Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The contemporary challenge of developing entrepreneurship with the responsible use of resources is also present at the food retail sector. The search for competitiveness leads entrepreneurs to postpone environmental policy inclusion in their entrepreneurial activities. In this sense relating entrepreneurship and environmental matters in SME s in Brazil is convenient and recent, once the majority of existing researches deal with industries or big size enterprises. Despite their operational limitations the SME s contribute for income and job generation and are able to introduce innovations due to their flexibility. Considering this extremely relevance context for the sector development this study goal is to establish guidelines for the introduction of environmental policy trough entrepreneurial dialectics in the food retail sector. This is a study of qualitative, exploratory and descriptive nature, having as its basis SINDIGÊNEROS enterprises in Santa Maria, RS. Results suggest that the majority of local entrepreneurs understand the importance of environmental preservation, on the other hand ignore the meaningful impacts resulting from activities practiced by the sector, as well as they don t know the ways to reduce or eliminate this impacts. Aiming at contributing for the improvement of the situation, it is proposed that the environmental policy is inserted in the entrepreneurial management process, leading to entrepreneurial actions. The inter-relation complexity between entrepreneurship and environment, when applied to SME s reality in the food retail sector, represents peculiar and simple actions whose implementation can promote the sector development. / O desafio contemporâneo em desenvolver o empreendedorismo aliado a utilização responsável dos recursos também está presente no setor de varejo alimentício. A busca da competitividade leva os empreendedores a protelar a inclusão da política ambiental em suas atividades empresariais. Nesse sentido, relacionar empreendedorismo e a questão ambiental em MPEs no Brasil é oportuno e recente, pois a maioria das pesquisas existentes trata das indústrias ou de empresas de grande porte. Apesar de suas limitações operacionais as MPEs contribuem para geração de emprego e renda e são capazes de introduzir inovações devido a sua flexibilidade. Considerando esse contexto extremamente relevante para o desenvolvimento do setor, o objetivo deste estudo é estabelecer diretrizes para a introdução da política ambiental, por meio da dialética empreendedora, no setor de varejo alimentício. Trata-se de um estudo de natureza qualitativa, exploratória e descritiva, tendo como base as empresas vinculadas ao SINDIGÊNEROS em Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul. Os resultados sugerem que a maioria dos empreendedores locais compreendem a importância da preservação ambiental, no entanto ignoram os impactos significativos resultantes das atividades praticadas pelo setor, assim como, desconhecem meios que venham a reduzir ou eliminar esses impactos. Visando contribuir para a melhoria dessa situação, propõe-se que seja inserida a política ambiental no processo de gestão empresarial norteando as ações empreendedoras. A complexidade da inter-relação entre empreendedorismo e meio ambiente quando aplicada a realidade das MPEs do setor de varejo alimentício traduziu-se em ações simples e peculiares, cuja implementação pode proporcionar o desenvolvimento desse setor.

In response to trends that challenge food access, farmer livelihoods and public health, several market and social institutions have pursued the development of alternative food systems (AFS). These attempt to support the production and distribution of foods with important qualities, such as attention to specific growing practices, higher worker standards, superior product quality and taste, support for environmental health and farmer well-being (Valchuis et al. 2015). While there has been some success in these efforts, as evidenced by the growth of farmers’ markets, community supported agriculture programs, and farm-to-institution relationships, growth in direct to consumer markets has flattened in recent years (USDA 2012) and there are still many barriers that limit the efficacy and reach of AFS. Farmers and distributors are constantly innovating, trialing new ideas and re-thinking old ones in hopes of overcoming or circumventing these challenges. The Farm Fresh Food Box (F3B) project is one such market innovation that hybridizes direct to consumer (DTC) and value chain models with the goal of expanding producer sales and improving rural food access. Researchers and extension professionals from University of Vermont, University of Washington, Evergreen State College, and University of California studied the efficacy of F3B as a potential food system innovation through an applied project in partnership with small farmers and retailers. Research efforts focused on understanding challenges and opportunities for success within the model, as well as gleaning fundamental take-aways to better inform the broader knowledge of the continuum between DTC and value chain distribution systems. This thesis considers findings from the first half of this research project. The first article Farm Fresh Food Boxes: Pilot Study Findings of Farmer-Rural Retailer Partners assesses the pilot season of the project and identifies major challenges and associated learning opportunities, with a focus on implications for Extension personnel.The second article, Farm Fresh Food Boxes: Relationships in Value-Chain Partnerships, merges existing knowledge of strategies and barriers that characterize DTC with current understanding of value-chains to better understand the process of expanding into new consumer populations. This analysis focuses on how the quality of the relationship between producers and retailers impacts overall success when expanding into new or unusual venues. Unlike much of the previous value-chain research, this paper places unique emphasis on the importance of the farmer-retailer relationship.

