Food commerce upshots with their former locus in the economy with respect to the pandemic 2020 - a drawback or an aid in South Kolkata, West Bengal

Background: The Food Commerce industry has flourished massively during the past decade in South Kolkata in West Bengal, with new outlets opening every now and then, so much so that this region is known as 'Food Street'. Regardless of their scale of operations, each of these outlets had well established themselves, catering to their respective target markets and earning decent amount of revenue over the years. However, this growth suffered a setback owing to the origin of novel Coronavirus SARS-n-CoV-2. The growth rate declined to a great extent over the span of two years, with recent studies showing an overall stunted growth rate. Even though online marketing of these outlets and selling the food through delivery apps have aided the entrepreneurs, the cost to revenue ratio is not at par with that of the times before the pandemic hit. Overall, the pandemic has impacted the eateries in more way than initially imagined. Objectives: (a) To reveal the various problems and scenarios of managing food business during the Covid-19 pandemic in South Kolkata region;(b) To compare the present scenario of the food industry with how things were before prior to the pandemic to understand the nature of change during this time frame;and, (c) To describe the challenges and methods implemented by the food retail business entrepreneurs and managers of the randomly selected establishments to hold a steady business flow during the Covid-19 pandemic. Methodology: The study follows a descriptive research design. Therefore, the research will describe the characteristics of the sample under study. The food outlets of South Kolkata have been chosen as the study location. 100 respondents were selected. The respondents are those who consume food from these outlets such that they represent the wider target market of the 'Food Street'. Both Primary Data and Secondary Data were used. Primary Data was collected through sample survey. Random Sampling technique was used to choose the respondents. The study used quantitative data, therefore, only Quantitative analysis was performed. Results: The Research was able to depict the comparison between the present scenario and the situation prior to the pandemic. The study was able to reveal the challenges and problems that the food outlets had to suffer from. Also, the methods or strategies taken up by the entrepreneurs of these outlets to overcome the pandemic were discovered. 46% of the respondents opted for "Mobile Food Delivery" as their strategy to revive from losses. Conclusion: With COVID-19 having altered - and still in the process of altering - the definition of "normal" across the world, most industries are still scrambling to adjust. The effect on the restaurant industry has been particularly dramatic. With restaurants and pubs closed for sit-down service, many establishments are struggling to keep their heads above water. The food outlets located in South Kolkata shares the same fate and the research is able to highlight this effectively.

Sustainable and healthy purchasing behaviors towards palm oil-based food in Italy

Purpose: Palm oil is widely used in the food industry;however, there are two main controversies connected to its use, namely, its nutritional value and the environmental consequences deriving from its crop. In Italy, the use of palm oil has recently been criticized, insomuch that some important bakery companies decided to substitute it, creating a real food marketing case. Through a focus on biscuits, this study is aimed at profiling consumers with regard to palm oil issue to better comprehend if the presence of this ingredient truly influences their food purchases and if they care about the nutritional and environmental aspects, highlighting the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on consumers' consumption. Design/methodology/approach: A questionnaire was administered to 243 subjects in Italy, in order to apply a cluster analysis. Findings: The findings show the presence of three main kinds of consumers: (1) compromise finders (sensitive to cost savings but trying to privilege palm-oil free food), (2) brand-loyal consumers (palm oil does not influence their preferences) and (3) healthsensitives (the presence of palm oil profoundly affects their choices), who represent the majority of our sample. The results and implications are discussed. Originality/value: Research on palm oil is essentially focused on chemistry, natural sciences or on its industrial uses: this study analyzes the consumer point of view by applying a different methodology compared to existing studies. © 2023, Fabrizio Flavio Baldassarre, Savino Santovito, Raffaele Campo and Giacomo Dilorenzo.

Forecast of beef production for Brazilian market between 2021 and 2022

Cattle is one of the main items in the Brazilian productive guideline and an important export product. During the covid-19 pandemic, the price of beef occupied a prominent position in agricultural sector analyzes due to the prices increases. The objective of this research is to observe the national production behavior, exports, and domestic supply. Therefore, a domestic supply forecast was made for January 2021 to December 2022 (24 months). Based on the results obtained, it was found that the beefs supply available to the Brazilian market will not present an expressive upward behavior that compensates the evolution in beef export to international markets. Thus, a shift in the price of beef in the domestic market to higher levels may be observed.

Digital food and beverage marketing appealing to children and adolescents: An emerging challenge in Mexico.

