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Challenges in Postharvest Handling
22
Challenges in Postharvest Handling Wojciech J. Florkowski Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Georgia, Griffin Campus, Griffin, GA 30223, USA
Robert L. Shewfelt Food Science and Technology, 118F Food Science, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
Bernhard Brueckner Institute for Vegetable and Ornamental Crops (IGZ) Theodor-Echtermeyer-Weg 1, 14979 Grossbeeren, Germany
I. Postharvest handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . II. The need for speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . III. The systems approach forces interdisciplinary approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IV. The future: science versus emotions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
583 585 586 586 588
I. Postharvest handling Consumers, producers, and marketers are key players in the fresh produce supply chain. Banks (Chapter 1) noted that expectations of each group focused on creation and appreciation of value. The systems approach was singled out because it links causes and effects: fresh produce handling and its quality. Consumers prefer quality, although as noted in several chapters (see Chapters 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 11 and 18), the notion of quality is fluid and interpreted in many different ways. Therefore, efforts in postharvest handling are focused on value creation, including the protection, maintenance or enhancement of attributes, for which buyers are willing to pay (see Chapters 6, 10, 14, 19 and 20). Suppliers interpret consumer wants and innovate to meet consumer expectations. Innovation provides only a temporary competitive edge and it becomes a conventional practice once its use spreads. Growers and marketers reach for other means to gain competitive advantage, and adopt technology that is licensed or patented. Banks (Chapter 1) illustrated the “managed scarcity” with examples of patented pineapple or kiwifruit varieties. Licensing has also become a popular way to limit the supply of apples, e.g. Pink LadyTM, while in the near future, more patented or licensed varieties of fruits and vegetables will be commercialized. Managed scarcity prevents price collapse, as noted by Banks. It also supports another consumer trend, namely the demand for a wider assortment of produce (see also Chapter 5). Earlier studies have shown that consumers who like produce will substitute another Postharvest Handling: A Systems Approach ISBN: 978-0-12-374112-7
Copyright © 2009, Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved
584 Challenges in Postharvest Handling
kind of produce for the one they wanted to buy, but that was unavailable, or did not match quality expectations or price. The systems approach proposed in the original version of this book (Prussia and Shewfelt, 1993) advocates the awareness of the existence of other links in the supply chain. According to the systems approach concept, participants implicitly recognize the time sequence of the physical product movement and ownership transfer, and the associated transfer of risk of quality defects. The nature of quality defects, many of which affect the appearance and the internal quality of the produce, often require a passage of time before it can be visually detected during inspection (see also Chapters 8, 14, and 15). The time separation of cause and effect of quality defect opens the opportunity for underperformance at some links in the chain, because of the double pay-off; it may save costs in implementing specific postharvest services, while fetching potentially higher price by beating competitors in a given point in time. Any quality loss occurs later in the supply chain, and turns into a monetary loss for the firm which owns the produce at that particular stage. To recover the loss requires expense and allocation of time and management resources to trace the cause of quality deterioration, and the establishment of the timing of events that led to quality loss. A company may choose never to pursue this option, but would rather change suppliers. The timing of quality deterioration has no immediate consequences if it remains undetected until the actual act of eating. A consumer will seldom exercise the right to demand that the produce be exchanged or the money returned. Rather, if the produce is often of poor quality, the low quality will induce a change in consumer preferences. For example, a decline in stone fruit consumption, especially peaches, is attributed to inconsistent quality (Byrne, 2005). Therefore, the economic consequences of narrow and short-term focus of the various links in the supply chain become visible only after an extended period of time, and become confounded by other factors. Suppliers are unable to separate the effects of poor quality from other factors, such as the relative improvement in produce selection, the entry of new varieties, etc.; with the exception of very short supply chains (see Chapter 11). The systems approach is capable of reducing the incidence of quality loss discovery at a link upstream from where the quality loss was induced by poor handling. However, its implementation requires a shared goal across all supply links to supply the highest eating quality fresh produce. While the systems approach prescribes what ought to be done, it lacks ability to enforce the procedure. The systems approach provides a framework which is sufficiently flexible to depict the interaction among various stages in the supply chain (see also Chapter 6), infer the cause–effect relationships, and visualize innovation. It is static, but can become dynamic by sequential portrayal of the interactions. The enforcement of the interactions depicted by a systems approach is left to the market. The interaction of supply and demand determines the preferred produce quality by signaling the price paid for each bundle of quality attributes. Should the market fail to perform its function, consumers may shift their preferences to alternatives. But if the conditions are right a regulator, such as a government inspection service, may step in to enforce quality standards (see also Chapter 9). The systems approach is replaced by regulations which shift the attention
II. The need for speed 585
away from understanding the interaction of links in the supply chain to the supervised application of standards.
