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The study aims to identify different consumer groups to better understand changes in urban Fijian food shopping behaviour and the implications for the local food industry.

The authors used a Latent class (LC) cluster analysis of survey data from 1,000 urban Fijian households to identify unique consumer segments based on household food shopping behaviour.

Five distinct urban household clusters were identified based on food shopping behaviour. The cluster with the highest income level spent significantly lower amounts on fresh fruit and vegetables (FFV) at the main traditional market, preferring to buy their FFV from modern supermarket outlets. Considering the vast majority of local smallholder farmers rely on traditional market channels to sell their produce, the growth and dominance of Fijian supermarkets are of some concern.

Future research should consider repeating these types of detailed consumer surveys to better understand the implications of changes in shopping behaviour over time, and the role that key stakeholders can play in ensuring smallholder farmers is not excluded from the market.

Smallholder-driven agriculture accounts for a significant share of Fiji's gross domestic product (GDP), so understanding how the retail food industry is transforming and how this is affecting smallholder farmers is critical to Fiji's social structure.

Research on food retailing and the role of the consumer is rare in small island developing states (SIDS), such as Fiji. Fiji has a somewhat unique set of circumstances. In the absence of significant foreign investment in food retailing, key factors such as urbanisation and rising urban income mean consumer preferences are important drivers of changes in shopping behaviour. The study provides insights into Fiji's changing food industry with implications for other SIDS, while contributing to the global literature in this field.

Over the past 20 years there has been a recurrent problem of a purple‐bluish stain appearing on the laminate materials of finished printed circuit boards between the gold‐plated fingers. The origin of this staining has been traced back to the PWB fabrication plant and it is generally accepted to be related to either the gold plating bath and/or the solder stripper chemistry. In this paper the authors report their investigation of this phenomenon and show that, far from being a benign, cosmetic defect, this purple stain poses a potentially serious metallic contamination to the laminate surface of the PWB. The purple colour arises from generation of a colloidal gold chromophore known as the ‘Purple of Cassius,’ which has been known since ancient times and has been in commercial use in the glass and ceramics industry for at least 300 years.

This paper aims to examine impacts of the poverty alleviation relocation (PAR) program on diet quality of low-income households in China. We explore the impact mechanism of relocation on diet quality and the heterogeneous effects of different relocation modes.

A fixed effects model is constructed using panel data of 1126 low-income households collected over three years in eight provinces of China. The PAR program provides a natural experiment which dramatically changes the living conditions surrounding farmers. We are able to identify the causal effects of relocation on diet quality free from selection bias.

The empirical results show that the PAR program improves diet quality of low-income households and that better market access and increasing incomes induced by relocation play an important role in this improvement. Improved market access significantly reduces the over-consumption of staple foods, whereas higher income significantly reduces the intake divergences of non-staple foods. The impacts of different relocation modes on diet quality are highly heterogeneous.

Our findings indicate that the PAR program benefits diet quality of low-income households through greater market access and increases in total household income. Market improvements and food subsidies are conducive to improving the diet quality of the low income.

Despite widespread evidences of healthy diets being associated with household environments and income, selection bias remains. This paper utilizes an exogenous program to explore the causal impacts of market access and family income on diet quality and to separate their different effects.

The Geislingen research laboratories of Dr Ing. Max Schlötter have developed Slotoposit, a new and advanced process for the manufacture of high quality PTH circuits, using conventional subtractive techniques. The aim of the research was to remove the hazardous formaldehyde present in most electroless copper systems, to improve hole wall adhesion and process the boards in one plating operation rather than the two (panel and pattern) employed in the traditional system. The following paper describes how a stable electroless nickel has been developed to achieve these ends and to increase productivity significantly by reducing the process steps and times.

The fifth in the series of Printed Circuit World Conventions is being held in Glasgow, Scotland, from 12—15 June 1990. It is organised by the UK Printed Circuit World Convention Committee under the direction of the co‐sponsors: EIPC (Europe), IMF (UK), IPC (USA), JPCA (Japan) and PCIF (UK).

The purpose of this paper is to examine rice attributes that are valued by the urban consumers of Cambodia and identifies the factors that influence consumers’ decisions on a set of rice attributes.

The study uses incomplete ranking choice data, gathered from a stated preference survey conducted from 350 consumers of two cities in Cambodia, to model consumers’ alternative choices of rice traits in a setting of a random utility framework. Empirically, a rank-ordered logistic regression is fitted to identify the factors influencing consumers’ perception on a set of rice attributes.

The results suggest that the probability of choosing rice that is soft is highest for consumers in Cambodia. The second and third most preferred rice attributes are taste and aroma, respectively. The results also indicate that rice consumption is significantly affected by location, economic class of consumers, family size and educational attainment.

The research was carried out using consumers in two urban cities in Cambodia as a case study; therefore, the findings might not represent all consumers’ preferences for rice traits in the country.

