The thesis explores how social responsibility is addressed by firms importing certified organic food from developing countries to Sweden. The approaches to social responsibility of 13 Swedish firms were investigated, of which the majority were small or medium size (< 250 employees) and none belonged to the market-dominating group of grocery retailers. The results show that a majority of the firms consider social responsibility in relation with their suppliers but in view of scarce resources trust intermediary firms for follow up. Many mix ethical trading approaches focused on production conditions, and fair trade initiatives focused on community development. Companies experience uncertainty as to whether organic certification that includes requirements for social responsibility will render a higher price premium. The co-existence of multiple social schemes related to organic trade enables flexibility but in some cases resulted in a perception of subjectivity and differentiation of control measures, which risks to result in a loss of systemic trust. Working through intermediaries has benefits but at the same time leads to the loss of connection to the place and people that the social responsibility targets. Organic certification schemes need to be clearer about the scope and purpose of included social aspects. Further research is needed to understand and compare the social effects and differences at farm or factory level, in relation to the four identified approaches to social responsibility in organic trade. The four approaches were:  organic certification according to a standard with social requirements, combining organic certification according to minimum production standard either with a separate social label, or with a business supplier code of conduct, or finally the belief that conversion to organic farming will automatically bring about social benefits. / Uppsatsen undersöker hur företag som importerar certifierade ekologiska livsmedel från utvecklingsländer arbetar med socialt ansvar. 13 svenska firmor intervjuades om sina förhållningssätt, varav de flesta var små eller medelstora (<250 anställda) och ingen tillhörde de marknadsdominerade dagligvaruhandelskedjorna. Resultaten visar att en majoritet av företagen tar upp socialt ansvar med sina underleverantörer, men då resurserna är begränsade handlar de flesta via mellanhänder som också ansvarar för uppföljningen. Företagen upplever en osäkerhet kring om ekologisk certifiering som inkluderar socialt ansvar berättigar till ett högre pris på varan. Förekomsten av olika sociala program relaterat till ekologisk produktion möjliggör flexibilitet men uppfattas också av vissa som subjektivt och oklart i fråga om kontrollmekanismerna. Detta riskerar att minska tilliten till systemet. Det har fördelar att arbeta via mellanhänder men samtidigt förloras den direkta kopplingen till platsen för produktionen och till producenterna. Ytterligare forskning behövs för att förstå och jämföra vilka sociala effekter och olikheter på producentnivå som kan uppnås med de fyra identiferade förhållningssätten till socialt ansvar: Ekologisk certifiering enligt en standard som innehåller socialt ansvar, en kombination av minimistandard för ekologisk produktion och separat social certifiering eller kombinerad med företagets egen sociala uppförandekod, och slutligen synsättet att ekologisk produktion automatiskt resulterar i bättre sociala förutsättningar

Alfresco LLC is a startup business based in Managua, Nicaragua. The aim of Alfresco is to help create healthy nutrition habits in Central America’s homes by providing fresh, organic, high quality products with no sugar added and free of lactose and gluten. The salad dressing industry in Nicaragua is relatively mature and it’s characterized by a medium level of fragmentation. However, organic salad dressings are currently inexistent, therefore, this would be a disruption in the lifecycle of the industry. Moreover, since there are no competitors in the organic segment, there is a market gap that has not been covered yet; that is exactly the segment that Alfresco will target. An initial investment of $4,362 is required to start the business. As shown in the financial section, we forecast to recover the investment in year 3. One important risk is the fact that there are a lot of substitutes for salad dressings. However, the busy consumers’ lifestyle backed with the heavy advertising efforts and the high quality of our product, will help us overcome this obstacle and succeed in the industry. Overall, we believe that there is a big opportunity in this industry and we expect to break even before the forecasted time.