II. The need for speed Fresh produce, a living organism, is susceptible to deterioration (see also Chapters 2, 13 and 16). Deterioration occurs over time at a variable rate, e.g. leafy vegetables deteriorate faster than citrus fruit. The increased variety of fresh produce available to consumers is the result of incremental advances in transportation, cooling, packaging, storing, disease prevention and product development (see also Chapter 10), among others. The advances occurred in response to demand for solutions articulated by the industry, motivated by potential profits (see also Chapters 6, 16 and 21). Traceability awakening
It is often the case that events external to the system (i.e. the fresh produce supply system) induce an internal change. The change in itself is too cumbersome, perceived as too disruptive and simply inconvenient to be initiated from within. The idea of traceability of a fresh produce shipment was forced on the industry by the consequences of the distribution, sales and consumption of produce contaminated with food-borne pathogens (see also Chapter 12). The immediate costs of these incidents resulted from the recall of suspected contaminated batches of produce. In some cases, the persons who became sick or their families sued the suppliers or distributors for damages, while the media reports led to a risk-averse reaction on the part of many consumers, who chose not to buy the type of produce linked to the outbreak. The shift in demand hurt sales of the affected produce for weeks or months at a time. The most vivid example of such outbreak was the distribution of fresh baby spinach contaminated with E. coli (CDCP, 2006). Recurring fresh produce contamination increases the perception of risk associated with the intentional contamination of produce. Detection of intentional or unintentional produce contamination requires an immediate action on the part of the industry. The traditional fresh produce supply chain involves multiple handling points and numerous ownership transfers spread over time and space (see also Chapter 7). Pallets of fresh produce are often broken and reassembled in response to distributor needs. Such practices may conceal identification of the origin of produce, and prevent timely removal of the remaining portion of the shipment from the supply chain. Traceability can now become an enforcement mechanism facilitating the application of a true systems approach. To trace every box down the supply chain and tie the quality defects to a specific handling practice and location requires that there be a common language (see Chapter 1). The common language reflects the shared values and the desire for the creation of value in the marketplace. In this context, the trust and reputation that enable marketing of fresh produce become of formidable importance (see Chapter 1). The systems approach is sustainable because of the reciprocity depicted in the virtuous cycle and the traceability serves as a verification mechanism.
