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Sustainable agriculture implies the ability of agro‐ecosystems to remain productive in the long‐term. It is not easy to point out unambiguously whether or not current production systems meet this sustainability demand. A priori thinking would suggest that organic crops are environmentally favourable, but may ignore the effect of reduced productivity, which shifts the potential impact to other parts of the food provision system. The purpose of this paper is to assess the ecological sustainability of conventional and organic leek production by means of life cycle assessment (LCA).

A cradle‐to‐farm gate LCA is applied, based on real farm data from two research centres. For a consistent comparison, two functional units (FU) were defined: 1ha and 1 kg of leek production.

Assessed on an area basis, organic farming shows a more favourable environmental profile. These overall benefits are strongly reduced when the lower yields are taken into account. Related to organic farming it is therefore important that solutions are found to substantially increase the yields without increasing the environmental burden. Related to conventional farming, important potential for environmental improvements are in optimising the farm nutrient flows, reducing pesticide use and increasing its self‐supporting capacity.

The research is a cradle‐to‐farm gate LCA, future research can be expanded to comprise all phases from cradle‐to‐grave to get an idea of the total sustainability of our present food consumption patterns. The research is also limited to the case of leek production. Future research can apply the methodology to other crops.

To date, there is still lack of clear evidence of the added value of organic farming compared to conventional farming on environmental basis. Few studies have compared organic and conventional food production by means of LCA. This paper addresses these issues.

A total of 12 Alliums, used for culinary purposes, were examined for anti‐bacterial activity against Escherichia coli using disc assay and minimum lethal concentration methods. The 12 Alliums were: garlic (Allium sativum); onion (A. cepa); shallot (A. cepa var. ascolonicum); everlasting onion (A.cepa “Perutile”); ramsons (A.ursinum); leek (A. porrum); chives (A. schoenoprasum); wild leek (A. ampeloprasum); Babington’s leek (A. ampeloprasum var. babingtonii); Chinese chives (A. ramosum); nodding onion (A. cernuum) and crow garlic (A. vineale). Garlic, ramsons, wild leek, Babington’s leek, Chinese chive and crow garlic exhibited anti‐bacterial activity. The correlation coefficient between the results of the disc assay and minimum lethal concentration methods was highly significant (r = 0.977; p = 0.0001).

Significant differences may occur in the nutrient content of different edible portions of vegetables and fruits. The purpose of this study was to screen the folate content of different edible portions of some common fruits and vegetables.

5‐methyltetrahydrofolate was measured using high‐performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry in composites of asparagus tips and stems, broccoli florets and stems, the bulb and leaves of leeks, and the peel and flesh of apples, pears, peaches, and potatoes.

Folate content was significantly higher (25 µg/100 g) in asparagus tips vs stems or whole vegetable and leek bulbs compared to leaves or the whole plant, on an as‐consumed basis. No significant difference was found in the edible portions within the other products.

Selective consumption of asparagus tips and leek bulbs would increase folate intake compared to the whole vegetable or the stems and leaves. Consideration should be given to possible differences in composition within other vegetables and fruits not studied.

There have been no previous reports on folate distribution in edible portions of vegetables and fruits that are rich sources of this vitamin.

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between brand orientation and business growth in business-to-business (B2B) small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The authors also explore whether this relationship is moderated by internal firm-related factors (firm age, firm size) and/or external market-related factors (market life cycle, industry type).

The authors develop and empirically test a conceptual model using data from 396 B2B SMEs operating in Finland. Structural equation modeling is used for testing the research hypotheses.

Brand orientation contributes to business growth via two indirect paths, the first one going through brand performance and the second one going through brand performance and customer relationship performance. However, although the effects are positive, the results reveal that the regression coefficients are relatively small, implying only a limited impact of brand orientation on growth among B2B SMEs. The results further suggest that firm age, firm size and industry type moderate the brand performance–business growth relationship, whereas market life cycle moderates the effect of brand orientation on brand performance.

Future research could extend this study by examining brand orientation in industrial markets simultaneously with alternative strategic orientations, such as market, technology and innovation orientation. New moderator variables should also be considered, such as market or technological turbulence. Furthermore, given that this study uses a cross-sectional data set, it is recommended that future research should attempt to test the model using longitudinal data sets.

B2B SMEs are able to gain business growth through developing a strong brand. However, brand orientation per se appears to be of limited relevance for such an endeavor. Consequently, managers of small industrial firms should consider brand orientation only with, and in comparison to, alternative strategic orientations.

Brand orientation has been very rarely examined from the perspective of B2B firms or that of SMEs. Interestingly, the findings indicate that the performance benefits of brand orientation seem to be smaller among B2B SMEs than what earlier research would imply. The analysis of moderation effects offers additional insights into whether there are differences between industrial SMEs as to the relevance of brand orientation.

Brands have traditionally been regarded as a key asset and a source of competitive advantage in purchasing decisions, as customers are expected to prefer stronger brands to minimize risks. However, the role of brands in business markets is unclear and underresearched. The purpose of this study is to analyze the relevance of brands in a business-to-business (B2B) purchase setting and their key determinants.

A research model was developed to explain brand relevance when compared with other decision factors in a B2B context. Based on the frameworks developed by Zablah et al. (2010) and Mudambi (2002), the model considers the purchase situation, decision-maker characteristics and firm size as determinants of brand relevance in the decision-making process. One of the most prominent Portuguese construction groups, which comprised three companies, was chosen for the sample of this study. Data were collected through a self-administered, online, cross-sectional survey, resulting in a convenience sample of 87 decision-makers.

Findings suggest that attributes related with brands matter even in B2B rational decision-making processes. However, brands are not important to all organizational buyers or in all situations. Different purchase situations and decision-maker characteristics proved to have an impact on brand relevance, namely, brand reputation, prior purchases and brand awareness. Only firm size was not confirmed as a determinant of brand relevance in the B2B purchasing process.

