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The purpose of this paper is to examine consumer attitudes towards apple juice produced by means of two new processing technologies, high‐pressure processing (HPP) and pulsed electric field processing (PEF).

Means‐end chain approach is used. Laddering interviews are conducted with consumers in Norway, Denmark, Hungary and Slovakia.

Consumers in this study did recognize and appreciate the benefits that HPP and PEF apple juice have to offer over a juice produced by pasteurization. The respondents in all four countries associated positive consequences with product attributes related to the nutritional value and the taste of the products produced by means of these novel technologies. Also the environmental benefits from processing foods by applying these technologies were seen as highly positive characteristics of the technologies. However, many respondents also expressed some scepticism, especially towards the PEF treated juice and were unsure about if there were risks associated with consuming products processed by this technology.

When new processing technologies are introduced, consumer acceptance is one of the key issues for their future success. It is up to food producers and food scientists to provide the evidence that will convince consumers that these new technologies are safe to use.

This research contributes to the limited knowledge on consumer attitudes towards food products produced by HPP and PEF. From a general perspective, the research expands the body of knowledge on consumer perception of food technologies.

This paper extends the concept of market orientation from the firm to the value chain level and seeks to develop empirically founded propositions on determinants of different levels of market orientation of value chains.

Four case studies on value chains within the areas of agribusiness and fisheries are conducted. For each value chain, desk research is combined with interviews with decision‐makers of all types of value chain members. Interview guidelines were derived from a conceptual model of potential determinants of value chain market orientation.

Degree of market orientation of value chains is found to be related to degree of heterogeneity and dynamism of end‐users served, nature of chain relationships, regulations and prevailing mental models of decision‐makers. Short and balanced chains are believed to further upstream market orientation.

The results point at two areas, where additional research on market orientation is called for: a better conceptualization of market intelligence and theorizing on most cost effective ways of being market oriented, including implications for the distribution of market oriented activities among value chain members.

The paper underlines the importance of managing channel relationships, up to and including vertical integration, when serving markets with high degrees of end‐user volatility.

This paper is the first empirical contribution to the market orientation literature employing a perspective encompassing the whole value chain.

Lead user experiments are increasingly applied in food-related innovation. The purpose of this paper is to: first, experiments should excavate new recipes, production processes and narratives for mussels with a specific regional origin and connotation. Second, the study should test a lead user set-up and investigate the commitment and potential benefits, not only for future mussel producers but also for the lead users themselves.

This study organized and evaluated a lead user experiment involving eight chefs and other food experts.

The experiment was successful in the sense that the lead users activated a considerable combinatory knowledge ability and creativity, and they could address issues of wider regional branding significance and contribute with catching narratives. The lead users found the experiment beneficial on several dimensions, providing the opportunity to reflect and undertake tests under respectfully inquisitive observation of others, and they also appreciated the opportunity openly to expose their own professionalism on various media that were organized as ingredients in this experiment.

The study accentuates the applicability of lead user experiments as supplements or alternative to other ways of informing product development processes and demonstrates a practical method.

The study contributes to the increasing methodological evidence in the field of lead user-based innovation and scrutinizes the issues in a wider food industry context.