Canadian 4—digit food manufacturing industries over the period 1961-1982. The model employed is a dual Translog cost function adapted to include a concentration variable (Herfindahl index) and technical change, and is estimated using pooling techniques to allow simultaneous analysis of all 17 industries. The results indicate that there was a significant relationship between concentration and average costs for this sample. In particular, there appears to have been a decrease in average costs for low-concentration industries as concentration increased, ceteris paribus, while in high-concentration industries, increases in concentration led to increases in costs. Concentration changes have also had an effect on the relative shares of factors of production for these industries. An evaluation of employment effects across industries indicates that the benefits in efficiency due to increases in concentration in low-concentration industries must be weighed against apparent decreases in the overall employment (of labour) for these industries. Alternatively, the efficiency losses in high-concentration industries appear to have been offset by increases in overall employment as concentration has increased. Thus, depending on the criterion used, relative concentration effects may have been beneficial or detremental to social welfare; the outcome is not unequivocal. / Land and Food Systems, Faculty of / Graduate

Cette thèse appréhende d’un point de vue sociohistorique les relations entre les critiques et les justifications de l’alimentation industrielle, en s’intéressant particulièrement à la valorisation du naturel. Aujourd’hui, un certain nombre de produits alimentaires mettent en avant des qualités que l’on peut considérer comme des réponses à la critique. L’objectif central de cette thèse est de rendre compte du processus d’endogénéisation – de "digestion" – de la critique par l’industrie. L’enquête a pris pour objet l’offre contemporaine (une campagne publicitaire, un corpus d’arguments de vente). Dans une perspective diachronique, la critique et ses effets ont en outre été appréhendés grâce à l’analyse des publications de plusieurs types d’acteurs de l’alimentation : diététiciens alternatifs, scientifiques de la nutrition, journalistes et sociologues de l’alimentation. La période couverte s’étend de la fin des années 1960 à 2010. Ces deux approches ont permis de proposer d’une part une typologie du travail de naturalisation opéré par les industriels, qui mettent en oeuvre différentes conceptions de la nature, et d’autre part une typologie de la critique de l’alimentation industrielle. Trois périodes historiques ont été distinguées. La première, de la fin des années 1960 à celle des années 1970, est une période de diffusion de la critique. La suivante (fin 1970 – milieu 1990), est marquée par l’affaiblissement d’une critique sujette à un début de "domestication". Mais elle se relance vigoureusement à partir du milieu des années 1990 à la suite d’épisodes de crise. Simultanément, la "domestication" de la critique se renforce et s’institutionnalise. / This thesis aims at seizing the relationships between the critiques and justifications regarding industrial food from a sociohistorical perspective, while paying special attention to the promotion of the “natural”. Today, a number of foodstuffs sales arguments outline qualities that can be considered as answers to critiques. The main objective of this dissertation is to show the production, the diffusion, the circulation and the process of endogenization or “digestion” of the critique by the food industry. The fieldwork focused on the contemporary food market through the construction of an advertising campaign and a corpus of food product sales arguments. Four corpuses of publications by key actors of the food system are then thoroughly studied: alternative dieticians, nutrition scientists, weekly general audience newspaper journalists and sociologists specialised in food. Between the late 1960s and the late 1970s the critique against industrial food spread. During the 1980s, it lost power and tended towards “domestication”. In the middle of the 1990s however, following a number of food crises, the critique regained considerable strength while, simultaneously, seeing its “domestication” broadened and institutionalized

In Kisangani, as in other parts of Africa subject to political parasitism and economic chaos, people have had to draw on many channels of access to resources in order to survive. This pattern of shifting strategies militates against sustained investment in food supply and thus is a major factor in the food crisis in Africa. Thirteen months of fieldwork in the city of Kisangani and the surrounding subregion of Tshopo revealed how constantly changing regulations, inflation and poor infrastructure forced merchants and farmers into diversification and made long-term investment in rice production and trade risky. Uncertainty in the supply of basic resources such as credit, seeds, fuel, spare parts and produce sacks was linked to the draining of foreign exchange and development funds toward the nonproductive activities of the political élite. Controls on agricultural production such as the forced cultivation of rice led to suppression of African farmers' initiative. Trade in rice was in the hands of expatriate monopsonies until the 1970s, but the indigenization of expatriate businesses and plantations (zairianization) only served to isolate further the rural areas devastated by the Simba rebellion of the mid-1960s. In addition, zairianization fostered parasitism and discouraged investment. In the 1980s, farmers were blocked from organizing their own markets and cooperatives and farm labor was relegated telwomen. Large traders agreed to maintain controls on trade which perpetuated the bureaucracy in order to keep ahead of the mass of mobile small traders. Government programs, and approaches such as privatization and liberalization, initiated by Zaire's external investors, did not change the terms of access to resources within the Zairian economy and, thus, agricultural productivity did not increase. These findings support the theory that multiple survival strategies generated by economic chaos and circumvention of and collaboration with the state lead to declining agricultural productivity. This view has implications for agricultural development policy.

The diploma thesis deals with proactive risk analysis in company X, which manufactures mainly meat products. The thesis is divided into 2 parts. The first part concentrates on theoretical knowledge including a list of methods suitable for risk analysis. This part also includes the introduction of the company, description of processes into the company, and actual risk management. The second part includes risk analysis with the IPR method and FMEA method. Based on the results of the applied methods, measures to minimize the identified risks are proposed at the end of the work.

There has been increasing public concern about farm animal welfare regarding transportation, slaughter, and some management practices, especially in systems where animals are confined for most of their existence. Animal welfare organizations (groups) have traditionally focused on forwarding their agendas through legislation, although more recent attempts have focused on convincing large firms that buy agricultural commodities to require particular production process standards to be met. The strategic interactions of players in the egg industry are modeled using a game theory approach. Two scenarios were explored: a principal-agent contract model between food firms and farmers, and a model where two firms are targeted by animal activists. The former model was empirically analyzed while the latter model was theoretically examined. Results for the principal-agent contract model indicate that, in general, the decision by the farmer of whether to invest in a free-range production system is dependent on the probability of being caught cheating. Whether contracts will be accepted or rejected by suppliers is dependent on the premium for free-range eggs. Finally, as the amount that can be lost if caught breaching the contract decreases, investment is motivated only with a higher probability of being caught. Theoretical analysis where competition did not matter and animal welfare was not a determinant of demand shows that animal activists must convince food firms that there will be a significant change in revenue with compliance as opposed to rejecting the contract or negotiating a compromise in order to attain their objectives of increased animal welfare.

The goal of this work was a study the influence of food and beverages on the viability and growth of probiotic bacteria. The influence of food and beverages was tested on monocultures of Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium breve and mixed culture of probiotic microorganisms. In the experimental part, probiotic cultures were incubated in selected foods and beverages. After that they were tested in a model conditions of digestive tract. In some probiotic cultures, growth of viable cells during incubation in the digestive tract was observed. The increase of probiotic cells was showed predominantly in foods that contained higher levels of sugars and fats or a suitable combination. Their increase was up to four times in some cases. Based on the results, mixed probiotic cultures aren’t surprisingly exhibited better survival and maintain sufficient amount of viable cells even during the digestive process. Moreover, probiotic microorganisms could be recommended to consumption during meals better than just with a beverage.