BACKGROUND: Digital food marketing is increasing and has an impact on children's behaviour. Limited research has been performed in Latin America. OBJECTIVES: To determine the extent and nature of Mexican children's and adolescents' exposure to digital food and beverage marketing during recreational internet use. METHODS: A crowdsourcing strategy was used to recruit 347 participants during the COVID-19 lockdown. Participants completed a survey and recorded 45 minutes of their device's screen time using screen-capture software. Food marketing was identified and nutrition information for each marketed product was collected. Healthfulness of products was determined using the Pan-American Health Organization and the Mexican Nutrient Profile Model (NPM). A content analysis was undertaken to assess marketing techniques. RESULTS: Overall, 69.5% of children and adolescents were exposed to digital food marketing. Most frequently marketed foods were ready-made foods. Children and adolescents would typically see a median of 2.7 food marketing exposures per hour, 8 daily exposures during a weekday and 6.7 during a weekend day. We estimated 47.3 food marketing exposures per week (2461 per year). The most used marketing technique was brand characters. Marketing was appealing to children and adolescents yet most of the products were not permitted for marketing to children according to the NPMs (>90%). CONCLUSIONS: Mexican children and adolescents were exposed to unhealthy digital food marketing. The Government should enforce evidence-based mandatory regulations on digital media.

Impact of the "coronavirus" emergency on Italian livestock systems

This report describes the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on the productive and economic aspects of livestock and aquaculture production in Italy, including farm management, labour, income, marketing and consumption of animal products (meat, fish, eggs, milk and dairy products), consumer behaviour, food safety, agrotourism and disease control.

Exploring the impacts of FDA temporary food labeling flexibility among the food allergy community during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Special Issue: The impact of the covid-19 pandemic and the foodservice industries.)

In an attempt to improve access to food distribution systems during the Covid-19 pandemic, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued temporary flexibility in food labeling requirements. This requirement affects the Top 8 allergens and could lead to accidental allergen ingestion. The purpose of this study was to utilize a qualitative method to collect and analyze comments to FDA that were available via Allergic Living's website from May 22, 2020, to June 18, 2020, following the release of the food labeling change. In total, 3,033 comments were analyzed using the thematic analysis six-phase framework approach. Various themes were extracted relating to the emotional responses of the new labeling including fear, safety concerns, and trust of certain food product brands among the food allergy community. This research has implications for a broad spectrum of the U.S. food industry including restaurants, grocery stores, specialty food associations, and consumers. Stakeholders and experts in the food allergy community should be consulted when a policy change is occurring, especially during a pandemic affecting access to safe food.

Antecedents of obesity among Indian youth: from consumer psychological and lifestyle perspective

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to determine the antecedents of obesity among the younger generation of Indians (Generation Y) from a psychological and lifestyle consumer perspective. The study also investigates the moderating role of demography on the body mass index (BMI) of Indian youths.Design/methodology/approachThe study initially develops a conceptual model, stemming from an extensive theoretical research, and subsequently validates this using structural equation modeling (SEM) technique with a sample size of 1,242 Indian youths.FindingsThe study concludes that consumers' food habits (FH) and physical activity (PA) positively impact consumers' physical health (PH), which influences their BMI levels (BLs). Anxiety (AX), depression (DE), stress (ST), peer pressure (PP) and work pressure (WP) impact individuals' mental health (MH), which also influences their BLs. Finally, there is a significant moderating impact of demographic factors, such as age (AG), gender (GE) and income levels (ILs) on the relationship between individuals' physical and MH and individuals' BLs.Research limitations/implicationsThis study proposes a new model which highlights the issue of youth consumer obesity from the psychological and lifestyle perspectives. The model is effective as it has a high explanative power of 73%. The study investigates consumer obesity from emerging market like India perspective, but the study does not examine consumer food consumption behavior and obesity from developed market perspective.Practical implicationsYouth obesity could be considered a global pandemic, and obesity rates among the Indian youth are also increasing. This study provides valuable inputs and understanding of consumer markets to policy makers, consumer protection institutions, organizations related to the food and beverage industry, healthcare workers and consumers themselves regarding the antecedents of youth obesity (BL) in developing and emerging markets.Originality/valueThe study adds value to the body of literature related to consumer obesity, FH, consumer psychology and lifestyle through findings that are new in terms of findings' specificity, contextual focus and explication. Moreover, the study extends the cognitive theory of DE and the theory of planned behavior (TPB). The research effectively offers significant theoretical and practicable market knowledge to both scholars and marketing practitioners, as well as policy makers and institutions dealing with youth obesity, particularly in emerging markets.