The present study contributes to the overall rice grain preference literature examining consumers’ perceptions on rice traits and the factors influencing their decision in choosing rice traits. The results originating from this study will help to guide rice breeders in developing new varieties with traits that will be acceptable to consumers and other value chain actors.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the impacts of financing constraints on the quality upgrading of China's agri-food sector.

Our empirical study is performed using the “distance to the frontier” framework. We employ a merged sample of Chinese agri-food trading firms based on Chinese firm-level data from the National Bureau of Statistics of China and Chinese customs data. To verify robustness, we test whether the results hold when using different definitions of quality upgrading and alternative proxy variables for product quality and financing constraints. To examine the heterogeneous effects, we generate subsamples by firm location, export destination and the product sophistication of exports.

The results suggest that financing constraints have a significant negative impact on the product quality upgrading of Chinese agri-food export firms. In addition, the negative impacts of financing constraints are more severe for firms close to the quality frontier than for those far from the frontier. These results are robust to various checks. Moreover, the heterogeneous effects of financing constraints on quality upgrading are identified when the sample is split according to firm location, export destination and the sophistication of export products.

This paper reviews and applies some recent studies in the literature to investigate the relationship between financing constraints and the product quality upgrading of agri-food export firms in China. Overall, the results of this paper could be considered of importance for promoting the quality upgrading of export products in the China's agri-food sector.

The purpose of this paper is to explore farmers’ intentions to engage in food brand development schemes and identify the factors that impact this.

By assuming the utility maximization behavior of farmers, based on data collected from 539 fruit and vegetable producers, this study estimates an intention to participate and a willingness to pay model.

Three groups of factors determine the utility the farmers derive and subsequently their engagement in brand development. Farm business characteristics include farmers’ age, the attainment of quality certification and cultivated area, while psychological factors include farmers’ attitudes toward local reflections of the brand, perceptions regarding the need for farm business external support and consumers’ interest, as well as farmers’ commitment to quality requirements. Farmers’ strategies related to the share of products sold by cooperatives and to individually use the brand also determine their engagement in a brand development scheme.

Future research should distinguish producers according to the marketing channel they choose and their industry, and explore the intentions of intermediate marketers.

Marketing cooperatives should undertake initiatives to develop local brands effectively, taking into consideration the factors that impact farmers’ engagement, while food marketing firms should properly adapt their purchasing and promotion strategies. Public authorities should formulate a policy mix that enhances farmers’ knowledge related to marketing issues and encourages farmers to strengthen their positions in the marketplace.

The research reveals a strategic proactive behavior of farmers favoring the development of local brands, and provides insights into the factors that impact farmers’ adoption decisions.

This study aims to understand the influence of megasonic (MS)-assisted agitation on printed circuit boards (PCBs) electroplated using copper (Cu) electrolyte solutions to improve plating efficiencies through enhanced ion transportation.

The impact of MS-assisted agitation on topographical properties of the electroplated surfaces was studied through a design of experiments by measuring surface roughness, which is characterised by values of the parameter Ra as measured by white light phase shifting interferometry and high-resolution scanning electron microscopy.

An increase in Ra from 400 to 760 nm after plating was recorded for an increase in acoustic power from 45 to 450 W. Roughening increased because of micro-bubble cavitation energy and was supported through direct imaging of the cavitation. Current thieving effect by the MS transducer induced low currents, leading to large Cu grain frosting and reduction in the board quality. Current thieving was negated in plating trials through specific placement of transducer. Wavy electroplated surfaces, due to surface acoustic waves, were also observed to reduce the uniformity of the deposit.

The formation of unstable transient cavitation and variation of the topology of the Cu surface are unwanted phenomena. Further plating studies using MS agitation are needed, along with fundamental simulations, to determine how the effects can be reduced or prevented.

This study can help identify manufacturing settings required for high-quality MS-assisted plating and promote areas for further investigation, leading to the development of an MS plating manufacturing technique.

This study quantifies the topographical changes to a PCB surface in response to MS agitation and evidence for deposited Cu artefacts due to acoustic effects.

This study aims to verify the impact of the supply shock (fall in harvested output) and demand shock (fall in household income) due to the pandemic on the consumption of necessities and household savings of tilapia's smallholder farmer.

The researchers randomly chose 144 households as research samples using the proportional random sampling technique in Padang Jaya District, North Bengkulu Regency. Researchers collected data on household income, farm losses, household consumption for basic needs, labor demand, use of production inputs, the amount of output sold and saving both during and before the pandemic. The data were collected from the sample using a questionnaire prepared by the researchers. This study used a simultaneous equations system for arranging tilapia's smallholder farmer household economic model.

This study verified that the demand shock phenomenon makes households more severe than the supply shock phenomenon. The demand shock phenomenon made worse-off tilapia smallholder farmers because it caused their household savings to drop during the pandemic. The fall in savings will disrupt the stability of consumption of household necessities (health, food, education and clothing) in the future.

The main contribution of this study was providing empirical evidence about the impact of the demand and supply shock of COVID-19 on the most vulnerable entities in the Indonesian freshwater aquaculture industry, namely, smallholder farmer households of freshwater aquaculture fish.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-08-2022-0554.