586 Challenges in Postharvest Handling
III. The systems approach forces interdisciplinary approach Interdisciplinary efforts in production, harvest and protection of quality produce occur in response to the need to ensure the revenue flow to all participating supply chain links. Various links in the fresh produce supply system perform different functions, leading naturally to a fragmentation of the supply chain. Increasingly, researchers turn their attention to production conditions (see Chapter 20) and genetic makeup (see Chapters 16 and 21) to prevent or reduce quality deterioration (see also Chapter 13) or enhance desired attributes in fresh produce. Moreover, industry or international standards (see Chapter 9) establish new criteria for quality accounting for measures of taste or texture (see also Chapter 4). A new set of standards involves production techniques, such as organics, creating a major dichotomy in the type of fresh produce handled within the same supply chain. The fragmented supply chain offers opportunities for multiple transactions. The rapid sequence of ownership transfer is possible through the use of industry-accepted grading schemes. Progress in the supply of quality fresh produce will be determined by interdisciplinary efforts. Sometimes, it will result from discoveries in one discipline, but wide application and commercialization will be necessary when other disciplines participate in the process. The source of scientific disciplinary discoveries are, generally, research universities. Applications are driven by the industry, which measures research results in monetary terms. The interdisciplinary nature of progress and the disciplinary nature of the discovery process must interact to ensure efficiency of knowledge transfer and applications. Interdisciplinary teams are easily formed in the industry because of their task orientation, and often the sequential requirement of skills and expertise from various fields to commercialize a product. In academia, the recognition of interdisciplinary cooperation needs to be aware of the disciplinary character of the promotion and reward system. Disciplinary boundaries, stiffened by budgetary allocations, encourage treating other scientists as competitors and support the narrow approach to valuation of progress in discovery. Some universities apply rather simple techniques to overcome the single disciplinary orientation (Tadmor and Tidor, 2005; Coppola et al., 2007). The efforts seem to focus on communication enhancement, exchange of ideas, learning from what others have done and the results of their research. An interdisciplinary approach tends to be more risky than a narrow disciplinary view for the individual researcher, but more rewarding to the system in terms of real-world solutions.
IV. The future: science versus emotions The fresh produce sector has been a target of consumer activism. The new forms of consumer activism include the concepts of “fair trade,” “food miles” (see also
IV. The future: science versus emotions 587
Chapter 7) or pitch organic produce against that produced using conventional production techniques, among others. The arguments for issues promoted by various so-called consumer advocacy groups appear quite persuasive, and are driven by their emotional appeal. The ideas are popularized before any rigorous scientific verification has been applied, and often are used for the purpose of shifting demand to an emerging niche market. The scientific assessment of such concepts is often inconclusive or actually contradicts the notion being promoted. For example, in the case of “fair trade” labeling, a large number of suppliers using this label are from Mexico, a relatively well-off country, and very few are from a country like Ethiopia, which could benefit to a relatively large extent (Eyre, 2008). Consumer activism, more emotional than rational, becomes a sociological phenomenon in societies that lead in scientific discovery. This dichotomy is explained by some as a form of protest against the feelings of alienation and lack of influence on the societal developments (Jacoby, 2008). Retailers, some of whom adopt the attitudes promoted by consumer groups, induce a change in the supply chain. They differentiate supply sources and create new subsystems within the produce industry. The economic efficiency of subsystems may be suboptimal, because a new niche market generates relatively less information, so dissemination and access to such information becomes costly or limited, and the price discovery mechanism is prone to under-perform in a market where the number of transactions is small. The sustainability of niche markets driven by consumer activism will depend on consumer attitudes, conditioned by their willingness to pay for fresh produce with a particular credence attribute. The future of the produce market will be determined by the ability to supply fresh produce with clearly identifiable attributes to a specific consumer segment. Segments may form on the basis of individually acquired taste preference (see Chapter 4) rather than the sociodemographic profile. Individual differences also arise from increasing evidence of genetic predisposition to develop certain types of diseases or chronic conditions, which may require optimized diets including fresh fruits and vegetables containing functional and bioactive substances (see also Chapter 5), to prevent disease. Besides the medical function of fresh produce, knowledge about its properties is important and can be part of the semiotic function of food. The selection of health-benefiting fruits and vegetables, eaten during or off the growing season, signals aspects related to consumer self-portrayal or self-realization. Companies increasingly communicate social, ethical and environmental responsibility; see for example www.fabrikderzukunft.at or www.trigos.at. Consumer behavior may be highly changeable in the foreseeable future, and it will affect the fresh fruit and vegetable market. The rational decision-making process constrained by available income will be challenged by perceived easily verifiable fresh produce, as well as credence attributes. To deliver traditional and new products under these highly volatile conditions is a real challenge to postharvest handling and the whole supply chain. The concept of systems approach may be used with increased frequency, because the effective supply response in a timely fashion will favor cooperation rather than competition. Otherwise the supply chain will fail to create and deliver value to its customers. These developments, and the possible shift
588 Challenges in Postharvest Handling
of demand favoring increased fruit and vegetable consumption, will induce structural changes ultimately benefiting consumers.