Functional food market analysis: Russian and international aspects

The modern food market is undergoing a period of rapid development following the changes in marketing technologies and consumer behavior patterns. Nowadays, people pay more attention to the quality and composition of food products, as well as their functional properties. The present article reviews the international and Russian market of functional foods in order to define the consumer demand for new specialized products. The methods included data comparison, grouping, and systematization. The analysis involved Russian and foreign papers published in 2018-2022 and registered in Scopus, eLibrary, Cyberleninka, and the Library of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research. It also covered the National Demography Project, the Healthy Nutrition Project, and the Strategy for Improving the Quality of Food Products through 2030. Consumers' growing interest in improving their health and immune system proved to be the key factor in the functional food market. The COVID-19 pandemic intensified such trends as the priority of healthy, high-protein, and low-sugar foods. Japan and the USA are the current leaders on this market. Russia supports healthy food policy at the state level. The functional food market is likely to become the most promising and competitive sector of global food economy. Consumer demand for these products is steadily growing: the volume of demand for functional food products will reach 17 trillion rubles by 2027. However, Russian food science needs more research in this area to catalyze import substitution. The Omsk Agrarian University has numerous projects that are meant to increase the competitiveness of the domestic functional food industry.

Practical Implications of the Millennial Generation's Consumer Behaviour in the Food Market.

Generational theory assumes that generational cohorts develop similar attitudes and beliefs. The Generation Y/Millennials group is currently one of the most important generations in the market as they have a presence in the labour market with a high income of their own, which creates higher demand for products, especially in the food market which is very sensitive to consumer decisions. The aim of this study was to show the consumer behaviour of Generation Y in the market for innovative food products and to propose marketing models created on the basis of research on a Polish sample of Millennials. The research was conducted in the period before the COVID-19 pandemic on a group of 544 selected respondents. Descriptive statistics of the SPSS program were used to process the results obtained. Among the most important of the results was identifying the decision-makers who are purchasing innovative products and the influence of third parties on their decision. In the first instance, consumers look for innovative food products in large retail chains (hypermarkets and supermarkets), however, they pay attention to both the quality of the products on offer and the price. Values such as freshness and taste also play a role in their purchasing decisions. Sources of information about innovative products in the Polish food market include culinary blogs recommending innovative products, and the opinions of dieticians and nutritionists.

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)-authorised store marketing environments in Louisiana encourage the selection of less nutritious foods and beverages.

Marketing influences consumers' dietary purchases. However, little is known about marketing environments in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)-authorised stores. The present study explored SNAP-authorised store marketing environments in Louisiana by rurality, store ownership and store type (n 42). Sampling methods were designed to include randomly selected stores in each geographic area of the state. The GroPromo was used to measure placement, promotion, and child-focused aspects of marketing strategies used for healthier (fruits and vegetables) and less healthy products (chips, candy, sugar-sweetened beverages, child-focused cereal) in medium- and high-prominence marketing areas. In using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) (P < 0⋅05) for data analysis, variations in GroPromo scores were found among SNAP-authorised stores by rurality (P < 0⋅05) and store ownership (P < 0⋅001); no differences were found by store type (P > 0⋅05). Future research, practice and policy strategies are required to understand the influence of marketing environments on SNAP participants' dietary quality and to design responsive public health interventions.

Improving young women's working conditions in Tanzania's urban food vending sector

In this paper, we investigate the working conditions of the young women working as assistants in the food vending sector in Tanzania using interviews and focus group discussions which are supplemented with quantitative survey. Data were collected in the municipalities of Nyamagana and Ilemela in Mwanza Region, Northern Tanzania, and from officers working with the government and insurance fund organizations in Dodoma region, central Tanzania, from August to September 2020. The results show that young women's working conditions are poor and that they continue working in the sector on the basis of resilience. Young women's poor working conditions are caused by several actors including their employers, central, and local government. The main causes of poor working conditions in street food vending are: informality, low salary, uncertainty of pay, long working hours, poor physical environment, lack of training, job insecurity, lack of legal recognitions, unclear legal status, lack of social security and protection. The emergence of the coronavirus disease has further increased their vulnerability. The government can improve their working conditions by establishing an authority/agency responsible for managing the informal sector, business formalization, reviewing the municipal councils' bylaws that are prohibitive, and establish vending zones. Street food vendors' employers have to improve vendors' salary, improve physical working environment, use participatory management approach, reduce number of working hours, and consider the rights of employees.