The food industry faces many challenges in its sustainability work, and consumers demand that companies in the food industry should increase their transparency. For the food industry to be more transparent, it must improve its traceability throughout the supply chain. Previous research let us know that traceability is not a new thing, but the way that new technologies such as blockchain revolutionize the way data can be communicated. Many companies have just started to use this to trace the supplies along their supply chain and are not using the data collected in the most efficient way. Therefore, this thesis presents data from two illustrative case studies to show the opportunities and challenges of using blockchain traceability technology. The opportunities show the benefits of being the first mover in the market to create new boosts for the products together with increasing consumer loyalty through more transparency. This paper also concludes that it's expensive to implement new technology in the supply chain and challenging to encourage consumers to make a local, organic, or sustainable choice despite the higher cost of the products.

Bakgrund Den svenska dagligvaruhandeln blir alltmer koncentrerad med större och färre livsmedelskedjor. Detta har resulterat i en maktobalans mellan livsmedelskedjorna och dess leverantörer. Trots livsmedelskedjornas uppenbara maktövertag ser aktörerna många anledningar till att samarbeta med varandra. Det har blivit allt viktigare för aktörer inom distributionskanaler för färska livsmedel att samarbeta för att bland annat kunna erbjuda konsumenten högkvalitativa produkter. Som följd av detta har det skett en utveckling av relationerna inom dessa distributionskanaler med ökad interaktion mellan aktörerna. För leverantörer som erbjuder närodlade produkter har det visat sig vara av stor vikt med interaktion för att bygga en förtroendefull relation till det köpande företaget. Den svenska konsumtionen av både närodlad och ekologisk frukt och grönt har ökat markant under de senaste åren och har blivit viktiga produktkategorier för dagligvaruhandeln. Med utgångspunkt i den kunskapslucka som finns inom svenska distributionskanaler för ekologisk och närodlad frukt och grönt, avser studien att undersöka dessa produktkategorier närmare. Studien har främst fokuserat på hur odlare som erbjuder ekologisk respektive närodlad frukt och grönt kan stärka sin position på marknaden. Studien vill även påvisa skillnader mellan närodlat respektive ekologiskt och om leverantörer som erbjuder någon av dessa produktkategorier har en starkare position på marknaden än den andra. Syfte Syftet med studien är att analysera relationer och maktbalansen mellan aktörer i distributionskanaler för ekologisk respektive närodlad frukt och grönt, där fokus är att komparera dessa två produktkategorier. MetodFör att svara på syftet med studien genomfördes totalt 11 intervjuer  med fem olika företag inom distributionskanalen för frukt och grönt. Dessa företag var detaljisten och grossisten ICA, grossisten Östgöta Trädgårdshall och tre olika producenter (odlare). Slutsats Studien visar på att det finns en tendens till att leverantörer för närodlade produkter har en starkare maktposition på den studerade marknaden än ekologiska leverantörer. Det kan även fastställas att relationerna är viktiga i distributionskanalen för frukt och grönt, inte minst mellan aktörer som har ett utbyte av närodlade produkter. Relationer kan även konstateras ha en inverkan på maktförhållandet mellan aktörer, då det har visats att den enskilda leverantören kan stärka sin maktposition gentemot livsmedelskedjan genom att investera i en nära relation. / Background The Swedish food distribution industry is becoming increasingly concentrated with fewer and larger supermarket chains. This has resulted in power imbalance between supermarkets and their suppliers. Despite the power of the supermarkets, the channel members recognise the need to cooperate with each other. It has become increasingly important for members of the distribution channels for fresh food to cooperate in order to offer the consumers high-quality products. The outcome of this is an elaborated relationship and a higher interaction between channel members. For suppliers that offer local products, it has proved to be of even greater importance with interaction in order to gain trust from the purchasing companies. Consumption of both local and organic fruit and vegetables has increased significantly in the recent years in Sweden. Therefore these product categories have become important to the supermarkets. Based on the lack of research of the Swedish distribution channels for organic and local fruit and vegetables, this study intends