Biodiversity in Agri-Food Systems

Sustainable consumption is crucial in addressing environmental challenges and promoting responsible production practices. Consumers have the power to drive the adoption of sustainable supply chains through their purchasing choices. Environmentally responsible consumption benefits the environment and incentivises producers to adopt sustainable practices. This study examines how sustainable consumption patterns in the European Union (EU) affect the design and management of sustainable supply chains. A survey of 3129 respondents from different EU regions and demographics gathered data on purchasing habits, product types, purchase frequency, and influencing factors. The data were statistically analysed using clustering to identify common consumption patterns and segments of similar behaviour. Their willingness to pay a premium for sustainable products and purchase intention were tested based on their net household income. The study found that sustainable consumption patterns are closely linked to sustainable supply chain management practices. The study provides valuable insights into the relationship between sustainable consumption patterns and supply chain management across the EU. Sustainable supply chains offer research opportunities for policy, production, and business. Adopting sustainable initiatives in supply chains faces significant barriers, with government support and policies being crucial. The findings can inform policies and strategies to promote sustainable consumption and responsible supply chain practices.

The Scottish pig supply chain has been exposed to many supply chain shocks, which have threatened its economic sustainability. Examples of these shocks are processors bankruptcies, the effects of COVID-19 pandemic, the UK exiting the European Union (Brexit) and the swine flu pandemic. The evolution of the Scottish pig supply chain and its reaction to shocks are interesting to study because on the one hand, it has many features in common with other agri-food supply chains, and on the other hand, it allows us to illustrate how, particularly horizontal, collaboration in the form of pig cooperatives have played a role to reduce the vulnerability of producers, i.e., increase their resilience to several shocks, and also on their process of value creation. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to illustrate the above points and discuss the implications that the acquisition of the Brechin abattoir, the largest pig abattoir in Scotland, by Browns Food Group, and the UK net zero strategy requirements by 2050 for supply chains may have for the Scottish pig supply chain.

Wine tourism has gained significant attention as a promising form of alternative tourism, aligning with modern tourists’ preference for experiences and frequent but shorter trips. This research aims to identify motives for visiting wine destinations by examining critical factors influencing destination choice, overall satisfaction, tourist loyalty, and market segments. An online questionnaire was utilized in data collection, employing a non-probability sampling method, with a final sample of 266 wine tourists. Critical factors for choosing a wine tourism destination were “There should be enough information available about the destination and wineries”, “Wineries accept visitors” and “Wineries hold wine-tasting courses”. The highest rated motives for visiting a wine tourism destination were “To learn to recognize a good wine”, “To try local wines and associated local food” and “To learn how to purchase quality wines”. Tourists reported (on a 5-point Likert-type scale) that they tend to be satisfied with their chosen wine destination (MV = 3.82) and are likely to recommend it to other potential wine tourists (MV = 3.99). Data analysis extracted two critical factors in choosing a wine tourism destination, i.e., “Wine Route Prominence and Amenities” and “Information Availability and Visitor Access”. Additionally, factor analysis extracted three factors for tourists’ motives, namely “Wine knowledge”, “Experiential tourism” and “Socialization”. Cluster analysis identified three distinctive groups of wine tourists: the “Popular destination-orientated tourist”, the “Socializing-orientated tourist” and the “Don’t care but it was a good experience tourist”. These insights can help managers develop strategies to satisfy wine tourists in order to retain existing ones, fostering future loyalty, as well as attracting new ones.

