Relationship between barriers and key factors of dairy production in Santa Catarina, Brazil

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to verify if, in the dairy business ecosystem (dairy farmers, dairy cooperatives, government, research agencies, consultants and financial institutions) perspective, the dairy production barriers presented by Bonamigo et al. (2016b) can be mitigated through the dairy production key factors indicated in the literature.

Design/methodology/approach

To achieve the proposed goal of this study, the methodology used for the study comprises three stages: exploratory search in the literature to identify barriers and drivers of dairy production, data collection and statistical model. For the first stage, the authors conducted exploratory research in the literature, to better understand the dairy production ecosystem and to find arguments that characterize the barriers and drivers of this activity. In the second stage, a structured questionnaire with 13 closed-ended questions in a single block, with ordinal responses, following the suggestion of Likert (1932), was developed and applied to the dairy production ecosystem players of Santa Catarina, Brazil. A total of 305 responses suitable for analysis based, that were analyzed through an exploratory factorial analysis and modeling of structural equations via partial least squares, resulting in the Statistical model.

Findings

Based on the analyses results, the authors verified that there is an inverse association between the characteristics of the barriers and the dairy production key factors. In this sense, the authors can confirm that the increase of the loads in the dairy production key factors, reduce loads of the milk production barriers. Based on the results of this test, new theoretical and practical insights can be identified to develop new studies with the aim of boosting the dairy sector development as well as providing support in the decision making of the dairy system players.

Research limitations/implications

This study may not have enabled a complete coverage of all existing peer-reviewed articles in the field of dairy production. It seems reasonable to assume that the review process covered a significant proportion of studies available.

Originality/value

It is the first study that compares identifies barriers and key factors of dairy production in Santa Catarina using as an analytical lens the business ecosystem.

Citation

Ferenhof, H.A., Bonamigo, A., Cunha, A.D., Tezza, R. and Forcellini, F.A. (2019), "Relationship between barriers and key factors of dairy production in Santa Catarina, Brazil", British Food Journal, Vol. 121 No. 2, pp. 304-319. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-07-2018-0424