Editorial

Citation

Paul Dana, L. (2003), "Editorial", British Food Journal, Vol. 105 No. 1/2. https://doi.org/10.1108/bfj.2003.070105aaa.001

Editorial

The food industry is central to the economy of New Zealand, and I am delighted that Dott. Claudio Vignali has commissioned me to assemble this special issue of the British Food Journal, containing refereed articles arising from New Zealand research.

The first article is about the Chatham Islands, a part of New Zealand with great potential, despite countless challenges. In contrast to the Marshall Islands, and to the Kingdom of Tonga, New Zealand allowed, until quite recently, over-fishing in the region of the Chatham Islands. In the Marshall Islands, the government of which has given exclusive fishing rights to one American company (namely Ocean Farming Inc.), there is a built-in incentive not to over-fish; once the waters are depleted, Ocean Farming loses the competitive advantage given to it by this exclusivity. Likewise, in Tonga, abuse is discouraged, but in a different way; in this island kingdom, social norms require fishermen to share fish. A fisherman, in Tonga, who catches more than his family can eat, must donate the surplus to the poor. New Zealand has approached conservation, using the same model as Iceland; a quota system was established, whereby the right to fish is bought and sold, like any commodity. This has created an incentive to fish in a sustainable manner, in order to maintain the value of quota. In the absence of quotas, over-fishing occurs, because nobody owns fish until these are caught; quotas remove incentives to over-fish. In the case of the Chatham Islands, however, there remain other problems, such as getting fresh food from these remote islands to markets overseas (in mainland New Zealand and beyond).

The second article is a cross-cultural content analysis of restaurant advertisements in New Zealand. How do Chinese food restaurants advertise differently than do others?

The following two articles focus on the genetic modification of foods. What are the perceptions of New Zealand consumers?

Then comes an article made possible by interviews conducted in the north region of New Zealand's South Island. How has the apple industry been changing?

The last two articles are about New Zealand farmers. Are they making good use of the Internet? What do they want from the state?

Finally, this issue contains five teaching cases. The first is about the local factory manufacturing Honeycomb Products. The second is about entrepreneurs who are trying to develop exports of wasabi from New Zealand to Japan. The third business case study is about a small cash crop farmer whose produce spoils before it reaches the market. The last two cases are about a Chinese restaurant and a Korean restaurant, both in Christchurch, New Zealand.

I would like to thank Dott. Vignali for the confidence he has had in me, allowing me to assemble this special issue. Also, a special thanks to the many reviewers who patiently waited for papers to go back and forth!

On behalf of the contributors, all of us in New Zealand, we are grateful for this opportunity to share our research, and we hope that this will be the first step toward establishing international links to conduct cross-cultural research about the food industry.

Leo Paul DanaChristchurch, New Zealand