Effective water resources management is crucial for addressing challenges such as climate change, population growth, and increasing agricultural demands. Within the EWA-BELT project framework, the Thornthwaite-Mather method was employed to evaluate the water balance across selected watersheds in Ghana, Tanzania, Burkina Faso, and Kenya. This well-established method provides insight into the dynamic interactions among precipitation, evapotranspiration, and soil water storage over time within a specified geographic area. Comprehensive data—including land use, soil characteristics, geological conditions, GIS information (sourced from literature reviews and online platforms), and meteorological records (precipitation and temperature)—were integrated to calculate the water balance. The analysis highlighted distinct hydrological differences between East and West Africa. East African sites generally experience lower temperatures, higher precipitation, and more permeable geological formations. Key findings indicate that all studied basins exhibit a water surplus, with annual soil moisture reaching capacity, thereby storing excess water in aquifers and contributing to runoff. Notably, case studies in Kenya and Tanzania demonstrate a higher potential for water resource exploitation due to increased precipitation, higher infiltration rates, and relatively lower evapotranspiration compared to Ghana and Burkina Faso. Consequently, these regions may provide more water to meet human demands, particularly for irrigation. The method’s outputs offer valuable insights for water resource management, agricultural planning, and climate change impact assessments, particularly in regions where water availability is critically dependent on seasonal and inter-annual variations.

Implementing more sustainable business operations has become increasingly crucial for the survival of agri-food industries as environmental and social pressures are intensifying. However, limited attention has been given in scientific literature to the relationship between business planning and sustainability implementation, especially in scholarly studies focused on food companies and supply chains. This contribution aims to address this research gap using the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) model as a framework for enhancing sustainable value creation schemes in the fresh produce industry with a focus on Spain. We propose a conceptual framework and perform a case study where the standard, economic-centered business model is innovated and transformed in a sustainable business model through the integration of sustainability concerns. Findings indicate that the TBL model can be an effective tool to expanding classical economic business models, which can significantly transform the value propositions and differentiate the offerings. More importantly, the TBL approach facilitates the identification of potential business model innovations and improvements in terms of sustainability goals, consequently providing diverse options on how the fresh produce industry can benefit from integrating sustainability into business practices. It is also shown that the transition toward sustainability is crucial since the efficient integration of sustainability objectives may lead to increasing sustainable performance as well as the development of sustainable operations, which can improve market positioning. Companies focused on sustainable value creation integrating socio-environmental standards tend to operate in supply chains based on trust, transparency and close stakeholder relationships, which are ultimately key assets for competitive advantage. These companies are also more capable of adapting swiftly to unforeseen external shocks, these being related to climate, health, geopolitics or finance.

The quality of agricultural products as food ingredients is a very important factor. Errors in the production of raw materials cannot be corrected or can only be done so at a considerable cost. Consumers expect food to be safe and they want food of the right quality (nutritional value, taste, smell, etc.) for their money. The more developed a country’s economy is, the more pronounced this demand becomes. Despite years of continuous quality improvement in the production of processed foods, resulting in increasingly high-quality and safe products, consumers are becoming increasingly suspicious. This is due to a number of factors: over-supply by the food industry, greater difficulty in navigating between foods, the rapid rise in allergies, food scares brought to the attention of consumers—which are occurring worldwide—and consumers’ healthier lifestyles, to name but a few. Thus, quality testing is definitely an important task. This is also true for raw agricultural materials such as raw cow’s milk. Humans have been consuming milk since ancient times. Its importance has only increased with the development of nutritional science, and its favourable composition and high/special nutritional value make it an important part of modern nutrition. It is, therefore, no coincidence that milk is the only food that accompanies man from the cradle to the grave.

In our study, we seek to answer the following questions: What are the characteristics of small-scale cow’s milk farms in Hungary in terms of quality and competitiveness? How up-to-date are farmers’ information on quality control? What role can they play in meeting local demand? What special products can they enter the market with? How can they be integrated into the supply chain? A mixed methodology is used to answer the questions. In our secondary research, we use international and Hungarian literature sources to present the situation of the dairy sector in Hungary and its neighbouring countries, which are the most important from a market point of view. In the framework of our primary research, we conduct semi-structured interviews with the managers of small dairy farms in a given small region and present a potential HACCP process through the example of a medium-sized farm. The most important results of our study will be the results of our primary and secondary research.