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Globalization has increased the consumer's demand for safe and quality foods. To make food available to consumers from farm to fork, packaging plays a crucial role. The objective of packaging is to shield the foodstuff from degrading and to serve as the medium of communication between the processing industry and the consumers. Conventionally, several materials are used in the packaging such as laminates, plastics, glass, metal, etc., but with the advent of technology, newer and novel smart packaging technologies have entered this field. Smart packaging in the form of active and intelligent packaging not only acts as a barrier to external influences but also prevents internal deterioration. Oxygen scavengers, moisture controllers, antioxidants, CO₂ absorber/emitter, antimicrobial agents, etc., are some of the vital active packaging systems. On the other hand, an intelligent packaging system contains internal or external indicators and sensors that monitor the condition of packed food and gives information about its quality during storage and transportation. It seems that these interventions in packaging have very positive effects on the whole industry, but it is observed that this advancement in the packaging has also raised questions about its disposal. To overcome this issue, industries have started using smart packaging design along with the sustainable packaging trend. Communication with the recycling bodies at the time of development will ensure the smart packaging fit to be recycled. Considering such standards for smart packaging will not only create a healthy bond between industries and consumers but will also help in sustainable development. This chapter mainly focuses on the advancement of the packaging system associated with the agri-food sector. It also discusses how the implementation of these technological advancements will help the industries toward sustainable development.

In this chapter, a situation analysis was made on the use of technology in gastronomy, an ever-growing and exciting research area. The use of technology is essential in food production processes as well as in all sectors, and accordingly, the number of research on the subject has increased in recent years. Therefore, in the study, information is also given about trend applications today in addition to the use of technology in gastronomy. It is aimed to present the studies conducted by different disciplines together, to reveal the current situation in the light of the studies carried out on a national and international scale and to support possible future studies.

This chapter examines the increase in global demand for quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) and considers the impact of such demand on the Peruvian and Bolivian farmers who produce it. Specifically, it analyzes the social media marketing of U.S. based I Heart Keenwah (IHK) and considers the role of “storied food” with respect to corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting in a Web 2.0 context. This chapter reports the results of textual, rhetorical, and cultural analyses of the digital marketing materials IHK deploys, and considers IHK’s use of Web 2.0 tools to mobilize discourses of socially responsible marketing, and implications of industrial quinoa production on Andean biodiversity and indigenous culture. This chapter principally concludes that the social media and digital marketing materials that IHK deploys obfuscate the social, economic, and ecological complexities surrounding the quinoa industries in Peru and Bolivia. This chapter provides evidence of new tendencies in capitalist commodification, and demonstrates how the traditional and indigenous protectors of the quinoa plant species are being denied their agricultural and cultural heritages. Further more, it demonstrates how the language of corporate social responsibility is abused in the service of less sustainable, branded, and extractive imaginaries and corporate profit. Given the significant rise in international quinoa demand, IHK’s explosive economic success, and IHK’s reliance on Andean quinoa, this case study provides unique insights into global food capitalism in the age of social media.

Plastic has been a very useful material which is very cheap, easy to carry and is resilient to biodegradation. That is why plastic has been used, sometimes reused, and overused due to the reasons mentioned above. As a result, landfills and oceans are full of plastic. But if we consider all the negative health effects, environmental / ecological effects it has in present times, we can understand that it is environmentally very expensive to use plastic. Bangladesh is a relatively young country with dense population and limited resource. Proper management of plastic remains an issue with the country. Considering these, this chapter focuses on how plastic is used, how it is treated as waste and what can be possible solutions in reducing the amount of plastic in Bangladesh.

This chapter addresses how small businesses resist city regulations by using material things, by making craft knowledge claims about material things, and by letting material things organize their political activity. Chefs successfully resisted a foie gras ban in Chicago, where political resistance shaped the production and use of material things. Bakers successfully resisted a trans fat ban in Philadelphia, where material properties of things structured political resistance. We bring together analytic tools from the sociology of culture and science and technology studies to demonstrate how materiality can be both an instigator and an instrument of legal and political resistance.

The implementation of circular economy (CE) initiatives has come under the spotlight in recent years with research ranging from business strategy and practices, supply chain implications, and regional or national policy developments. This highlights the multilevel nature of research and importantly the different scales of action required to move toward the CE. This chapter specifically addresses this issue of levels and scales by presenting and analyzing three complementary cases in the agri-food sector. Lessons learnt from this analysis include the need to consider value and impact across multiple levels and how companies and their supply chains can contribute to the scale of action needed.

This study investigates how firms can influence political actors on emerging markets through their network partners in order to support a market-driving strategy. On emerging markets, political actors typically play a more central role than is the case on mature western markets. However, most firms do not have the understanding of or influence upon political actors in emerging markets that is required to interact with them directly. Consequently, gaining the support of different network partners will be essential. We discuss how network collaborators may manage political factors in order to influence four different dimensions of the market-driving strategy. We have conducted in-depth case studies of two Swedish firms and their activities in India. Based upon this we develop a conceptual model and discuss how a firm can collaborate with partners in order to influence political actors proactively as well as to reactively reduce harmful effects of political decisions.

India generates a massive 9.4 million tonnes of plastic waste annually; out of which approximately 5.6 million tonnes go for recycling and 3.8 million tonnes are left uncollected or leaked from after-use collection systems. Reckless production and consumption of non-biodegradable plastic has serious implications, especially for developing nations where plastic use is predominant for fulfilling needs of increasing population and rapid urbanisation. Despite the harmful impacts of plastic, its desirability is inevitable due to its versatility. For the stringently growing economies, affordable and durable solutions will always be priorities over mindfulness. Imprudent plastic waste has precipitated the ban-change-collect challenge. Options like banning single use plastic (SUP), using alternative bio-benign products and improving waste collection systems are not proactively embraced by businesses and governments. Also, user-awareness and behaviour change for make-use-dispose is not instantaneous and easy. Optimistically, the government, NGOs and industry units have started exhibiting sensitivity to the cause and the emergence of start-ups is decentralising waste management in India. Inclusion of informal waste pickers in the formal waste management system has increased the reach and social impact of start-ups in India, imparting a distinctive and promising twist to the waste management sector. This chapter investigates the plastic waste management scenario in India through extensive literature review. It scrutinises the social aspects associated with the plastic waste management sector and attempts to comprehend connotations of ‘socially responsible plastic’ through semi-structured interviews with service providers in the sector. Thematic analysis was used to analyse interview data. The research indicated the initiation of systemic efforts towards formalisation of the sector. It emphasised the importance of role of waste pickers and their recognition as enablers of the system. Need of an ecosystem approach to nurture start-ups and facilitate better transparency and integration in the waste management system is also illustrated in this research.

We examine two conceptualizations of consumer-brand relationships: identification, as identity-based relationships between a consumer and a brand, and the related construct of attachment as a bond based on security and personal history with the brand.

Predictions emanating from the two constructs’ disparate theoretical traditions regarding the relative antecedents and outcomes of these brand relationship constructs are tested in a survey of real consumer-brand relationships, where the two are likely to co-occur.

Identification is more socially motivated, wherein the brand is used for “identity building” and impression management, such as through public endorsement. In contrast, attachment is more personally motivated; it is more likely to be founded on an intimate history with the brand and feelings of security inspired by the brand.

This is the first work in marketing to explicitly compare identification with attachment in contexts where they co-occur. In doing so, it underscores the validity and usefulness of these two related but distinct relationship constructs.