It is often hypothesized that contracts and vertical integration are paramount for the future competitiveness of meat supply chains. In this paper we review empirical evidence and theoretical reflections underlying this argumentation. We confront the contract and integration hypothesis with...

The German meat industry faces a high demand for food safety and traceability. After several meat scandals in the recent past, efforts have to be made to regain consumer trust and to assure access to export markets. Apart from a few niche markets, there is no focal company in the German pork...

There are several hints that there is lack of trust in the relationships between farmers and processors in the meat industry. To generate instruments of trust management, a survey is conducted in the German pork chain measuring the level of trust perceived by farmers as well as the antecedents...

In this paper we discuss the impact of customer satisfaction and enthusiasm on the performance of small retailers in the organic food market. The analysis of customer satisfaction and shop data confirm essential economic effects. The study is based on 948 customer interviews and an analysis of...

The Chinese consumer goods market is widely considered to be one of the economic hot spots of the world. China seems to be the market with the largest growth potential within the next decade. Multina - tional retail companies, for example, Wal-Mart, Metro and Carrefour have made large...

The pressure of change within agriculture confronts farmers with regularly upcoming and new challenges: the structural changes as well as technical, economical and ecological improvements increase the requirements for the farm managers knowledge. Thus, being successful in profession and business...