Search results

Global demand for organic milk products gives an opportunity to Polish organic farmers and dairies to supply national, European Union and international milk markets. The purpose of this paper is to review the historic and contemporary changes in organic milk production and processing in Poland, in order to identify the main factors of influence and to propose the direction of future market and policy development in the sector.

In this study, secondary data from a range of literature sources and databases are analysed. The Lorenz’s concentration ratio is applied to the data derived to evaluate the degree of concentration of certified organic farms in the different regions of Poland and conclusions are drawn as a result.

Organic dairy farm operations in Poland are small scale and territorially dispersed. Although there is some evidence of growing supply concentration, Polish processors of organic milk face multiple barriers to development not least a lack of continuity of supplies. Whilst global markets are of interest, the development of alternative, innovative food networks in Poland that focus on provenance, integrity and promoting the special health benefits of organic milk would be of value to the sector, but further cooperation and integration is essential to take advantage of these market opportunities.

This research underpins the need for appropriate national policies in Poland for the development and actualisation of a dynamic organic milk supply system that delivers value to local, regional and international markets.

The recent background to the UK market for organic milk is reviewed to establish the background to the Organic Dairy Production: A Sustainable Future for Organic Dairying conference held in March 2002. The presentations given at that conference are critically reviewed. Several of arguably the most important determinants of the sustainable future of organic dairying did not find their full expression at that conference. Issues largely or wholly excluded include: a priori evidence for expecting a higher level of co‐operation among organic than conventional farmers; the distinction between “competitive pricing” and “sustainable pricing”; import penetration and substitution, and post‐conversion subsidies; utilising innovative information technologies to “tell the organic story”; policing organic standards and traceability; and the ownership of the “organic label” and the number of organic standard bodies. The importance of these issues is shown by reference to the current market situation for organic milk in the UK. There is a need for considerable developments in the marketing of organic milk. More distance must be placed between associations that campaign for market growth and an organisation that will need to be appointed to take responsibility for providing reliable and impartial market‐based information.

Organic food processing must include organic principles to be authentic. This qualitative study aims to understand the processors' understanding of organic food processing quality.

This study is based on semi-structured expert interviews with eight employees of six purely or partly organic dairies from Germany and Switzerland. Interview themes are (1) quality of organic milk processing in general, (2) assessment of specific processing techniques, (3) product quality of organic milk and (4) flow of information between producer and consumer. The interviews have been audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed.

(1) Experts prefer minimal processing; some prefer artisanal processing, whilst others stress the advantages of mechanisation. (2) High temperature short time (HTST) pasteurisation and mechanical processing techniques are accepted; ultra-high-temperature (UHT) milk processing is partly rejected. (3) Traditional taste and valuable ingredients should be present in the final product. Natural variances are judged positively. (4) Consumers' low level of food technology literacy is challenging for communication.

The results cannot be generalised due to the qualitative study design. Further studies, e.g. qualitative case analyses and studies with a quantitative design, are necessary to deepen the results.

The paper shows which processing technologies experts consider suitable or unsuitable for organic milk. The paper also identifies opportunities to bridge the perceived gap between processors' and consumers' demands.

The study shows the challenges of processors in expressing the processors' understanding of process quality.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate if there is a difference in hygiene parameters of raw milk produced in organic and conventional farm of similar size. In parallel, the aim was to determine if there are differences in pasteurized organic and conventional milk samples delivered on the market.

Raw milk samples were analyzed for aerobic colony count (ACC), somatic cell count (SCC), acidity, temperature, fat and protein content. On the other side, final products of organic and conventional pasteurized milk with 2.8 percent declared milk fat were analyzed for Raman spectroscopy, color change and sensorial difference.

Results of raw milk analysis showed statistically significant differences in fat content, SCC, acidity, temperature and ACC (p<0.05). It is of note that ACC for organic milk were lower for approx. 1 log CFU/ml compared to conventional milk samples. Pasteurized organic milk samples had a significantly higher L* value than those samples originating from conventional farms, indicating that organic is “more white” compared to conventional milk. According to the results of triangle test, with 95 percent confidence no more than 10 percent of the population is able to detect a difference.

A limitation of this research is the fact that good veterinary practices at farms, namely, animal health and adequate usage of medicine for treating the animals, animal welfare and animal feeding were not analyzed.

This study analyzed potential differences in organic and conventional milk at two important production stages of the milk chain – at receipt at dairy plant (raw milk) and perceived by consumers (final product).

The purpose of this paper is to identify the sociodemographic factors that affect Turkish consumers’ decision to purchase organic milk. It is also of interest to derive the demand curve for organic milk based on the consumers’ stated preferences.

The data used in this search are based on a face-to-face consumer survey that asked the respondents about how much they are willing to pay for organic milk and what factors affect their purchasing decision. A variant approach is applied where the determinants selected include both product/market characteristics and household-specific demographic factors. The data are analyzed by means of tabular analysis, summary tables, contingent valuation, stepwise regression, χ² tests and logistic discrete-choice modeling.

The tabular analysis suggests that price, packaging and brand image are the primary milk characteristics that affect consumers’ decision. According to the contingent valuation analysis, consumers are willing to pay substantial premiums for milk products. The stepwise regression, χ² tests and logistic regression results unanimously suggest that educational attainment is the only significant indicator. Households with university education are twice more likely to purchase organic milk.

The data used in this research are based on stated preferences which might be different than actual shopping behavior.

This paper presents a pioneer study on the characteristics of Turkish organic milk consumers and represents a credible, empirical case study to complement existing literature. It also lays the framework for follow-up research work that can be conducted in future.