Bibliography Byrne, D.H. (2005). Trends in stone fruit cultivar development. HortTechnology, 15(3), 494–500. CDCP (2006). Multiple states investigating a large outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 infections. Available online at www2a.cdc.gov/HAN/ArchiveSys/ViewMsgV.asp?Alert Num00249 Accessed 23 April 2007. Coppola, B.P., Banaszak Holl, M.M., Karbstein, K. (2007). Closing the gap between interdisciplinary research and disciplinary teaching. ACS Chemical Biology, 2(8), 518–520. Eyre, C. (2008). Fairtrade branded unfair by UK think tank. Available online at www.foodnavigator.com/news/printNewsBis.asp? Accessed 9 March 2008. Fletcher, A. (2007). Ethical food under threat from consumer confusion. Available online at www.foodnavigator.com/news/printNewsBis.asp? Accessed 9 March 2008. Jacoby, S. (2008). The age of American unreason. Pantheon Books, New York, NY, USA. Prance, L. (2007). Retailers on board the ethical foods drive. Available online at www.foodnavigator.com/news/printNewsBis.asp? Accessed 9 March 2008. Prussia, S.E., Shewfelt, R.L. (1993). Systems Approach to Postharvest Handling. In: Postharvest Handling, A Systems Approach, R.L. Shewfelt, S.E. Prussia (eds). Academic Press, Inc., San Diego, CA, USA. Tadmor, B., Tidor, B. (2005). Interdisciplinary research and education at the biology– engineering–computer science interface: A perspective. Drug Discovery Today, 10(17), 1183–1189.
Challenges in Postharvest Handling Wojciech J. Florkowski Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Georgia, Griffin Campus, Griffin, GA 30223, USA
Robert L. Shewfelt Food Science and Technology, 118F Food Science, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
Bernhard Brueckner Institute for Vegetable and Ornamental Crops (IGZ) Theodor-Echtermeyer-Weg 1, 14979 Grossbeeren, Germany
I. Postharvest handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . II. The need for speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . III. The systems approach forces interdisciplinary approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IV. The future: science versus emotions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
583 585 586 586 588
I. Postharvest handling Consumers, producers, and marketers are key players in the fresh produce supply chain. Banks (Chapter 1) noted that expectations of each group focused on creation and appreciation of value. The systems approach was singled out because it links causes and effects: fresh produce handling and its quality. Consumers prefer quality, although as noted in several chapters (see Chapters 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 11 and 18), the notion of quality is fluid and interpreted in many different ways. Therefore, efforts in postharvest handling are focused on value creation, including the protection, maintenance or enhancement of attributes, for which buyers are willing to pay (see Chapters 6, 10, 14, 19 and 20). Suppliers interpret consumer wants and innovate to meet consumer expectations. Innovation provides only a temporary competitive edge and it becomes a conventional practice once its use spreads. Growers and marketers reach for other means to gain competitive advantage, and adopt technology that is licensed or patented. Banks (Chapter 1) illustrated the “managed scarcity” with examples of patented pineapple or kiwifruit varieties. Licensing has also become a popular way to limit the supply of apples, e.g. Pink LadyTM, while in the near future, more patented or licensed varieties of fruits and vegetables will be commercialized. Managed scarcity prevents price collapse, as noted by Banks. It also supports another consumer trend, namely the demand for a wider assortment of produce (see also Chapter 5). Earlier studies have shown that consumers who like produce will substitute another Postharvest Handling: A Systems Approach ISBN: 978-0-12-374112-7