Dairy consumption in the pandemic: main changes in the behaviuor of the Brazilian consumer of milk and dairy products during the COVID-19 pandemic

Embrapa Gado de Leite/Centro de Inteligencia do Leite carried out a survey to assess the behaviour of Brazilian consumers of milk and dairy products during the Covid-19 pandemic, considering household consumption. It was shown that long-life milk was not the most important dairy product in the Brazilian shopping basket. Despite being present in more than 90% of Brazilian homes, other dairy products, especially cheeses, are gaining consumer preference. Data from market consultants showed that this sales channel had the highest growth during the first months of the pandemic. The majority of survey respondents said they maintained or even increased the consumption of dairy products. Data from consulting market confirmed the survey results, reporting increases in sale of dairy products during the first half of 2020. The survey results also showed consumption patterns by income classes and regions of Brazil, showing the complexity of the national dairy market. In the case of income, the higher percentage of consumption stability in the lower income classes was high. Regarding the most important factor at the time of purchase of dairy products, the price was more considered by the higher income classes, and low prices and the brand by higher-income consumers. In the case of regions, differences were also evidenced in the maintenance of consumption of products, with powdered milk having a higher percentage of stability in the northeast and north, as well as the importance of price and brand in the purchase decision, in which the price prevailed more in the northeast than in other regions. In conclusion, income, rather than price, is the determining factor of dairy consumption in Brazil.

Comparison of storage method and packaging material on physicochemical properties of fresh-cut melons (Cucumis melo L.) during distribution

During the COVID-19 pandemic, customer awareness for food quality and safety is distinctly higher. Fresh-cut fruits in Indonesia are traditionally distributed using wheelbarrows. The increasing consumption of fruit in Indonesia must be accompanied by awareness of healthy lifestyles and the shift of consumer behavior to online stores. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of storage methods and packaging materials for fresh-cut melon on changes in physicochemical properties during the distribution process. Variation of packaging materials used were polypropylene, plastic wrap, and without packaging as control. The ice gel in cooled box delivery was used for storage method during distribution and compared to conventional methods (manual fruit carts). The physical parameters of melons fruit observed during distribution were weight loss, hardness level, pH value, and total soluble solids (TSS). The fresh-cut melons were stored in a distribution box which kept the temperature at +or- 18 degrees C for 6 h. The results showed that the storage method had a significant effect (p < 0.05) on all parameters of physical quality. While packaging material had a real effect (p < 0.05) on weight loss and TSS, but has no effect (p < 0.05) on hardness level and pH value. Packaging using plastic wrap can reduce the weight loss of fresh-cut melons, while polypropylene plastic can maintain the hardness level, pH value, and TSS of cut melons fruit.

General fisheries commission for the Mediterranean: report of the webinar on the experience of the aquaculture sector through best practices and mitigation measures facing the COVID-19 crisis, 1 July 2020

This report presents the outcomes of the webinar on "the experience of the aquaculture sector through best practices and mitigation measures facing the COVID-19 crisis" which took place on 1 July 2020 and was conducted over the internet and hosted on the Zoom platform for webinars. It was organized by the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in cooperation with the Regional Commission for Fisheries (RECOFI). The webinar aimed to address the pandemic's effects on aquaculture production as well as on supply chains, demand, local markets and trade, and to identify best practices and mitigation measures adopted by aquaculture farmers and countries. During the first thematic session, the experts highlighted the difficulties the aquaculture sector faced due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, several mitigation approaches were pointed out: (i) specific financial support programmes designed through the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF);(ii) a strong national aquaculture strategy guaranteeing self-sufficiency along the entire supply chain of shrimp farming in Saudi Arabia;(iii) the issuing of subsidies and credit loans in a timely manner to help producers in Turkey;(iv) the development of an online platform for fish auctioning to boost fisheries supply chain in Oman;(v) companies opening direct communication channels between the government and the farms in the United Arab Emirates;and (vi) solidarity between the sector and consumers, which allowed for the achievement of 50 percent of the programmed goals in the fish feed and larval industry in Tunisia. Other points addressed during the second thematic session included specific measures adopted and proposed, such as the focus on different aquaculture final products (e.g. frozen fish) and the establishment of local hatcheries and fish feed factories. The Q/A session which followed concluded the webinar.