The purpose of this paper was to determine the profile of dairy product consumers in the organic market.

The study was based on a survey questionnaire developed by the author and administered to a total of 1,108 respondents. The statistical analysis (including descriptive statistics, the analysis of the discriminative function and the Chi2 test was performed with the use of Statistica 13.1 PL. The respondents’ gender was the factor behind the differences in how they behaved.

The consumers indicated the channels they rely upon to find information on organic dairy products; in addition to trusting the opinions of their family members and experts, they also use web platforms. Further, they specified their preferred locations for buying favorite products during the pandemic: specialized organic food shops, large distribution chains and online stores.

These outcomes will help in identifying target consumer segments and information channels for specific information and advertising messages. They also form an important resource for developing some potential strategies which the supply chain stakeholders could implement to promote organic consumption of dairy products.

This study identifies consumers’ preferred dairy products; motives for purchasing organic dairy products; barriers that consumers believe exist in the market; sources of knowledge about products purchased by consumers; and consumers’ preferred channels for purchasing organic dairy products. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study of dairy product consumers in the organic market in Poland.

Murrah Dairy Company Limited (Murrah Dairy) is a strategy and management case related to entrepreneurship, with a focus on marketing, expansion, strategy and management of a family-run small and medium enterprise (SME).

The case is suitable for senior undergraduate and/or graduate MBA strategic management, entrepreneurship and marketing courses.

The case is about Murrah Dairy, Thailand's first and only buffalo dairy producer. The company combines the concepts of regular SMEs together with community enterprises to build a business that can be used to achieve community benefits as well as private gains. With 11 years of experience, Murrah Dairy remains the first and only extensive dairy buffalo farm in Thailand. The market is growing, the brand is catching on and the company keeps expanding. Beginning with Murrah Farm in 2003, now Murrah Dairy now operates Murrah Farm, Murrah House and Mini Murrah Farm. The question now is where to go from here and what will it take to grow?

The expected learning outcomes are the increases in understanding on environment assessment (such as SWOT analysis, Porter's Five Forces, success factors), marketing strategy (product portfolio analysis, market-product analysis) and SME management, as well as abilities to propose growth strategies and marketing strategies for the firm.

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

1. Analyze the factors influencing the creation of a social enterprise, while appreciating the theoretical perspectives on social entrepreneurship and social innovations. 2. Analyze the impact of social enterprises on sustainable development. 3. Recognize the need for different types of strategies in the varied situation. 4. Analyze the business model.

Shashi Kumar, the CEO of Akshayakalpa Farms & Foods Pvt Ltd (Akshayakalpa), is determined to take the business to the next growth level. He has integrated technology to measure and monitor the quality of milk and to reach out to tech-savvy customers. Owing to the preservative-free and short life of milk, he believes that redesigning the marketing and distribution strategies is the only way to ensure the massive expansion and growth that will enable Akshayakalpa to reach out to customers directly and quickly. Another issue he was facing was a lag in receivables. Their receivables from vendors were delayed and held up because of issues related to product spoilage and returns. This has posed a liquidity challenge to Akshayakalpa. Amidst all these challenges, he wants to develop the best strategy to take the business forward to the next level.

This case can be used in undergraduate or postgraduate courses in Management, Social Entrepreneurship and Business Sustainability with special relevance to social enterprise creation, enterprise growth strategies, sustainable development, sustainable business models, etc.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the rise in crossbred cow numbers in the US dairy herd. Methods used look at well managed herds to see if crossbreeding provides a management tool that producers are using to maintain profitability.

The authors estimate a Translog stochastic production frontier (SPF) for US dairy farms to examine the competitiveness of crossbred and non-crossbred dairy herds by system and region.

The bottom-line conclusion is that WM or highly efficient crossbred herds solidly compete on a financial basis with larger WM Western Holstein herds, the most technically efficient managed group, based on the SPF results in the authors’ study. The study finds that net return on assets for crossbred herds are not different from Western Holstein herds and that there is no significant difference in amount of milk per cow produced annually.

Because of a need to unmask the advantages of crossbreeding as a technology it was necessary to separate WM herds from poorly managed herds. That was done by frontier estimates that robustly ranked operation and corrected for endogeneity, tested for selectivity bias, and incorporated the NASS survey design.

For the first time, the 2010 Dairy Cost and Returns questionnaire version of the Agricultural Resource Management Survey (Dairy CAR) design allows researchers to expand survey observations to represent the vast majority of the US dairy farm population and to sort dairy farms into crossbred/non-crossbred herds.

Having the discrepancies between different descriptions of an organic food consumer profile in various researches worldwide as well as the causes of their emergence as a starting point, the purpose of this paper is to apply the method of preference-based market segmentation (by means of conjoint and cluster analysis) to Serbian organic food market, searching for advantages of using that methodological approach and deepening knowledge about specific organic food market.

The research was conducted from May to July 2014 with 400 respondents participating (aged 18-30). Primary data were gathered by means of focus groups and a survey – structured personal interviews by using a questionnaire.

When applying conjoint and cluster analysis to data about Serbian consumers’ preferences towards researched product, it is possible to identify a segment that prefers organic food the most. Compared to other segments, these consumers are predominantly female, somewhat more mature, with the highest proportion of employed and near the top by the percentage of respondents who are married and have children. They strongly value the importance of diet for health, a number of them have experience with a disease of a close person, which is believed that could be prevented by proper diet, but they do the least sports.

The authors give managerial recommendations to actors operating at domestic organic food market.

According to the authors’ knowledge, the first application of preference-based market segmentation by conjoint and cluster analysis to organic food market, performed in Serbia, generally characterised by scarce food consumer research.