This dissertation focuses on topics in areas of agricultural and food policy, international trade, agricultural markets and marketing. The dissertation is structured as three papers. The first paper, Chapter 1, evaluates the impact of agricultural trade policies. Imported shrimp, which comprises nearly ninety percent of all United States shrimp consumption, have become the subject of antidumping and countervailing duty investigations in the past decade. I estimate the import demand for shrimp in the United States from 1999-2014, using the Barten’s synthetic model. I test the hypothesis of possible structural breaks in the import demand introduced by various trade policies: antidumping/countervailing duty investigations and impositions, and import refusals due to safety and environmental issues. Results show that these import-restricting policies have significant effects on the import shrimp demand, indicating that the omission of them would lead to biased estimates. Chapter 2, the second paper, examines how the burden of state cigarette tax is divided between producers/retailers and consumers, by using the Nielsen store-level scanner data on cigarette prices from convenience stores over the period 2011–2012. Cigarette taxes were found more than fully passed through to retail prices on average, suggesting consumers pay excess burden and market power exists in the cigarette industry. Utilizing information on the attributes of cigarette products, we demonstrated that tax incidence varied by brand and package size: pass-through rates for premium brands and carton-packaged cigarettes are higher than those for discount brands and cigarettes in packs, respectively, indicating possibilities of different demand elasticities across product tiers. Chapter 3, the third paper, focuses on identifying the demographic characteristics of households buying organic coffee, by examining the factors that influence the probability that a consumer will buy organic coffee, and which factors affect the amount organic coffee purchased. Using nationally representative household level data from 55,470 households over the period of 2011 to 2013 (Nielsen Homescan), and a censored demand model, we find that economic and demographic factors play a crucial role in the household choice of purchasing organic coffee. Furthermore, households are less sensitive to own-price changes in the case of organic coffee versus conventional coffee.

The thesis focuses on the survey of consumer perception of organic food and their brands. The work characterizes ecological agriculture, organic food and the process of their control and labeling. The aim is to find out what consumer behavior is with regard to age and gender. Another important output of this work is to find out whether consumers find organic food better than conventional food and whether consumers perceive organic food when they buy. The subject of the thesis is research and data were obtained by questionnaire survey.

Diploma thesis "New forms of distribution and sales of food with a focus on internet trading" aims to analyze the food market to recommend real realization of the new forms of food sales with the focus on the internet usage. The first part is focused on theoretical knowledge that explains the basic concepts related to the topic. In the second part, I focused on questioning and interviews. The aim was to find out if the customers buying food via Internet, whether they would welcome this form of selling and distributing food and the benefits of buying them over the Internet.