to analyse these product categories further. The study has mainly focused on how growers, who offer local or organic fruits and vegetables, can strengthen their position in the market. The study also intends to demonstrate possible differences between suppliers offering local and organic products, to see if one of these categories has a stronger market position than the other. Purpose The purpose of the study is to analyse the relationships and the power balance between members in the distribution channels for organic and local fruits and vegetables, where the focus is to compare these two product categories. Execution To answer the purpose of the study, a total of 11 interviews with five different companies in the distribution channel for fruit and vegetables were conducted. These companies were the retailer and wholesaler ICA, the wholesaler Östgöta Trädgårdshall and three producers (growers). Conclusion The study implies that suppliers for local products may have a greater power position within the studied market than suppliers for organic products. Furthermore, the study confirms that relationships are important between actors in the distribution channel of fruits and vegetables, especially in channels that involve an exchange of local products. Relationships also have an impact on the power balance between the actors thus it appeared that individual suppliers strengthen their power position towards the supermarkets by intimate relationships.

This thesis examines the nature of labour usage within a market-leading Australian food retail firm and the employment relations consequences of the labour usage strategies employed by the firm. Retail employment is well established as a research subject in the UK, but has received comparatively little research attention in Australia. Given that retail industry employment accounts for 15 per cent of the Australian workforce, this represents a significant oversight. Within the retail industry, the supermarket and grocery sector employs 6 per cent of the Australian workforce. The sector is dominated by two major chains and is highly competitive, with a reputation for low profit margins, mundane jobs and low pay. The sector is recognised for an employment structure that is segmented with one segment holding full-time jobs with core employment conditions and the other segment, part-time jobs with poor working conditions. The dominant theory used by scholars to explain this employment structure is the dual labour market model and later iterations such as Atkinson's flexible firm model. This research assesses the value of these models, in particular Atkinson's flexible firm model, as a representation of the labour usage strategies of a market-leading Australian food retail firm. This analysis demonstrates that, in a general sense, Atkinson's model has applicability to the labour usage strategies exhibited in food retailing. The research found that, contrary to the theories of dual labour markets, a strong internal labour market operated within the firm with short hours casual employment as the port of entry. The benefits of this practice for the organisation were flexibility in labour usage and substantial wage savings, while the negative consequences were recruitment difficulties, exacerbated by high levels of staff turnover. For the employees, the consequences depended on their position in the organisational hierarchy and their individual circumstances, but involved initially accepting limited working hours and low pay in order to gain entry into the organisation. The research undertaken for this thesis leads to the development of a revised model, the casual internal labour market model, which more accurately depicts the labour usage strategies within the case study organisation. Retail researchers argue that it is necessary to understand the dynamics of the industry in order to understand the structure of labour usage. Additionally, employment relations and retail researchers both stress the need to contextualise labour usage patterns within broader environmental constraints and supply side factors. In seeking to achieve this, this research examines business strategies, retail specific employment relations literature and the Australian employment relations context. Furthermore, this study addresses the issue of retail employment strategies at several levels within one of Australia's market-leading food retailers: corporate level, store level and at the level of individual departments within the store. In doing so, this thesis highlights the differences in labour usage between stores and between departments within the stores and thereby provides a more detailed picture of the labour use practices within food retailers.

