Search results

The purpose of this paper is to show how authenticity limits businesses' responses to competition in the food and beverage industry.

This paper focuses on a unique dataset of over 300 breweries and more than 1.300 beer drinkers in Franconia (Germany) to test the impact of authenticity on firms' reactions to competition within geographic communities. The paper uses ordinary least squares (OLS) and fractional logit models.

The findings reveal that breweries tend to enlarge their product portfolio by introducing non-authentic products as a response to competition in geographic communities, while reducing their product diversity and engagement in non-authentic segments when preferences for authenticity prevail in the geographic community. The findings further suggest that in geographic communities where both competition and preferences for authenticity are present, firms tend to keep their product portfolios narrow and withdraw non-authentic products even when product proliferation strategies would be more efficient to deal with competition.

This paper offers novel insights on the impact of authenticity on product proliferation strategies for food and beverage businesses. By showing that expectations on authenticity can constrain firms' product portfolio even in the presence of competition, this paper contributes to contemporary discussions in the fields of strategic management and organization theory about the role of authenticity for food and beverage firms. Unlike previous studies focusing on the benefits of authenticity for firms, the present study is one of the first ones to highlight the negative spillovers of authenticity for firms operating in the food and beverage industry.

Most studies of entrepreneurial failure do not have good measures of consumers' perceptions of product quality. As a result, perceived quality in entrepreneurial success is often omitted. The craft brewery industry is comprised of small entrepreneurial firms selling an experience good making it an ideal study setting. Using online beer reviews, the authors examine how perceptions of beer quality and the size of brewery production influence entrepreneurial success of microbreweries and brewpubs.

Using data from the Brewers Association and over 12 million reviews from beeradvocate.com between 2002 and 2016, the authors examine the relationship between perceived product quality to firm survival. Perceived quality is measured using online beer reviews. The authors expect larger microbreweries will survive longer as will breweries with higher perceived quality. The authors use a conditional log-log hazard model to estimate survival for microbreweries and brewpubs.

A one standard deviation increase in the beer ratings reduces the probability of exit by 26% for a microbrewery and 19% for brewpubs. The authors find that larger microbreweries have a lower hazard of exiting.

Entrepreneurs in the brewing industry start as home brewers before beginning commercial enterprises. Scaling up production is difficult. The initial size of their brewery is an important determinant of their success. Likewise, the perception of the quality of their beer as measured by consumer ratings gives a good market indication about future survival. This research is one of the few studies to examine the influence of perceived quality on firm survival in a growing industry.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the use of competitive and international performance benchmarking in order to estimate efficiency, determine key factors, find the internal and foreign benchmarks, and reveal the full reserves of inputs reduction and potential growth efficiency for brewing companies.

Data envelopment analysis (DEA) and other tools of performance benchmarking are used to analyse the efficiency of brewing companies. Some key factors are examined for their impact on efficiency: the scale, regional location, proprietors and other endogenous and exogenous factors. The results are based on the samples of 34 Ukrainian brewing companies and 20 foreign brewing companies.

Only one domestic company can be recognized as a world‐class efficient company. The proprietors, location and the scale factors exert sufficient influence on efficiency of the brewing companies. The international benchmarking allows to widen essentially the capability of reduced consumption of various inputs and provides considerable benefit to Ukrainian breweries and industry efficiency. Some variants for improving of the efficiency of Ukrainian breweries and industry, including cooperation, mergers or friendly acquisitions, are proposed.

The research is limited by single industry that is explained by requirement of technology (product) homogeneity while using DEA tools.

The results of the study contain data and recommendations that can be practicable for brewing companies' management, present and potential investors and proprietors. The foreign and domestic benchmarks most suitable for benchmarking implementation are established for each of the Ukrainian brewing companies.

This is the first study that adopts the various DEA models for measuring of efficiency in the brewing industry with the tools of competitive and international benchmarking.

While previous studies have looked at the negative consequences of beer drinking often as a prelude to discussing benefits of laws that curtail consumption, the purpose of this paper is to understand the downside of such regulations insofar as reducing entrepreneurial activity in the brewing industry.

Using a unique data set from the Brewers’ Association that contains information on the number and type of brewery in each county, this study explores the relationship between the number of breweries and regulations targeted at the brewing industry. Zero-inflated negative binomial regressions are used to determine the relationship between the number of microbreweries and brewpubs per county and state beer taxes, self-distribution legislation, and on-premises sales.

The authors find that allowing breweries to sell beers on-premises as well as allowing for breweries to self-distribute have statistically significant relationships with the number of microbreweries, brewpubs, and breweries. The authors do not find an economically significant relationship between state excise taxes and the number of breweries of any type.

Results suggest that whatever public health benefits are brought about by alcohol laws, they are not a free lunch, as they may hinder entrepreneurial development.

This paper aims to investigate the impact of pubs and breweries’ attributes on beer prices by exploring and examining the variation of beer prices across pubs in York, UK.

Data gathered from five surveys of pubs conducted between 2012 and 2020 are used to test six research hypotheses analysing how factors such as location, type of ownership and management of pubs, beers’ characteristics and breweries’ attributes affect beer prices in the on-licence market.

Beer packaging, type of brewery, pubs’ ownership and management all have a significant impact on beer prices, with beer on average cheaper in premises owned by pub companies and breweries compared to independently owned pubs.

Findings can have implications in the first instance, on current fiscal policies affecting beer prices and, on a broader scale, regulating alcohol consumption.

Understanding beer price mechanisms in the pub sector offers valuable insights to practitioners and policymakers about designing and delivering policies and actions aimed at halting the decline of pubs in the UK.

