Perspectives of Traditional Food Supply Chains on the European Market

Area 07 – Scienze agrarie e veterinarie

Traditional food products (TFPs), which are linked to regional specificities and cultural and gastronomic heritage, are playing a growing role in the EU market as they are connected to the evolution of consumer preferences. TFPs are considered as being produced locally through an authentic production process and constitute a relevant share of EU food production. Most traditional producers are SMEs, that represent the greater part of the EU food sector. SMEs are facing growing competition in the European food market, related particularly to globalisation; nevertheless, SMEs can take advantage of traditional food market opportunities by adapting their strategies to the evolution of demand, and by being part of a well-performing supply chain. "Perspectives of traditional food supply chains on the European market" is the topic of an organised session at the XIIth Congress of the European Association of Agricultural Economists "People, Food and Environments: Global Trends and European Strategies" (Ghent, Belgium, August 26-29, 2008). This book collects five papers prepared for presentation in this session.The session focuses on different aspects of the traditional food market, considering consumer perception, SME marketing capabilities, supply chain performance, concerns regarding quality signs, and consumer acceptability of traceability. The variety of TFP-related economic issues that are explored leads to different theoretical approaches and methods used in analyses.Alessandro BanterleDepartment of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Economics, University of Milan, Italy.Xavier Gellynck Department of Agricultural Economics, Division Agro-Food Marketing, Ghent University, Belgium.Contributions by: Alessandro Banterle, Laura Carraresi, Christophe Charlier, Xavier Gellynck, Georges Giraud, Luis Guerrero, Rafia Halawany, Margrethe Hersleth, Tünde Kuti, Valerie Lengard, Adrienn Molnár, Mai-Anh Ngo, Valentino Piana, András Seb´o´ k, Stefanella Stranieri, Filiep Vanhonacker, Wim Verbeke.

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