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The purpose of this research is to analyse the upstream information distortion among the various members of the agro-food supply chain, regarding the consumers’ quality perceptions.

The study focused on the beef chain, which is one of the most active in quality management terms. The study involved different actors in the chain: consumers (402), retailers (98), agro-industrials (40) and cattle farmers (84).

The results demonstrated that the more the upstream agents move away from consumers, the more the information becomes distorted. The research also highlighted that the greater the number of links in the chain, the more the consumer’s upstream information tends to be distorted.

The information flow is one of the important aspects on which the supply chain management focuses. This paper contributes to information flow research between different actors in the supply chain regarding product quality from the consumer perspective. Therefore, for the members of the supply chain, this research represents the potential to direct management’s value-added activities towards what consumers value the most.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors associated with the consumption of traditional foods (TFs) in central Mexico.

A total of 512 surveys were applied to consumers in central Mexico. The survey included a free word association with TF and an example, the food choice questionnaire, and the sociodemographic characteristics of respondents. A binary logistic regression was carried out comparing regular TF consumers with non-regular TF consumers.

Men tend to eat TFs in more regular way than women. People with heavier consumption habits associate TF with “authenticity/way of doing”, “origin” and “habit”, which are reinforced both by TF examples and the FCQ variables. Foods considered traditional were classified as cooked (elaborated under specific recipes of gastronomic heritage) and uncooked. Both groups comprise central foods, basic in the Mexican diet, in which maize, chili and beans are outstanding.

The study did not comprehend the whole country and not consider specific food categories.

Provides important information on the factors that drive consumption of TFs in Mexico, information that may be useful in valorisation processes.

Results may support the commercialisation of these foods, and lead to an improvement in the livelihoods of producers of TFs.

In Mexico, the study of consumers has not been addressed. Therefore, this is a pioneer study that documents the factors associated with the consumption of TFs.