Innovations in low input and organic dairy supply chains--what is acceptable in Europe?

The growth in organic and low-input farming practices is driven by both market demand for high quality, safe food, and European Union policy support, and these types of farming practices are considered in European Union policies for sustainable production, food quality, healthy life, and rural development. However, many constraints to the development of low-input and organic dairy farming supply chains have been identified, including economic, political, and technical constraints. In order for these types of supply chains to develop and provide further benefits to society, innovations are required to improve their sustainability. However, an innovation will only be taken up and result in desirable change if the whole supply chain accepts the innovation. In this paper, Q methodology is used to identify the acceptability of dairy supply chain innovations to low-input and organic supply chain members and consumers in Belgium, Finland, Italy, and the United Kingdom. A strong consensus existed across all respondents on innovations that were deemed as unacceptable. The use of genetically modified and transgenic organisms in the farming system and innovations perceived as conflicting with the naturalness of the production system and products were strongly rejected. Innovations that were strongly liked across all participants in the study were those related to improving animal welfare and improving forage quality to be able to reduce the need for purchased concentrate feeds. Only minor differences existed between countries as to where the priorities lay in terms of innovation acceptability.

Consumer preference for chicken breast may be more affected by information on organic production than by product sensory properties.

Conventional chicken from a fast-growing strain (CC), organic chicken from a slow-growing strain (OSG), and organic chicken from a fast-growing strain (OFG) were used to assess descriptive sensory differences between organic and conventional breasts, to verify whether differences were perceived by consumers and to evaluate the effect of information about organic production on liking. A conventional quantitative-descriptive analysis was performed by a trained panel of 10 members on breast slices (1 cm thick) grilled at 300°C. A 150-member consumer panel (from southern, central, and northern Italy) rated CC, OSG, and OFG breasts according to 3 types of evaluation: tasting without information (perceived liking), information without tasting (expected liking), and tasting with information (actual liking). Breasts from different sources were clearly discriminated by the trained panel as meat from CC was perceived more tender than OFG (P < 0.05) and OSG (P < 0.001), more fibrous than OFG (P < 0.05) and OSG (P < 0.001), and leaving more residue than OFG (P < 0.05) and OSG (P < 0.001), whereas OSG was assessed as less juicy before swallowing than OFG and CC (P < 0.05) and less fibrous than OFG (P < 0.05). No significant differences were observed by consumers for perceived liking. However, consumer expected liking scores were higher for organic than for conventional products (P < 0.001) and actual liking of organic breasts moved toward the expectancy. In particular, actual liking scores were higher than perceived liking in blind conditions (P < 0.001 and P < 0.01 for OFG and OSG, respectively). We conclude that trained panelists were able to discriminate chicken breasts from different sources, whereas untrained consumers were not. However, consumer liking was markedly affected by the information given on the organic production system, thus providing a tool to differentiate the product in an increasingly competitive market.