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1 – 10 of 177Biodynamics is a specific form of organic production with spiritual underpinnings. This chapter explores it as a form of rural entrepreneurship using the capitals framework of…
Abstract
Purpose
Biodynamics is a specific form of organic production with spiritual underpinnings. This chapter explores it as a form of rural entrepreneurship using the capitals framework of Bourdieu as a conceptual tool.
Methodology
The chapter draws upon 11 qualitative case studies of New Zealand firms engaged in biodynamic growing methods. Data collected via in-depth narratively oriented interviews inform the chapter, along with other relevant secondary material.
Findings
The chapter suggests that the spiritual underpinning of the biodynamic approach imbues the experience with a form of spiritual capital that is not captured within traditional interpretations of capital. We conceive of this as a form of alternative capital and offer a conceptualisation as an attempt to capture that difference.
Research limitations
This is a niche, small scale, exploratory study limited to one geographic context (New Zealand) at one particular point in time.
Originality/value
This chapter offers a modest expansion to previous conceptualisations of capital in the rural context.
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Kenneth A. Fox and Grant Alexander Wilson
This paper aims to investigate how producers of biodynamic and sustainable wine portray their brand identity online.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate how producers of biodynamic and sustainable wine portray their brand identity online.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses an inductive approach to qualitative content analysis of wine producers’ websites. The authors use a theoretical starting point based on the categorizations literature related to institutional scripts and identity projection.
Findings
Producers adopt identity templates similar to the provenance and glory templates established in extant research. They demonstrate templates of community, quality, spirituality and sustainability, but there is a break in the templates, and they adopt a pseudo-rationalist template, avoiding detailed descriptions of practices and underpinning philosophy, leaving any references to them opaque and ambiguous. This may be due to concerns over scientific skepticism or spiritual suspicion, or anticipation of a lack of consumer knowledge.
Research limitations/implications
The geographical location of the sample poses limitations to the results of the study. However, the study provides an examination of the nuances of self-categorization as it relates to identity projection, prompting further investigation into its positive and negative potential.
Practical implications
Research on the connection between quality perceptions and experience and credence attributes suggests producers should do more to emphasize the philosophy underpinning biodynamics.
Originality/value
The study contributes to research on marketing for inherently sustainable producers who may suffer potential negative reactions in general and biodynamic wine producers in particular. This study provides nuance to the understanding of negative reactions to novel and innovative wine production practices.
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Keywords
This pressure has cast a spotlight on the potential of ‘biodynamic agriculture' to help these industries minimise their environmental damage, specifically by addressing water…
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DOI: 10.1108/OXAN-DB268611
ISSN: 2633-304X
Keywords
Geographic
Topical
Leonardo Fonseca Maciel, Cassiane da Silva Oliveira, Eliete da Silva Bispo and Maria da P. Spínola Miranda
Phenolic compounds, including flavonoids, are nutritionally important for their antioxidant activities and protective functions against disease risk caused by oxidative stress…
Abstract
Purpose
Phenolic compounds, including flavonoids, are nutritionally important for their antioxidant activities and protective functions against disease risk caused by oxidative stress. These compounds are primarily found in fruits, and mangoes are an important source. This paper aims to address these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
In this work, the antioxidant activities of mangoes cultivated in three different ways were evaluated by their ability to capture free radicals using the DPPH radical.
Findings
The results showed that the biodynamic mangoes had highest antioxidant activity in mature‐green and ripe fruits, while for those of organic origin the antioxidant activity was highest in unripe fruits. The organic mangoes also showed highest values of phenolic compounds at all maturation stages. The mangoes from conventional crops had lower values for all parameters evaluated in this study than the organically and biodynamically cultivated fruits.
Originality/value
This work brings an important contribution in the field of agriculture at a time when organic and biodynamic systems of cultivation are an alternative to the conventional system and that pollutes the environment and produces food that contains quantities of chemical contaminants that can damage the health of the consumer. The comparison in phenolic compounds content, flavonoids and antioxidant activity in biodynamic, organic and conventional systems is original and of great importance, showing that the ecological cropping systems are less harmful to the environment and promote improvements to the chemical composition of foods.
