Unibo Team Leader: Prof. Maurizio Canavari, Dip. di Economia e Ingegneria Agrarie-DEIAGRA
Distributors and promoters of organic food claim superior tastes for their products compared to the conventional alternative. This argument however is still subject to a hard debate and thus deserves more scientific evidence. Since repurchases are dependent on the overall liking of a product, and sensory experiences may have an important impact, knowledge about these dimensions is crucial for producers and marketers of organic food to offer products which meet consumer expectations. The main purpose of this project therefore is to develop the first Organic Sensory Information System (OSIS), a multilingual and centrally based data folder for data deposition along with an interface scheme that serves as a basis for data exchange to the benefit of the organic food market (organic associations, producer, processors, retailer, wholesaler as well as consumers). To this aim, a multidisciplinary and international research approach is necessary which comprises sensory and consumer research linked with standards requirements in different European countries (CH, DE, IT, NL, PL, UK). The extendable data folder will contain descriptions of sensory properties of specific products from six product categories as well as information about underlying production methods which explain the sensory differences between organic and conventional as well as consumer and expectations. The comprehensive sensory evaluations will also result in a preference mapping of sensory quality. The impact of EU legislation and standards of organic farming associations, which define production methods and ingredients, will also be elaborated for OSIS. Qualitative and quantitative consumer research is carried out to develop segment-specific marketing strategies based on OSIS for all stakeholders involved. Comprehensive dissemination and training activities, including the preparation of training materials for all stakeholder groups involved a well as for sale staff, will ensure the broad information of the organic food market.
Coordinator
FORSCHUNGSINSTITUT FUR BIOLOGISCHENLANDBAU STIFTUNG (Switzerland)
Other participants
BUNDESVERBAND NATURKOST NATURWARENHERSTELLUNG UND HANDEL EV (Germany)
VERENIGING VAN HANDELS EN VERWERKINGSBEDRIJVEN IN BIOLOGISCHE PRODUCTEN (Netherlands)
ODDZIAL KUJAWSKO-POMORSKI STOWARZYSZENIA PRODUCENTOW ZYWNOSCI METODAMIEKOLOGICZNYMI EKOLAND (Poland)
BIO SUISSE (Switzerland)
SYNDICAT NATIONAL DES TRANSFORMATEURS ET DISTRIBUTEURS DE PRODUITS NATURELS ET DE CULTURE BIOLOGIQUE (France)
BIOAGRICOOP SCRL (Italy)
VEREIN ZUR FOERDERUNG DES TECHNOLOGIETRANSFERS AN DER HOCHSCHULE BREMERHAVEN E.V. (Germany)
ZURCHER HOCHSCHULE FUR ANGEWANDTE WISSENSCHAFTEN (Switzerland)
GEORG-AUGUST-UNIVERSITAET GOETTINGEN STIFTUNG OEFFENTLICHEN RECHTS (Germany)
SZKOLA GLOWNA GOSPODARSTWA WIEJSKIEGO (Poland)
INSTITUT DES SCIENCES ET INDUSTRIES DU VIVANT ET DE
L'ENVIRONNEMENT - AGRO PARIS TECH (France)
ALMA MATER STUDIORUM-UNIVERSITA DI BOLOGNA
- Dip. di Economia e Ingegneria Agrarie-DEIAGRA
- Resp. Scientifico : Prof. Maurizio Canavari
AGROTECHNOLOGY AND FOOD INNOVATIONS BV (Netherlands)
SUPERBIOMARKT (Germany)
SA UNION DES ELEVEURS BIO*SA UNEBIO (France)
ORGANIC OILS SPA (Italy)
Agrovision Burgrain AG (Switzerland)
FairConnect B.V. (Netherlands)
TAST P.P.H. JAN TABINSKI (Poland)
Start date 01/01/2009
End date 31/12/2011
Duration 36 months
Project cost 2.661.299 Euro
Project Funding 2.112.000 Euro
Contract type Research for the benefit of specific groups