Value in food and agriculture

Citation

Hingley, M. and Lindgreen, A. (2013), "Value in food and agriculture", British Food Journal, Vol. 115 No. 10. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-05-2013-0116

Value in food and agriculture

Article Type: Guest editorial From: British Food Journal, Volume 115, Issue 10

About the Guest Editors

Dr Martin K. Hingley is Professor of Strategic Marketing at the University of Lincoln’s Business School. Dr Hingley’s research interests are in marketing and supply chain management. He has presented and published widely in these areas, including in Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Marketing Management, and Supply Chain Management: An International Journal. He serves on the board of several international academic journals and also regularly guest edits academic journals. Dr Hingley has broad business experience in the international food industry and has spent some time in the provision of market and business analysis and industry-based training with the Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD), and previously held a three-year fellowship with global retail chain Tesco Plc.

Dr Adam Lindgreen is Professor of Marketing at the University of Cardiff’s Business School. Dr Lindgreen received his PhD from Cranfield University. He has published in California Management Review, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Product and Innovation Management, and Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, among others. Among his most recent books are Managing Market Relationships (Gower Publishing, 2008) and Memorable Customer Experiences (Gower Publishing, 2009). His research interests include business and industrial marketing, experiential marketing, and corporate social responsibility. He serves on the boards of many journals; he is the joint editor of Journal of Business Ethics for the section on corporate responsibility. Adam Lindgreen is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: lindgreena@cardiff.ac.uk

In food and agriculture, the creation of value is paramount to any company’s survival (Kotler and Keller, 2008), and even more so at a time where dramatic changes in business and industrial marketing’s context are leading to fundamental changes in what companies should be analysing, creating, and delivering (Doyle, 2000; Hunt, 2000).

Although there has been a lot of literature generated on the topic, there is a general feeling among academics and practitioners that we have only just begun to understand what is meant by “value” (Anderson and Narus, 1998). Many different angles of value have been investigated (cf., Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 41, No. 1, 2012) and specifically in food and agriculture (cf., British Food Journal, Vol. 100, No. 1, 2008). Two more or less distinct research streams are identified in the value literature (Lindgreen et al., 2012); one focusing on the value of the object of exchange (goods and services) and one focusing on the value of the process of exchange (the relationships, networks, and interactions that the company is embedded in). However, holes remain to be filled, and new fields need to be explored (Lindgreen and Hingley, 2008).

The overall objective of the special issue is to provide a comprehensive collection of cutting-edge theories and research on “value” as analysed, created, and delivered by business and industrial marketing organisations and as perceived and experienced by their customers, suppliers, and other important stakeholders (cf. Lindgreen et al., 2009) within the arena of food and agriculture.

There are seven articles in this special edition. The first paper, “Investigating farmers’ involvement in value-added activities: a preliminary study from Australia” by Abel Alonso and Jeremy Northcote, highlights the importance to a wide range of stakeholders of primary producers being able to add-value to agricultural output via a “multifunctional agriculture (MFA)” approach. However, findings highlight the difficulties encountered in encouraging primary producers to value-add.

Following on from the above, the second article is, “Perceived value in community supported agriculture (CSA): a preliminary conceptualisation, measurement, and nomological validity” by Weiping Chen. The focus is on Community Supported Agriculture producers and the context is China. CSA is a relatively novel and alternative producer structure and route to market and the author brings to focus the concept of value in this under-researched area for the first time. Results identify value creation for producers and consumers as a result of social and consumer satisfaction from positive engagement.

The third paper, “An analysis of value in an organic food supply chain” is by Luciana Marques Vieira, Marcia Dutra de Barcellos, Alexia Hoppe and Silvio Bitencourt da Silva. The article centres on consumer value creation from the perspective of emerging countries, in this case Brazil. Emphasis in the paper is on how engagement with the consumer can help to create value in the retail sector. The authors emphasise the importance of supply chain relationships in building value and also propose a novel application of Schwartz Value Theory as a complementary approach to value analysis.