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Jeff Gow, Rezwanul Hasan Rana, Daniel Moscovici, Adeline Alonso Ugaglia, Lionel Valenzuela, Radu Mihailescu and Robert Coelli
There has been increasing consumer interest in recent times in the environmental providence of what they eat and drink. A number of different environmental wine certifications…
Abstract
Purpose
There has been increasing consumer interest in recent times in the environmental providence of what they eat and drink. A number of different environmental wine certifications have been created and these include biodynamic, fairtrade, organic, natural and sustainable. The purpose of this study is to survey wine consumers in Australia about their interest in these eco-certifications and their willingness to pay (WTP) a price premium for wine with one of these eco-certifications.
Design/methodology/approach
An online survey was developed to capture the knowledge and attitudes of consumers and their socio-demographic characteristics about their WTP for eco-certified wine. Data from 454 wine consumers in Australia were collected and analysed. Descriptive statistics and Pearson’s chi-squared test analysed the significant factors which determine consumers’ attitudes towards eco-certified wines. Ordinal logistic regression with marginal effects was used to examine whether the WTP a premium for different certified wines differs significantly based on wine knowledge, attitudes and socio-demographic characteristics.
Findings
The findings of this study indicate that consumers often buy pro-environmental goods. The majority have a positive (greater than 0) WTP a premium for biodynamic, fairtrade, organic, natural and sustainable-labelled wines. The main factors influencing eco-certified wine purchase decisions by Australian consumers are previously bought eco-certified goods, previously bought eco-certified wine and respondent age. Income, education or previous wine knowledge did not positively influence WTP a price premium for eco-certified wines. Gender was not significant in the ordinal logistic regression.
Research limitations/implications
Most studies in the literature use stated preference experiments to elicit WTP and these are valuable exercises, as they can provide an indication of consumer preferences for potential certifications, before they have been introduced to the market. In this study, we used an ordinal dependent variable in the logistic regression instead of a continuous variable (because of data limitations). Using ordinal dependent variables provides information on the probability or likelihood of occurring an event.
Originality/value
The study results provide the first price premium indications that Australian consumers are willing to pay for eco-certified wines (other than organic).
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Silvia Novaes Zilber, Daniel Friel and Luis Felipe Machado do Nascimento
The purpose of this paper is to be a teaching case about organic wine in Argentina, in a sustainable perspective, showing the advantages that this country has related to others in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to be a teaching case about organic wine in Argentina, in a sustainable perspective, showing the advantages that this country has related to others in terms of organic and biodynamic production of wine. It shows also the potential of this kind of production, and its limitations, using for that the case of Bodega Colomé, owned by Donald Hess, a global wine producer.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses case study methodology; this is an adequate approach, as Argentina has some specific characteristics (geography, labor and other conditions) that makes it unique. The information about Bodega Colomé was obtained from secondary data such as academic articles, specialized magazine articles, web sites about wine production, and an interview conducted with the General Manager of Bodega Colomé, Caspar Eugster, in July, 2009.
Findings
Organic and biodynamic wine production are discussed as an alternative to the traditional production in developing countries, specifically in Argentina, where a series of factors – geographic characteristics (altitude), lands and technology used in a sustainability logic, labor conditions, tradition, history, brand and nature characteristics – allow a competitive advantage to develop. Donald Hess, president of Bodega Colomé, bets in the direction of investment maintenance in organic wines, given the favorable conditions cited, adding brand value, but this kind of production is impossible for less expensive wines as producing wines organically is labor intensive.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitation of this case is its uniqueness and its findings cannot be applied to the universe of companies in Argentina, the country studied; but it encourages future research and more investigation about the subject. The main implication of this case is the possibility of generating some discussion about the theme: do the wine producers of developing countries, such as Argentina, Chile and Brazil produce organic wine (added into the company's sustainability actions) for export, or should they dedicate themselves to the production of traditional wines for internal market?
Practical implications
This case study is relevant for groups of students or professionals interested in discussing the strategies of wine production and marketing. The case may also be used by policy formulators of the winegrowing industry.
Originality/value
The organic and biodynamic production of wine is a recent subject and there are few studies about this theme. Mainly, the role of Latin American players is not very clear and this paper contributes to the discussion about the opportunity of organic and biodynamic wine production as a possible source of competitive advantage to Latin American wine producers in the global market.
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Sean Beer and Christian Lemmer
The purpose of this paper is to help readers understand the nature of the food supply chain and the way that environmental “costs” are accumulated along its length, with a view to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to help readers understand the nature of the food supply chain and the way that environmental “costs” are accumulated along its length, with a view to developing more sustainable supply chains from political, social, economic technological and environmental perspectives.
