This paper investigates the long-run relationship between spot and futures prices for corn and soybeans, for the period January 2004 -September 2010. We apply cointegration methodology in the presence of potentially unknown structural breaks in the commodities prices and we then study the...

Following the occurrence of meat safety incidents during the nineties (Verbeke et al., 1999), considerable effort has been done to improve safety in the beef chain, both by policy and beef chain actors. Nowadays, a wide array of interventions to improve beef safety is applied at different stages...

The agro-food sector is receiving a great deal of attention for topics of general interest as the food quality, security and safety, alternative uses of crops in food/feed/fuel, growing concern for GHG (Green House Gas) emission, LCA (Life Cycle Assessment), energy consumption. In the EU...

European society, with its steadily increased welfare levels, is not only concerned about food (safety, prices), but also on other aspects such as biodiversity loss, landscape degradation, pollution of water, soil and atmosphere. To a large extent these concerns can be translated into a wider...

The contemporary agrifood sectors have witnessed a rapid increase in the use of intangibles, i.e. inputs built upon information, knowledge and communication assets. Consequently firms, in their move towards competitiveness, try to innovate in line with these trends. Innovations in agrifood...

Together with the evolution from the agro-industrial model to the sustainable rural development model (Roep and Wiskerke 2004), a part of the agro-food market has evolved from an anonymous, mass food market to a quality-food market. This shift is driven by factors, such as the changing relations...

Since over the last twenty years the reduction of trade barriers, the increasing liberalisation, the advancement in ICT have determined a growth in the horizontal and vertical competition among firms in the chain. Therefore, today more than ever they are pressured to develop appropriate...

institutions of sustainability (PIoS), which are sets of rules that a series of private actors voluntary follow to reach a sustainability target. Within PIoS, a strong position on sustainability themes is used as a mean to maximize private utility. Consequently, there is a potential win-win...

A careful analysis of contemporary society shows a radical evolution of the role and function of consumption. So-called post-modernity, along with the technological, economic and social transformations that have brought it on, inaugurate a different way of conducting relationships, of existing...

Consumer oriented marketing concept appeared to be effective in accordance to the shift from the traditional marketing approach to the modern marketing approach. This process brings about the concept of customer value in retail food sector as it is the case in other sectors. The rise in number...