The fourth article, “Food consumption value: developing a consumer-centred concept of value in the field of food” by Hans Dagevos and Johan van Ophem, proposes a new approach to value-creation at consumer level, by introducing the concept of food consumption value (FCV), in a theoretical paper in which emphasis is on product, process value, location and emotional value. The authors contend that value creation should depart from assessing consumer value in narrow senses such as value for money and consider value beyond tangible product attributes and price.

In the fifth article, “In search of differentiation and the creation of value: the quest of the Scottish pig supply chain”, by Philip Leat and Cesar Revoredo-Giha, the authors consider value in the context of the pig chain in Scotland from the approach of a case study involving vertical and horizontal connections. Value is identified in this context as being derived from logistical savings in integrated transport and market and price security derived from positive information flow concerning production performance and guarantees underpinned by quality assurance. Value for producers is created though security of supply created by an assured quality system, and for consumers it lies in the identifiable assurance derived from the quality label. Although specific to a particular chain and context, common issues arise concerning the importance of information exchange and collaborative interaction in the creation of value for all concerned.

The sixth article, “Value in the territorial brand: the case of champagne” by Steve Charters, David Menival, Benoit Senaux and Svetlana Serdukov, follows on from the subject of the previous paper in that value is created in quality assurance associated with the label, but in the case of such an exclusive and territory-defined product as champagne, this link is even more acute. The paper explores the range of approaches of creation and perception of value; from the individualistic-brand centric approach to the collectivist approach based on the territorial nature of the brand. This paper adds an important new approach and understanding to the concept of value-creation through territorial branding and the challenges that exist in the division of roles between the individual and umbrella identity; and focuses on the possibilities to exploit and co-create.

The seventh and final article, “Perceived value of pasta in Greece and Romania” by Claudia Dumitrescu, William Nganje and Clifford J. Shultz, II, proposes an approach to better understanding of how consumers perceive value. The context is the international market for pasta and specifically buyer behaviour and segmentation in the Balkans region, and the importance of country of origin in purchase decision making. The authors make a link concerning consumer decision making and the significance of cues such as price in the context of national stereotyping and regional identity.

We take this opportunity to thank all those who have contributed to creating this special issue of British Food Journal. First, we thank the reviewers who provided comprehensive feedback to the authors, thereby helping them improve their manuscripts. The reviewing was a double-blind process. Second, we extend particular thanks to the editor, Chris Griffith, and the team at BFJ for giving us the opportunity to serve as guest editors of this special issue. Last, but not least, we would like to thank all of the authors who submitted manuscripts for consideration. We are confident that the articles in this special issue contribute to advancing our understanding of value in the context of food and agriculture. Additionally, we hope they generate further dialogue that will enhance our understanding of this subject even further.

References

Anderson, J.C. and Narus, J.A. (1998), “Business marketing: understand what customers value”, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 76 No. 6, pp. 53–65
Doyle, P. (2000), Value-Based Marketing: Marketing Strategies for Corporate Growth and Shareholder Value, John Wiley & Sons, Chichester
Hunt, S.D. (2000), A General Theory of Competition, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA
Kotler, P. and Keller, K.L. (2008), Marketing Management, 13th international ed. , Prentice Hall, London
Lindgreen, A. and Hingley, M.K. (2008), “Value analysis, creation, and delivery in food and agriculture business-to-business marketing and purchasing”, British Food Journal, Vol. 110 No. 1, pp. 5–10
Lindgreen, A., Vanhamme, J. and Beverland, M.B. (Eds) (2009), Memorable Customer Experiences: A Research Anthology, Gower Publishing, Aldershot
Lindgreen, A., Hingley, M., Grant, D.B. and Morgan, R.E. (2012), “Value in business and industrial marketing: past, present, and future”, Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 41 No. 1, pp. 207–214

Martin Hingley, Adam Lindgreen
Guest Editors