Copyright © 2009, Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved
584 Challenges in Postharvest Handling
kind of produce for the one they wanted to buy, but that was unavailable, or did not match quality expectations or price. The systems approach proposed in the original version of this book (Prussia and Shewfelt, 1993) advocates the awareness of the existence of other links in the supply chain. According to the systems approach concept, participants implicitly recognize the time sequence of the physical product movement and ownership transfer, and the associated transfer of risk of quality defects. The nature of quality defects, many of which affect the appearance and the internal quality of the produce, often require a passage of time before it can be visually detected during inspection (see also Chapters 8, 14, and 15). The time separation of cause and effect of quality defect opens the opportunity for underperformance at some links in the chain, because of the double pay-off; it may save costs in implementing specific postharvest services, while fetching potentially higher price by beating competitors in a given point in time. Any quality loss occurs later in the supply chain, and turns into a monetary loss for the firm which owns the produce at that particular stage. To recover the loss requires expense and allocation of time and management resources to trace the cause of quality deterioration, and the establishment of the timing of events that led to quality loss. A company may choose never to pursue this option, but would rather change suppliers. The timing of quality deterioration has no immediate consequences if it remains undetected until the actual act of eating. A consumer will seldom exercise the right to demand that the produce be exchanged or the money returned. Rather, if the produce is often of poor quality, the low quality will induce a change in consumer preferences. For example, a decline in stone fruit consumption, especially peaches, is attributed to inconsistent quality (Byrne, 2005). Therefore, the economic consequences of narrow and short-term focus of the various links in the supply chain become visible only after an extended period of time, and become confounded by other factors. Suppliers are unable to separate the effects of poor quality from other factors, such as the relative improvement in produce selection, the entry of new varieties, etc.; with the exception of very short supply chains (see Chapter 11). The systems approach is capable of reducing the incidence of quality loss discovery at a link upstream from where the quality loss was induced by poor handling. However, its implementation requires a shared goal across all supply links to supply the highest eating quality fresh produce. While the systems approach prescribes what ought to be done, it lacks ability to enforce the procedure. The systems approach provides a framework which is sufficiently flexible to depict the interaction among various stages in the supply chain (see also Chapter 6), infer the cause–effect relationships, and visualize innovation. It is static, but can become dynamic by sequential portrayal of the interactions. The enforcement of the interactions depicted by a systems approach is left to the market. The interaction of supply and demand determines the preferred produce quality by signaling the price paid for each bundle of quality attributes. Should the market fail to perform its function, consumers may shift their preferences to alternatives. But if the conditions are right a regulator, such as a government inspection service, may step in to enforce quality standards (see also Chapter 9). The systems approach is replaced by regulations which shift the attention
II. The need for speed 585
away from understanding the interaction of links in the supply chain to the supervised application of standards.