Findings provide original information relevant for developing initiatives aimed at preventing excessive alcohol consumption in private premises, an issue commonly associated with problems such as alcohol-related diseases, loneliness and antisocial behaviour.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first, providing an empirical analysis of beer price mechanisms within the pub sector at such a granular level; findings have important implications for pubs and on-licence businesses and for local communities and economies.

Drawing from the literature on channels of distribution, four hypotheses concerning the relationships between power, satisfaction and conflict are developed. These hypotheses are tested using data from the channel of distribution for bulk beer. Finally, the causal model underlying the hypotheses is tested, using causal path analysis and an alternative causal model is presented which provides a better fit with the data and which also helps to explain some troublesome findings from previous research.

Branding is a key element in marketing, especially for those products whose limited opportunities for differentiation mean that they could be viewed as commodities. Branding is normally considered to be more developed in countries where marketing has been established for a longer period, such as the UK, than in new market economies such as the Czech Republic. Presents empirical evidence from UK and Czech companies to challenge this view. In spite of consumer resistance to branding in the Czech Republic, and differing competitive environments, the contrast between national and smaller breweries in terms of brand development was found to be similar in both countries. Though ensuring distribution is critical, it is argued that smaller breweries in both countries have much to gain from a clearer understanding of customers’ perceptions of their brands.

Craft brewers in the USA have long sought to improve the efficiency of beer production to achieve their primary aims of improving the product and increasing profit margins. More recently, however, there has been a move toward the adoption of more sustainable production techniques aimed at reducing the environmental impact of the brewing process itself. This study aims to investigate the factors that drive engagement with environmental practices among US craft brewery owners.

The present study uses an exploratory sequential mixed methods design where, first, a qualitative thematic analysis was conducted via semi-structured in-depth interviews with 31 craft brewers from across the USA. Second, a quantitative online survey was distributed to craft brewers nationwide, and 237 valid responses were collected to rank the preidentified motivational factors.

The findings of the present study are in alignment with those of previous studies conducted in a broader business context. This study contributes to an understanding of the factors driving environmental engagement, as well as their relative significance to craft brewers, which is critical to increasing the ability to target financial and physical resources and make the brewing process more sustainable and environmentally friendly.

The study has theoretical and practical implications for craft breweries, policymakers and academics. From the perspective of policy, there is limited work exploring this topic in the specific context of craft brewing. This study, thus, contributes to an understanding of the factors driving environmental engagement, as well as their relative significance to craft brewers – which is critical to increasing the ability to target resources, both financial and material, and make the brewing process more sustainable and environmentally friendly.

Identifying exactly what it is that guides the decision-making processes of craft brewery owners, in regard to the adoption of new or improved environmental practices, has several advantages. First, it serves as a guide to help breweries adapt to the evolving needs of a progressive society; second, it assists government and policymakers in formulating effective and relevant legislation; and third, it helps consumers to better understand their role and position in business processes and decision-making.

This study adopts the multi-step model developed by Avraham and Ketter (2008), for altering place images, based on past academic literature on destination marketing. The purpose of this study is to determine the state of Fukushima’s sake breweries before and after 2011, and its strategies for overcoming negative images and strengthening regional branding. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven sake breweries in Fukushima.

Fukushima Prefecture, located in northern Japan, is renowned for its hot springs, lakes, historical architecture, gastronomy, and particularly its sake (or Japanese rice wine). However, pre-existing problems such as the prefecture’s changing demographics and economic development, the effects of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE) and fears of radioactive contamination have made consumers reluctant to consume products from the region or to visit the prefecture. This study illustrates how various sake brewery stakeholders have sought to reverse and alter negative images associated with the prefecture. To examine these initiatives, this study uses the multi-step destination marketing and counter-branding model to identify the strategies and techniques used by the stakeholders, with the aim of altering the way the prefecture is perceived and reversing the negative image people may have of the prefecture. To acquire data for this model, this study uses semi-structured interviews conducted in 2018 and 2020 with local sake breweries, tourism associations and the local government on how they sought to retore a positive image of the prefecture and rebrand it into a new type of tourism destination that focuses on the strengths of its breweries.

The results indicate that through a combination of collaboration between the breweries, local government and the local communities, the sake breweries were able to reverse many of the negative effects of the 2011 GEJE. The success of the sake industry has prompted the local government to focus more strongly on tourism marketing that places sake products and breweries at the center of its campaign to promote the region.

While this paper focuses on the recovery of breweries, it does not include the recovery of wineries in Fukushima, which have made similar progress in their recovery. In addition, the interviews focused primarily on the perspectives of the suppliers and not the consumers.

The results of this research can help guide other destinations undergoing prolonged association with negative images on the path toward image recovery. In particular, this paper highlights the importance of a coordinated strategy by all stakeholders, the local government, businesses and communities, to create a united image and response for addressing the causes of these image problems and to create new opportunities for all stakeholders.

This research contributes to the field of image restoration, which combines theories regarding destination marketing and crisis management. Also, the research highlights the importance of collective stakeholder mobilization when attempting to help communities that are facing economic and tourism crises.

Both the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) and the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) argue that barriers to market access in the UK brewing industry disadvantage small brewers. They have been actively campaigning for a number of years for a tax concession (progressive beer duty or PBD) to alleviate the situation of small brewers. This paper argues that the disadvantages faced by small brewers are due to a complex monopsony in the beer industry, where the power of the distribution segment of the value chain is paramount. It outlines a model of the structure of the UK beer industry, and undertakes two types of empirical analysis to test the potential impact of PBD on the small brewery sector. The paper finds that control over distribution is the key to profitability and survival in the beer industry, and that small brewers with such control are most likely to benefit from PBD. The findings, however, also have relevance to the position of any small business facing a powerful distribution segment. Finally, for the issue of policy development, the paper indicates that the potential outcomes of a policy change may not be entirely those intended.