Special Issue: More than disaster: creativity in growing, distributing, and accessing food during COVID-19. (Special Issue: More than disaster: creativity in growing, distributing, and accessing food during COVID-19.)

This special issue highlights how food distribution and food-related networks responded to the challenge of procurement and distribution during the onset and unfolding of the COVID-19 pandemic. Bringing together six research articles and one research commentary and spanning five continents, all authors tackle the following shared question as an organizing framework for their articles. What can we learn from the creativity among responses to the COVID-19 impacts on our food systems that might apply long beyond this pandemic? Through the cross-cutting themes of decolonizing research, governance, provisioning, and technology, this collection considers whether and why (or not) creativity in responses, actions, and meaning-making for people working on food production, distribution, and access might model strategies for more resilient, sustainable, and equitable food systems.

Data on the Facebook marketing strategies used by fast-food chains in four Latin American countries during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

OBJECTIVES: During the COVID-19 pandemic, most countries implemented lockdowns that motivated changes in the dietary patterns, physical activity, and body mass index (BMI) of consumers worldwide, as well as the emergence of new food marketing strategies in social media. We sought to design and validate a methodology for monitoring and evaluating the Facebook marketing strategies of multinational fast-food chains in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. DATA DESCRIPTION: We developed three datasets. First, a dataset with the Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) of 1015 Facebook posts of five fast-food chains present in Argentina, Bolivia, Guatemala, and Peru. Second, a dataset of 106 content-analyzed posts we used in a pilot to determine intercoder reliability using statistical tests. Third, a dataset of a final sample of the 1015 content-analyzed posts that we used to determine the variables most frequently used. Following a mixed-methods approach, we developed 29 variables that recorded general information, as well as the marketing strategies we identified in the posts, including 14 COVID-19 specific variables. These data should help to monitor the social media marketing strategies that fast-food chains have introduced during the COVID-19 lockdowns, thus providing initial evidence about how they could be contributing to an unhealthy food environment.

The competitiveness of French animal sectors in the face of European and global competition

This article presents the performance of livestock and poultry farmers in France highlighting their competitiveness in the global market in terms of import, export, and domestic production of meat, milk and poultry products. Also highlighted are measures taken by local livestock producers to cope with the constraints due to Covid-19.

Re-thinking Street Food Marketing in COVID-19 Pandemic Period. “Pescaria” as Pilot Case Study

The paper examines the role of “marketing agility approach” for managing street food marketing in the COVID-19 pandemic period, adopting offline and online practices to sustain competitive advantage in a turbulent scenario. In particular, the work analyses the marketing strategies related to the point of sales and social media marketing practices to create customer engagement and to co-design a new hybrid customer experience. To validate these research statements, we identify a pilot case study in Italian context: the case of Pescaria. This is a valuable company in the street food industry to provide take-away food fisher products related to Apulia fishing cultural values. The main findings of the explorative study put in evidence that the competitive advantage is based on agile marketing capabilities for supporting point of sales management using social media practices to encourage hybrid customers engaged in Pescaria’s world. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Improvement of wholesale trade of food products as a factor of ensuring the economic affiliation of food

Achieving such an important criterion of food security as the economic affordability of food for all groups of the population in a situation of falling real disposable income in recent years and shrinking effective demand, complicated by the economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, should be based on the development of tools to increase household income and market mechanisms for the formation of affordable prices for food. The purpose of the study was to substantiate the directions for improving the process of selling food products based on expanding the competitive environment of the national food market, simplifying the conditions for entering the small agribusiness market. This is possible by optimizing the structure of wholesale food trade by creating large wholesale food markets based on the experience of countries with developed market economies. The formation of a modern wholesale link in the food trade is aimed at ensuring the economic accessibility of food for all income groups of the population by reducing the costs of circulation of goods, providing prompt delivery to chain stores, convenience stores and catering establishments of fresh produce from local producers. Food consumption is one of the primary human needs, the satisfaction of which at the normative level contributes to the development of the entire system of needs. To achieve the goal of the article, various approaches to the definition of the concept of "personal consumption" are systematized. Food trade is considered as an important part of the third sphere of the agro-food complex, possible trends in effective demand for agricultural products in the context of a new global challenge are analyzed. The role of wholesale trade in the formation of affordable prices for food products is shown, the experience of organizing wholesale food markets in Spain and France is summarized. It was noted, taking into account the world experience of organizing wholesale food markets, that the priority should belong to the mechanism of public-private partnership. The institutional aspects of creating a system of wholesale food markets around large cities are considered.