Information on the use of regional, seasonal and organic foods and opinions on the possible improvement of the current status were investigated in the school catering facilities of the South Bohemian Region. 35 completely filled questionnaires were obtained and evaluated from addressed respondents (heads of catering facilities, directors) of nursery and primary schools. Based on their assessment, it was found that most catering establishments have permanent food suppliers, usually 2 - 3. Kitchen managers prefer suppliers with a larger assortment (wholesalers, supermarkets). 85% of canteens said that regular suppliers give them discounts. From the region's farmers, 35-45% of the canteens take main foods, meat, milk and dairy products, less fruit and vegetables. The most frequently purchased regional food is potatoes, while fish and legumes are mainly imported. Approximately 80% of canteens do not include organic food in the menus. The main reason is their difficult availability and higher price. This is confirmed by the finding that the more the supplier is a local farmer, the fewer canteens use organic products and buy conventional foods. A frequent reason for not using regional food and organic food in the canteens is low awareness of their quality, fear of high prices and limited range. It is therefore necessary for farmers to improve the range of supply, distribution and marketing. Regular workshops for managers and demonstration courses for canteen employees on how to effectively use these foods in menus can improve the situation. Promoting these foods is also important in order to raise awareness among parents and children.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T20:12:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2006-Fabio Sampaio Vianna Ramos Filho.pdf: 1341377 bytes, checksum: 3765a981914fbb9e6f21fb33b9857a02 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-08-28 / This dissertation involves a study on the bovine meat chain based on data collecting of the last years leading to an analysis about its functioning and a general view on its dynamics. The behavior of the bovine meat consumer market both worldwide and in Brazil tends to follow a new demand pattern. The initial premise is about the new demand patterns focusing on the issues of food quality and food security. From this premise it is believed that the organic food market presents a growth due to the new demands for quality food consumption. The aim of this dissertation is to study the process of building new production and consumption networks of bovine meat, following the hypothesis that recent transformations in the meat market are triggered by a consumption demand based on strict regulations and criteria of quality and food security. The development of organic cattle is based on control protocols as the certification for organic food and of other legal and control tools demanded by the meat market. It is presupposed that the organic meat production meets the requirements on demand patterns indicated by the market. The question on food security and quality is discussed in this dissertation and a new debate is opened on the complexity influence of the chain dynamics on consumption demand. This dissertation uses the principles of the New Economic Sociology to build a theoretical discussion on the dynamics of the meat chain and the consumption demand. Based on contemporary authors, the convention theory and the socio-technical theories are used to analytically explore the relationship and the behavior of the agents involved. We try to understand the tendency of the new forms of chain organization through an analysis on social and economic relations among the agents of the different involved segments. The new forms are represented by networks and alliances built around targets which are meant to take care of the consuming market in a direct way using a differentiated product and a mark that adds economic, social and environmental values. The results show that in order to analyze the potential market, it is necessary to analytically explore the consumption dynamics. The theoretical basis used in this dissertation is not enough to deepen the analysis on the issues of consumption dynamics. The new ways of organization of the organic food chain uses a principle from the theory of conventions which defines the rules starting from the relationship between the actors and that this collective process contributes to the construction of new technological and quality patterns. The dissertation concludes that it is necessary to deepen the studies and analyses of the new organic food networks and alliances by introducing theoretical principles that may help the understanding of this new initiative on the light of the sociology of consumption. / A disserta??o aborda a cadeia da carne bovina por meio de um levantamento de dados dos ?ltimos anos, permitindo uma an?lise sobre seu funcionamento e uma vis?o geral sobre a sua din?mica. O comportamento do mercado consumidor de carne bovina no mundo e no Brasil indica tend?ncias para um novo padr?o de demanda. A premissa inicial ? sobre os novos padr?es de demanda com enfoque na quest?o da qualidade e da seguran?a do alimento. A partir desta premissa, parte-se do pressuposto de que o mercado de alimentos org?nicos apresenta um crescimento movido as novas demandas de consumo por alimentos de qualidade. O objetivo da disserta??o ? estudar o processo da constru??o de novas redes de produ??o e de consumo de carne bovina, com a hip?tese de que as recentes transforma??es do mercado de carnes s?o movidas por uma demanda de consumo, baseada em r?gidas normas e crit?rios de qualidade e seguran?a alimentar. O desenvolvimento da pecu?ria org?nica ? pautado em protocolos de controle como a certifica??o dos alimentos org?nicos e dos demais instrumentos legais e de controle exigidos nos mercados de carnes. A priori, a produ??o de carne org?nica atende ?s exig?ncias sobre os padr?es da demanda apontados pelo mercado. A quest?o da qualidade e da seguran?a do alimento ? discutida na disserta??o e abre-se um debate sobre a influ?ncia da complexidade na din?mica da cadeia sobre a demanda de consumo. A disserta??o busca nos princ?pios da Nova Sociologia Econ?mica uma base para a discuss?o te?rica sobre a din?mica da cadeia da carne e a demanda de consumo. A teoria das conven??es e a teoria s?cio-t?cnicas, por meio dos autores contempor?neos, s?o recorridas para explorar analiticamente as rela??es e os comportamentos dos agentes envolvidos. Procura-se entender a tend?ncia das novas formas de organiza??o da cadeia por meio de uma an?lise sobre as rela??es sociais e econ?micas entre os agentes dos diversos segmentos envolvidos. As novas formas s?o representadas por redes e alian?as constru?das em torno de objetivos voltados a atender o mercado consumidor de forma direta, com um produto diferenciado e uma marca que agregue valores econ?micos, sociais e ambientais. Os resultados demonstram, que para realizar uma an?lise do potencial de mercado ? necess?rio explorar de forma anal?tica a din?mica de consumo. As bases te?ricas consideradas na disserta??o n?o s?o suficientes para aprofundar a an?lise nas quest?es da din?mica de consumo. As novas formas de organiza??o na cadeia da carne org?nica buscam na teoria das conven??es, um embasamento de que as regras s?o definidas a partir do relacionamento entre os atores e que este processo coletivo contribui para a constru??o de novos padr?es tecnol?gicos e de qualidade. A disserta??o conclui que ? necess?rio aprofundar os estudos e an?lises das novas redes e alian?as de carne org?nica, introduzindo bases te?ricas que colaborem para o entendimento sobre estas novas iniciativas no enfoque da sociologia do consumo.

abstract: Consumers can purchase local food through intermediated marketing channels, such as grocery stores, or through direct-to-consumer marketing channels, for instance, farmers markets. While the number of farms that utilize direct-to-consumer outlets keeps increasing, the direct-to-consumer sales remain lower than intermediated sales. If consumers prefer to purchase local food through intermediated channels, then policies designed to support direct channels may be misguided. Using a variety of experiments, this dissertation investigates consumer preferences for local food and their demand differentiated by marketing channel. In the first essay, I examine the existing literature on consumer preferences for local food by applying meta-regression analysis to a set of eligible research papers. My analysis provides evidence of statistically significant willingness to pay for local food products. Moreover, I find that a methodological approach and study-specific characteristics have a significant influence on the reported estimates for local attribute. By separating the demand for local from the demand for a particular channel, the second essay attempts to disentangle consumers’ preferences for marketing channels and the local-attribute in their food purchases. Using an online choice experiment, I find that consumers are willing to pay a premium for local food. However, they are not willing to pay premiums for local food that is sold at farmers markets relative to supermarkets. Therefore, in the third essay I seek to explain the rise in intermediated local by investigating local food shopping behavior. I develop a model of channel-selection in a nested context and apply it to the primary data gathered through an online food diary. I find that, while some consumers enjoy shopping at farmers markets to meet their objectives, such as socialization with farmers, the majority of consumers buy local food from supermarkets because they offer convenient settings where a variety of products can be bought as one basket. My overall results suggest that, if the goal is to increase the sales of local food, regardless of the channel, then existing supply-chain relationships in the local food channel appear to be performing well. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Agribusiness 2018