B2B brand research is scarce, especially for industrial services. By investigating the determinants of brand relevance in a B2B purchasing context, namely, in a construction services setting, this study contributes to bridging this literature gap. Moreover, the few studies on the subject have been largely descriptive in nature and managerially oriented, while this investigation emphasizes hypothesis testing through a proposed research framework. Also, in managerial terms, identifying determinants of the importance given to brands by organizational buyers is critical in deciding when investment in brand development is more likely to payoff.

This paper aims to distil the management challenge pertaining to B2B SME branding strategy, communication and constraint in the emerging market context of Chinese manufacturing.

Complemented by 19 interviews, this paper adopted a novel methodological approach – netnographic analysis – to investigate a selection of Chinese manufacturing SMEs.

Findings revealed three managerial approaches to B2B brand management: conservative, flexible and integrated-exploratory.

Understanding the three approaches offers managerial implications for Chinese manufacturer SMEs to redesign their branding practice. Informed with a better understanding of the available option, they will be able to achieve high value-added production through branding to gain competitiveness. This study sheds light on B2B SME branding from an emerging market perspective, an area that has been largely neglected in the existing literature.

Findings make a novel contribution to B2B SME brand management literature by clarifying practical management issues pertinent to Chinese emerging market manufacturers in particular, and offering widely generalizable lessons for B2B brand management research.

Statistics show an increase in the number of family outbreaks of food poisoning. Contends that many handling techniques necessary to prevent outbreaks of food‐borne disease are unknown, misunderstood and not followed in the home. Some food preparation operations are more frequently implicated in outbreaks of food poisoning than others. Argues that instead of promoting general compliance with the food hygiene principles of good catering practice, the food safety educator should focus the attention of the consumer on those factors which are critical to safety of the product. Suggests that essential safe food handling techniques could be incorporated into recipes in magazines and cookery books which are used by many consumers. Presents a systematic approach to analysing recipes for potential hazards, based on the HACCP system; illustrates the approach with a relevant example.

The purpose of this paper is to help researchers and practitioners to understand and respond to consumer complaining behaviour (CCB) by developing a taxonomy that addresses the inadequacies of previous consumer complaining taxonomies and models, simplifies the terminology and covers both traditional and new ways of complaining.

Based on a systematic review of 210 studies, a concept-centric analysis of CCB literature was conducted. Seminal taxonomies and models of CCB are revisited and a critical evaluation of these is presented.

An integrated taxonomy of CCB is proposed which enhances the understanding of complaining in the twenty-first century by clarifying the ambiguities and overlapping constructs in the previous taxonomies.

The integrated taxonomy of CCB eliminates the ambiguity of previous approaches and introduces more coherent constructs in relation to the theory of CCB. The taxonomy comprehensively defines and describes the range of complaining actions to provide a complete framework. As a result, the authors’ understanding of CCB is developed through a focus on complaining actions, their characteristics and what these actions afford companies in their attempts to deal with complaints (i.e. audience and amount of information available).

Practitioners can use the integrated taxonomy of CCB to structure their complaint handling processes to obtain maximum customer feedback, to improve their product/service and to retain customers through satisfactorily addressing their complaints.

Although the literature on consumer complaining is mature, this is the first paper that offers a comprehensive taxonomy that explains CCB while addressing new developments in computer-mediated communications.

A WIDE variety of attractive, colourful, and informative literature published by the Scottish Tourist Board and the Wales Tourist Board is available to prospective tourists and holiday‐makers. This year bigger and better than ever, Enjoy Scotland contains an outline travel map showing rail, ferry, and air facilities; features on places to stay and things to eat; double pages on suggested touring centres, public transport, the places to see and things to do; on events; and sources of information, in each of the nine tourist regions. Also featured are spring, autumn and winter holidays, festivals, details of companies offering coach tours from England and Wales, and special interest holidays.

This study aims to investigate how companies’ understanding of the business network influences the creation of value in business-to-business relationships. The authors do this by analysing dimensions in actors’ “network pictures” and illustrating how value perception and network understanding influence actors’ mutual effort to create value. Approaching relationship value from the point of actors’ cognitive understanding of their business network has so far been largely overlooked in relationship value research.

This study applies a qualitative case study methodology whereby dyadic data from a well-established business-to-business relationship is collected from 18 company representatives through personal interviews and group interviews supplemented by participant observations and company data.

The findings contribute with new insight into how companies’ understanding of their surrounding network influence (facilitates or limits) relationship value creation. The authors find that companies continuously reflect on changes in their networks and the related changes in partners’ value perceptions. Through value articulations, companies seek to explicitly express their value perception. Value reflections and value articulations create a dynamic process formed not only by the individual actor but also through their relationship and engagement in their network environment. This requires companies to develop their networking capabilities.

This paper presents findings, insights and contributions limited to a case study of a particular business relationship within an industrial setting. Although the findings and contributions are valid and in line with the criteria for rigorous qualitative research, the authors advocate and call for additional studies that investigate relationships value creation and address the interplay between actors’ network understanding and their actions and behaviour. One way to approach this would be to test the four propositions derived and presented as part of the present study.

The findings imply that management needs to be aware not only of the value created and delivered to a specific partner but also of how the partner’s understanding of the wider network will influence the value delivering and capturing process.

This study contributes to the growing literature on relationship value creation by outlining a dynamic process where relationship partners reflect upon and articulate value. Such activities are influenced by the partners’ network understanding and form the basis of the mutual relationship value creation effort. The findings also contribute to the network pictures literature by emphasizing insights into the formation of value perceptions through actors’ understanding of their surrounding networks.