II. The need for speed Fresh produce, a living organism, is susceptible to deterioration (see also Chapters 2, 13 and 16). Deterioration occurs over time at a variable rate, e.g. leafy vegetables deteriorate faster than citrus fruit. The increased variety of fresh produce available to consumers is the result of incremental advances in transportation, cooling, packaging, storing, disease prevention and product development (see also Chapter 10), among others. The advances occurred in response to demand for solutions articulated by the industry, motivated by potential profits (see also Chapters 6, 16 and 21). Traceability awakening
It is often the case that events external to the system (i.e. the fresh produce supply system) induce an internal change. The change in itself is too cumbersome, perceived as too disruptive and simply inconvenient to be initiated from within. The idea of traceability of a fresh produce shipment was forced on the industry by the consequences of the distribution, sales and consumption of produce contaminated with food-borne pathogens (see also Chapter 12). The immediate costs of these incidents resulted from the recall of suspected contaminated batches of produce. In some cases, the persons who became sick or their families sued the suppliers or distributors for damages, while the media reports led to a risk-averse reaction on the part of many consumers, who chose not to buy the type of produce linked to the outbreak. The shift in demand hurt sales of the affected produce for weeks or months at a time. The most vivid example of such outbreak was the distribution of fresh baby spinach contaminated with E. coli (CDCP, 2006). Recurring fresh produce contamination increases the perception of risk associated with the intentional contamination of produce. Detection of intentional or unintentional produce contamination requires an immediate action on the part of the industry. The traditional fresh produce supply chain involves multiple handling points and numerous ownership transfers spread over time and space (see also Chapter 7). Pallets of fresh produce are often broken and reassembled in response to distributor needs. Such practices may conceal identification of the origin of produce, and prevent timely removal of the remaining portion of the shipment from the supply chain. Traceability can now become an enforcement mechanism facilitating the application of a true systems approach. To trace every box down the supply chain and tie the quality defects to a specific handling practice and location requires that there be a common language (see Chapter 1). The common language reflects the shared values and the desire for the creation of value in the marketplace. In this context, the trust and reputation that enable marketing of fresh produce become of formidable importance (see Chapter 1). The systems approach is sustainable because of the reciprocity depicted in the virtuous cycle and the traceability serves as a verification mechanism.
586 Challenges in Postharvest Handling
III. The systems approach forces interdisciplinary approach Interdisciplinary efforts in production, harvest and protection of quality produce occur in response to the need to ensure the revenue flow to all participating supply chain links. Various links in the fresh produce supply system perform different functions, leading naturally to a fragmentation of the supply chain. Increasingly, researchers turn their attention to production conditions (see Chapter 20) and genetic makeup (see Chapters 16 and 21) to prevent or reduce quality deterioration (see also Chapter 13) or enhance desired attributes in fresh produce. Moreover, industry or international standards (see Chapter 9) establish new criteria for quality accounting for measures of taste or texture (see also Chapter 4). A new set of standards involves production techniques, such as organics, creating a major dichotomy in the type of fresh produce handled within the same supply chain. The fragmented supply chain offers opportunities for multiple transactions. The rapid sequence of ownership transfer is possible through the use of industry-accepted grading schemes. Progress in the supply of quality fresh produce will be determined by interdisciplinary efforts. Sometimes, it will result from discoveries in one discipline, but wide application and commercialization will be necessary when other disciplines participate in the process. The source of scientific disciplinary discoveries are, generally, research universities. Applications are driven by the industry, which measures research results in monetary terms. The interdisciplinary nature of progress and the disciplinary nature of the discovery process must interact to ensure efficiency of knowledge transfer and applications. Interdisciplinary teams are easily formed in the industry because of their task orientation, and often the sequential requirement of skills and expertise from various fields to commercialize a product. In academia, the recognition of interdisciplinary cooperation needs to be aware of the disciplinary character of the promotion and reward system. Disciplinary boundaries, stiffened by budgetary allocations, encourage treating other scientists as competitors and support the narrow approach to valuation of progress in discovery. Some universities apply rather simple techniques to overcome the single disciplinary orientation (Tadmor and Tidor, 2005; Coppola et al., 2007). The efforts seem to focus on communication enhancement, exchange of ideas, learning from what others have done and the results of their research. An interdisciplinary approach tends to be more risky than a narrow disciplinary view for the individual researcher, but more rewarding to the system in terms of real-world solutions.