This thesis seeks to address the topic of how the leading Swedish food retailers applied the 4 Ps of the green marketing mix (product, price, promotion, place) when offering organic food. Firstly, the food retailers segment all the consumers in different categories, but the green consumer is not one of them. Subsequently, they target the whole market with varying strategies for positioning. For short-term positioning works the announcements of discounts in the shops. Launching promotional campaigns online and advertising on TV has given favourable outcomes of long-term and allowed the recognition of the people of the green food brand.However, there is a lack of effective use of the elements of green marketing, especially in green product and the green promotion. Regarding green price, they strive to reduce overprices to attract more consumers. About the green place, all have a lot to improve. In sum, the strategies of green marketing mix of supermarkets could be slowing down the organic food consumption.

<p><strong>Sammanfattning</strong></p><p><strong>Seminariedatum:</strong> 2009-01-08</p><p><strong>Lärosäte:</strong> Mälardalens Högskola, Västerås<strong></strong></p><p><strong>Nivå:</strong> Kandidatuppsats i Företagsekonomi, 15 hp</p><p><strong>Titel:</strong> ”Mycket snack, lite verkstad – En studie om varför konsumenten inte köper ekologiska livsmedel”</p><p><strong>Författare:</strong> Helene Kaspersson 850325                 Jennie Spångberg 860813                 Stefan Sjöblom 871231</p><p><strong>Handledare:</strong> Claes Jonsson</p><p><strong>Problemformulering:</strong> Varför köper inte konsumenten ekologiska livsmedel?</p><p><strong>Syfte:</strong> Vi har för avsikt att beskriva hur konsumenten påverkas av individuella influenser och gruppinfluenser till att inte köpa ekologiska livsmedel. I en förlängning skall denna uppsats kunna vara till hjälp i processen att öka försäljningen av ekologiska livsmedel.</p><p><strong>Metod:</strong> För att kunna ge en generell bild av beteendet utförs en kvantitativ undersökning i form av en enkätundersökning.</p><p><strong>Teoretiskt perspektiv:</strong> Studien har köpbeslutsprocessen som utgångspunkt med fokus i hur konsumenten påverkas av individuella influenser och gruppinfluenser.</p><p><strong>Slutsats:</strong> Vi har kommit fram till slutsatserna att kunden agerar utifrån ett vanebaserat beteende vid köp av livsmedel. Det finns en stereotyp som symboliserar den ekologiska konsumenten. Kunden påverkas av sin referensgrupp till att inte vilja sticka ut.</p><p><strong>Nyckelord:</strong> Konsumentbeteende, Köpbeslutsprocessen, Influenser, Ekologiska livsmedel</p> / <p><strong>Abstract<strong></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong>Seminar date:</strong> 2009-01-08</strong></p><p><strong>University:</strong> Mälardalens Högskola, Västerås</p><p><strong>Level:</strong> Bachelor thesis in Business administration, 15 credits</p><p><strong>Title:</strong> ”Mycket snack, lite verkstad – En studie om varför konsumenten inte köper ekologiska livsmedel”</p><p><strong>Authors:</strong> Helene Kaspersson 850325             Jennie Spångberg 860813             Stefan Sjöblom 871231<strong>Tutor:</strong> Claes Jonsson<strong></strong></p><p><strong>Problem formulation:</strong> Why does not the consumer buy organic food?</p><p><strong>Purpose:</strong> Our purpose is to describe how the consumer is affected by individual influences and group influences not to buy organic food. Our study shall later on be helpful in the process of increasing the sales of organic food.</p><p><strong>Method:</strong> To be able to create a general view of the behavior, we use a quantitative approach with an inquiry.</p><p><strong>Theoretical perspective:</strong> The theoretical framework consists of the buying decision-making process with focus on how individual influences and group influences affect the customer.</p><p><strong>Conclusions:</strong> We have reached the conclusions that the customer is affected by his/her habits when it comes to the buying decision of food. The “organic food customer” is associated with a stereotype. The customer is affected by its reference group not to be different.</p><p><strong>Key words:</strong> Consumer behavior, Buying decision-making process, Influences, Organic food</p>