Design/methodology/approach
In order to do this, the authors have examined elements of the supply chain starting off by looking at consumer expectations and moving on to the environmental impact of different food types, different production systems, food transport and food waste. A series of calculations looking at the costings for different types of meals, with different environmental credentials, that might be served at different events is included to put some of the more abstract ideas of and environmental cost/benefit into context.
Findings
Performing a thorough life cycle analysis of a meal is a very complex and far from certain procedure. It is essential for us to develop our techniques in order to make informed decisions, but in a commercial world probably the best approach is to adopt a broad set of criteria that are likely to give environmental benefits both to the business, the consumer and broader society. In some cases, this may be best achieved by adopting or developing some sort of accreditation scheme or brand.
Practical implications
This paper gives event managers and others involved in the food supply chain context within which to start thinking about more environmentally sound peculiar and of foodstuffs.
Originality/value
This paper represents a broad overview pulling together many sets of original findings from a very diverse interdisciplinary literature base.
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Lilia Inés Stubrin, Anabel Marin, Lara Yeyati Preiss and Rocío Palacín Roitbarg
The purpose of this paper is to expand the understanding of the type of strategies that can be successful for firms located in the South to get integrated and compete in modern…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to expand the understanding of the type of strategies that can be successful for firms located in the South to get integrated and compete in modern export fruit markets.
Design/methodology/approach
To achieve the research purpose of the paper the authors carry out an in-depth case study. They analyze the export strategy of Patagonian Fruits Trade, an Argentinean leading exporter of apple, pear and kiwi.
Findings
Results revealed that Patagonian Fruits Trade developed a strategy focused on supplying decommoditization to compete in modern fruit export markets. A key aspect of the firms' business model relies on its capability to meet the demand of high-income markets by providing conventional, organic and biodynamic club varieties. However, the sustainability of the strategy heavily relies on the firm's capability to fund club varieties' licenses and on the firm's ability to negotiate with clients and suppliers.
Research limitations/implications
Adopting a case study method limits the generalization of results. However, it provides new insights into the type of export strategies that can be successful in modern fruit markets as well as its main limitations.
Originality/value
Results of the study, based on original empirical evidence, shed light on key factors for the integration of Southern fruit producers into modern fruit markets.
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Through the framework of Michael Porterʼs five forces, this article compares sustainability in the Oregon and British Columbia wine industries. After describing the contrasting…
Abstract
Through the framework of Michael Porterʼs five forces, this article compares sustainability in the Oregon and British Columbia wine industries. After describing the contrasting characteristics of the green niche model and the government-led model of environmental change, the article analyzes the emerging challenges for each type of change.The distinct sources for profitability and future innovation suggests diversity within the sustainability movement and two very different processes of translating environmental values into entrepreneurial practice.
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Daniel Moscovici, Rana Rezwanul, Radu Mihailescu, Jeff Gow, Adeline Alonso Ugaglia, Lionel Valenzuela and Azzurra Rinaldi
This study aims to analyze the wine industry’s response to changing societal attitudes towards the environment. Environmental considerations are now an increasingly important…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to analyze the wine industry’s response to changing societal attitudes towards the environment. Environmental considerations are now an increasingly important factor in both production and purchasing behavior. While many eco-certifications exist, there is still consumer confusion between the multitude of eco wine certifications, lack of clarity about what consumers think about the wines, and not enough data about their willingness to pay (WTP) for these environmental characteristics.
Design/methodology/approach
This study clarifies what the various wine eco certifications are, quantifies consumer knowledge and ascertains their WTP for five environmental or sustainable wine certifications, namely, biodynamic, fair trade, organic, natural and sustainable. The authors surveyed 456 wine drinkers in the USA.
Findings
The authors found that millennials, women, unmarried individuals, those purchasing eco-certified foods, low-income individuals and those looking to celebrate a special occasion have a higher WTP for eco-certified wines compared to respondents who are older, male, married, do not buy eco-certified goods, have higher incomes and are purchasing the wine for a regular occasion. They recommend marketing and targeting those in the former group for environmental or sustainable wines.
Originality/value
The study is the only research project, of this kind, to evaluate five types of eco-certifications for wine in a single WTP analysis.
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