In today’s consumption landscape the market hall is a place of luxury and authenticity. However, the idea of the market hall has changed several times during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. When the first market hall was constructed in Stockholm, in 1875, the objective was to provide the consumers with safe food in a neatly organized environment that would foster civic pride and propel Stockholm into modernity. By the 1930s, the market halls in Stockholm were rundown and outmoded. These rundown retail spaces had been replaced by neighborhood stores at a convenient distance from the consumer. The market halls seemed like old dinosaurs, waiting to be swept away by the river of time. But the market halls remained, and in due course experienced a renaissance as sumptuous food temples, more genuine and inviting than the bland standardization and cold rationality of mainstream food retail. To address the long time-period, the dissertation is divided into three separate parts, with different methods and materials. The first part is a historical exposé based primarily on archival material. The second part relies more on secondary sources, but draws on contemporary documents as well. For the third part ethnographic fieldwork was the chosen method. This dissertation examines the role of the market hall in Stockholm and how the links between production, distribution and consumption of food have been organized in time and space during the past hundred and fifty years. How was the market hall recoded during this period? The relevance of this question lies in what this can tell us about urban food retail and the cultures of consumption linked to it. It also allows us to reflect upon the effects of the choices we make for the future of food production, distribution and consumption. / I dagens konsumtionslandskap är saluhallen en plats för lyx och autenticitet. Men saluhallens betydelse har ändrats flera gånger under 1900- och 2000-talen. När den första saluhallen byggdes i Stockholm år 1875, var målet att ge konsumenterna säkra livsmedel i en hygienisk och välordnad miljö som både skulle kännas elegant och göra Stockholm till en modern världsstad. Vid 1930-talet var saluhallarna i Stockholm både nedslitna och omoderna. De hade ersatts av kvartersbutiker som låg på bekvämt avstånd från konsumenten. Saluhallarna verkade vara gamla dinosaurier, som bara väntade på att svepas bort av tidens gång. Men saluhallarna blev kvar, och i sinom tid upplevde de en renässans som överdådiga mattempel, som var mer genuina och inbjudande än den vanliga dagligvaruhandelns standardiserade och hyperrationella konsumtionsmiljöer. För att hantera den långa tidsperioden, är avhandlingen indelad i tre delar, med olika metoder och material. Den första delen är en klassisk historieskrivning baserad på arkivmaterial. Den andra delen förlitar sig mer på sekundärlitteratur, men gör även ett utsnitt av samtidens källor. Den tredje delen består av ett etnografiskt fältarbete. Denna avhandling undersöker den roll saluhallen har spelat i Stockholms konsumtionslandskap och hur sambanden mellan produktion, distribution och konsumtion av livsmedel har set ut i tid och rum under de senaste hundrafemtio åren. Hur har saluhallen kodats och omkodats under denna period? Denna frågas relevans ligger i vad den kan berätta om stadens dagligvaruhandel och de konsumtionskulturer som är knutna till denna. Vad är effekterna av de val vi gör för framtida livsmedelsproduktion, distribution och konsumtion?

The objectives of this thesis were to examine the relationship between the built environment and obesity-related behaviours in Canadian youth, and to address measurement issues relevant for studying these relationships. The thesis is comprised of four manuscripts. The first manuscript determined the accuracy of the food retailer locations surrounding 34 schools in Ontario as provided by two geographic information system (GIS) databases. The GIS locations of 25% of the food retailers were located within 15 m of their actual location, 50% were within 25 m, and 75% were within 50 m. These values did not differ by GIS database source. The second manuscript examined the association between the presence of food retailers surrounding schools and students’ lunchtime eating behaviours. It also determined whether a circular or road network buffer provided a better geographic boundary of the food retail environment surrounding schools. It was carried out in 6,971 9th and 10th grades students from 158 schools. The presence of food retailers near schools was strongly associated with students regularly eating their lunch at a snack-bar, fast-food restaurant or café. The road network buffers provided the better measure of the food retail environment. The third manuscript determined the optimal buffer size of the food retail environment surrounding