IV. The future: science versus emotions The fresh produce sector has been a target of consumer activism. The new forms of consumer activism include the concepts of “fair trade,” “food miles” (see also
IV. The future: science versus emotions 587
Chapter 7) or pitch organic produce against that produced using conventional production techniques, among others. The arguments for issues promoted by various so-called consumer advocacy groups appear quite persuasive, and are driven by their emotional appeal. The ideas are popularized before any rigorous scientific verification has been applied, and often are used for the purpose of shifting demand to an emerging niche market. The scientific assessment of such concepts is often inconclusive or actually contradicts the notion being promoted. For example, in the case of “fair trade” labeling, a large number of suppliers using this label are from Mexico, a relatively well-off country, and very few are from a country like Ethiopia, which could benefit to a relatively large extent (Eyre, 2008). Consumer activism, more emotional than rational, becomes a sociological phenomenon in societies that lead in scientific discovery. This dichotomy is explained by some as a form of protest against the feelings of alienation and lack of influence on the societal developments (Jacoby, 2008). Retailers, some of whom adopt the attitudes promoted by consumer groups, induce a change in the supply chain. They differentiate supply sources and create new subsystems within the produce industry. The economic efficiency of subsystems may be suboptimal, because a new niche market generates relatively less information, so dissemination and access to such information becomes costly or limited, and the price discovery mechanism is prone to under-perform in a market where the number of transactions is small. The sustainability of niche markets driven by consumer activism will depend on consumer attitudes, conditioned by their willingness to pay for fresh produce with a particular credence attribute. The future of the produce market will be determined by the ability to supply fresh produce with clearly identifiable attributes to a specific consumer segment. Segments may form on the basis of individually acquired taste preference (see Chapter 4) rather than the sociodemographic profile. Individual differences also arise from increasing evidence of genetic predisposition to develop certain types of diseases or chronic conditions, which may require optimized diets including fresh fruits and vegetables containing functional and bioactive substances (see also Chapter 5), to prevent disease. Besides the medical function of fresh produce, knowledge about its properties is important and can be part of the semiotic function of food. The selection of health-benefiting fruits and vegetables, eaten during or off the growing season, signals aspects related to consumer self-portrayal or self-realization. Companies increasingly communicate social, ethical and environmental responsibility; see for example www.fabrikderzukunft.at or www.trigos.at. Consumer behavior may be highly changeable in the foreseeable future, and it will affect the fresh fruit and vegetable market. The rational decision-making process constrained by available income will be challenged by perceived easily verifiable fresh produce, as well as credence attributes. To deliver traditional and new products under these highly volatile conditions is a real challenge to postharvest handling and the whole supply chain. The concept of systems approach may be used with increased frequency, because the effective supply response in a timely fashion will favor cooperation rather than competition. Otherwise the supply chain will fail to create and deliver value to its customers. These developments, and the possible shift
588 Challenges in Postharvest Handling
of demand favoring increased fruit and vegetable consumption, will induce structural changes ultimately benefiting consumers.
Bibliography Byrne, D.H. (2005). Trends in stone fruit cultivar development. HortTechnology, 15(3), 494–500. CDCP (2006). Multiple states investigating a large outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 infections. Available online at www2a.cdc.gov/HAN/ArchiveSys/ViewMsgV.asp?Alert Num00249 Accessed 23 April 2007. Coppola, B.P., Banaszak Holl, M.M., Karbstein, K. (2007). Closing the gap between interdisciplinary research and disciplinary teaching. ACS Chemical Biology, 2(8), 518–520. Eyre, C. (2008). Fairtrade branded unfair by UK think tank. Available online at www.foodnavigator.com/news/printNewsBis.asp? Accessed 9 March 2008. Fletcher, A. (2007). Ethical food under threat from consumer confusion. Available online at www.foodnavigator.com/news/printNewsBis.asp? Accessed 9 March 2008. Jacoby, S. (2008). The age of American unreason. Pantheon Books, New York, NY, USA. Prance, L. (2007). Retailers on board the ethical foods drive. Available online at www.foodnavigator.com/news/printNewsBis.asp? Accessed 9 March 2008. Prussia, S.E., Shewfelt, R.L. (1993). Systems Approach to Postharvest Handling. In: Postharvest Handling, A Systems Approach, R.L. Shewfelt, S.E. Prussia (eds). Academic Press, Inc., San Diego, CA, USA. Tadmor, B., Tidor, B. (2005). Interdisciplinary research and education at the biology– engineering–computer science interface: A perspective. Drug Discovery Today, 10(17), 1183–1189.