schools. Six road network buffers were created around 158 schools. These ranged in size from 500 m to 5000 m. Results indicated that the 1000 m buffer was the optimal size. The fourth manuscript explored associations between urban sprawl and active transportation, moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and overweight/obesity in 7,017 youth aged 12 to 19 who resided in one of Canada's 33 Census Metropolitan Areas. Increasing levels of sprawl were modestly associated with increased active transportation (only among 12 to 15 year olds) and MVPA. No associations were found for overweight/obesity. Taken together, the results from this thesis provide a better understanding of the role of the built environment on obesity-related behaviours in Canadian youth. Important measurement issues in this topic area were also addressed. / Thesis (Ph.D, Community Health & Epidemiology) -- Queen's University, 2012-01-30 19:36:47.354

M. Tech. (Department of Logistics Management, Faculty of Management Sciences), Vaal University of Technology. / The importance of the food retail industry and its role in stimulating economic growth and ensuring food availability as the final actor in the food supply chain in many countries is well documented in literature. This stands true in the case of Zimbabwe, where the industry has grown tremendously to become a significant contributor to the gross domestic product through employment creation, tax contributions and infrastructural development. Despite these contributions, the industry faces challenges in the form of supply chain risks. This is primarily due to the nature of the retail supply chain in Zimbabwe where over two-thirds of the products sold are imported. This forms the basis of this study which seeks to understand how supply chain risk management in food retail firms impacts on firm operational performance. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the relationships between supply chain risk management and operational performance in the food retail industry in Harare, Zimbabwe. To achieve the study’s aim, several variables were considered; namely, supply chain risk management, supply chain risk information sharing, and supply chain risk analysis and assessment, supply chain risk-sharing mechanisms and operational performance. The study followed a quantitative research approach based on a positivist paradigm. A total of 264 food retail firm owners, managers and professional employees who possess knowledge on supply chain risk management in Harare were selected using a non-probability, purposive sampling technique. Data were then collected using a close-ended survey questionnaire which was developed using adapted measurement scales. The collected data were analysed using the Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS version 25.0) and the Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS version 25.0) statistical software. The applied data analysis techniques included descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. Inferential statistics used two approaches, namely, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The EFA tested for the factor structure of the collected data, whereas SEM tested for both psychometric properties of measurement scales and the relationships in the proposed hypotheses. The results of the study showed that supply chain risk management has a direct and significant relationship with both supply chain risk information sharing and supply chain risk analysis and assessment. Supply chain risk analysis and assessment yielded a positive and significant relationship with supply chain risk-sharing mechanisms. The relationship between supply chain risk analysis and assessment and supply chain risk-sharing mechanisms was significant but weak. Supply chain risk-sharing mechanisms had a strong and positive relationship with operational performance. There was, however, no significant direct relationship between supply chain risk management and operational performance. Insights gained from this study have merit from both theoretical and practical perspectives. Theoretically, the study provides an understanding of some driving factors to supply chain risk management, supply chain risk-sharing information sharing, supply chain risk analysis and assessment, supply chain risk-sharing mechanisms and operational performance within the food retail industry in Zimbabwe. Since there is limited evidence of similar previous studies in Zimbabwean food retail firms, the results are an essential addition to the existing body of literature within the area of supply chain management and supply chain risk management in the context of a developing country. From a management perspective, the study suggests specific recommendations that should be implemented for the optimisation of all five constructs.

No description available.

A study of European households found that Food and drink causes a fourth of the total various environmental impacts. Globally does the food sector account for 22 % of all the greenhouse gas emissions. The climate impact from different foods do however vary significantly, and meat products does generally cause higher greenhouse gas emissions than plant-based foods. A reduction of the meat consumption is suggested by many researchers as one of the most important measures in order to move towards a more sustainable food consumption and production. The grocery retailers have an important role as gatekeepers between the consumer and the products, and the aim of this thesis is to study a transition towards a larger range and increased sales of plant-based protein alternatives to meat from the retailers’ perspective. It does so by attempting to identify drivers and barriers from their point of view. Data was collected through interviews with representatives for the largest retailer groups (n=3) and interviews with store managers (n=8) as well as by examining the product range in the stores (n=10). Grocery stores were located in two different cities; the district Södermalm in central Stockholm and Östersund, a mid-sized town in the Northern parts of Sweden. The results from the interviews showed an increase in the range as well as the sales of vegetarian products at all the participating retailers and stores, and all the interviewees believed that this will continue to increase even further in the future. Flexitarians and young people stands out as the main groups of consumers who buy these products and thus lies behind this increase. What drives the consumers has been identified as an increased awareness, an improved product range and media attention. From the retailers’ perspective it is also now considered a competitive advantage to offer an attractive range of these products. Price has been identified as one of the main barriers for a future expansion of the sales these vegetarian alternatives, but several of the participants also believed that a lot of people are not at all interested in lowering their meat consumption which would be a central obstacle to overcome to get a wide spread in society as a whole. Even if the products have improved recently they may still not be attractive enough to be considered as an alternative for all consumers. The findings also indicate that there is a relatively small difference between the two participating cities, with the main exception that the stores at Södermalm in general offers more perishable vegetarian alternatives than the stores in Östersund does. The most significant differences, regarding product range, was found within ICA (Sweden’s largest food retailer) where the stores are privately owned and the store managers can choose assortment which differs from the other two large retailers Axfood and Coop where it is centrally controlled. The representatives from the retailer groups had rather different views on their ownrole in the development of the vegetarian alternatives but also on what future measures they believed are needed for a future development and impact. This has consequences for the consumers as the range differs to a large degree, to some extent between the different retailer groups, but mainly within the largest one (ICA). The results from this study cannot be generalised, but may provide new insights to a perspective that seems to not have been studied before and might constitute a point of departure for future research. / Mat och dryck står för ungefär en fjärdedel av vår miljö- och klimatpåverkan och globalt står livsmedelssektorn för 22 % av alla växthusgasutsläpp. Klimatpåverkan varierar dock kraftigt mellan olika typer av livsmedel och generellt sett är utsläppen från kött flera gånger större än för vegetabiliska livsmedel. Att minska köttkonsumtionen och övergå till mer vegetabiliska proteiner anses vara en av de viktigaste åtgärderna för att nå en mer hållbar matkonsumtion. Som länken mellan varan och konsumenten har dagligvaruhandeln en viktig roll för att förutsättningarna ska finnas på plats. Den här studien syftar till att undersöka handelns syn på utvecklingen av en ökad´andel vegetariska alternativ till kött, genom att belysa drivkrafter, hinder samt hur utbudet ser ut. Data samlades in genom intervjuer med centrala representanter för ICA, Coop och Axfood (n=3) samt genom intervjuer med butikschefer (n=8) och sortimentsundersökningar i butik (n=10) i en stor respektive mellanstor svensk stad (på Södermalm i Stockholm samt i Östersund). Resultaten visar att försäljningen och utbudet av vegetariska produkter har de senaste åren ökat kraftigt hos alla medverkande butiker och bolag, och utvecklingen tros även fortsätta i framtiden. Det är främst flexitarianer och unga som är drivande för utvecklingen, och en ökad medvetenhet (miljö, hälsa och djurvälfärd) samt att utbudet blivit bättre pekas ut som bidragande orsaker. För butikerna och bolagen själva är det även en konkurrensfördel att ha ett bra vegetariskt utbud. Ett av de främsta hindren som kommit fram för den fortsatta utvecklingen är att det är många som inte är intresserade av att minska sin köttkonsumtion, att produkterna inte är tillräckligt attraktiva och att de kan vara dyra. Resultaten visar också att skillnaden i utbud mellan städerna är relativt liten, med undantaget att det är en mindre andel färska alternativ i Östersund än på Södermalm. De största skillnaderna i hur många vegetariska alternativ som kunden har att välja på (oberoende av stad) finns inom ICA som drivs av privata handlare och där butikerna i större grad kan påverka sitt sortiment, tillskillnad från Axfood och Coop där sortimenten centralstyrs. De centrala representanter som medverkat har olika syn på sin egen roll i utvecklingen samt vilka åtgärder som behövs för en fortsatt utveckling. För konsumenten finns det en relativt stor skillnad i bredden på det vegetariska utbudet beroende på vilken butik de väljer att gå till, vilket verkar vara en konsekvens av vilken nivå sortimentet bestäms på. Resultaten från studien går inte attgeneraliseras, men de kan ge nya insikter i ett perspektiv som inte verkar studerats tidigare och vara en utgångspunkt för framtida studier.