An analysis of food and beverage advertising on bus shelters in a deprived area of Northern England

Objective: To quantify the extent of food and beverage advertising on bus shelters in a deprived area of the UK, to identify the healthfulness of advertised products, and any differences by level of deprivation. The study also sought to assess the creative strategies used and extent of appeal to young people. Design: Images of bus shelter advertisements were collected via in person photography (in 2019) and Google Street View (photos recorded in 2018). Food and beverage advertisements were grouped into one of seventeen food categories and classified as healthy/less healthy using the UK Nutrient Profile Model. The deprivation level of the advertisement location was identified using the UK Index of Multiple Deprivation. Setting: Middlesbrough and Redcar and Cleveland in South Teesside. Participants: N/A Results: 832 advertisements were identified, almost half (48.9%) of which were for foods or beverages. Of food and non-alcoholic beverage adverts, 35.1% were less healthy. Most food advertisements (98.9%) used at least one of the persuasive creative strategies. Food advertisements were found to be of appeal to children under 18 years (71.9%). No differences in healthiness of advertised foods were found by level of deprivation. Conclusions: Food advertising is extensive on bus shelters in parts of the UK, and a substantial proportion of this advertising is classified as less healthy and would not be permitted to be advertised around television programming for children. Bus shelter advertising should be considered part of the UK policy deliberations around restricting less healthy food marketing exposure.

Anti-Browning and Oxidative Enzyme Activity of Rice Bran Extract Treatment on Freshly Cut ‘Fuji’ Apple

Preserving the quality of freshly cut fruits is essential for food marketing. This study aimed to evaluate the anti-browning effect of rice bran extract (RE) added to a vitamin C mixture (VCM), which is widely used as an anti-browning agent. Freshly cut apples were prepared using the following processes: raw material selection, washing, cutting, soaking, and packaging. A comparison of cut apples soaked with 3% VCM combined with 1% RE (VR) and cut apples treated with 4% VCM showed that the L* and BI values had similar levels. After 12 days of storage, the amount of yeast and mold in cut apples after 4% VCM and VR treatment was 6.15 × 104 ± 0.48 CFU/mL and 4.25 × 103 ± 0.15 CFU/mL, respectively, and the degree of bacterial growth was reduced by VR treatment. On day 12 of storage, the activities of polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and peroxidase (POD) were similar in the 4% VCM and VR groups. The polyphenol content was significantly higher in the VR group (121.0 ± 2.2) than in the 4% VCM group (76.9 ± 2.2). These results indicate that VR treatment for freshly cut apples is a potential alternative to 4% VCM treatment, with an effective anti-browning capacity and improved polyphenol content.

Food Marketing to Children in Iran: Regulation that Needs Further Regulation

Increased exposure to advertising of unhealthy food products is one of the main risk factors for the increased prevalence of childhood obesity and non-communicable diseases. This scoping review aimed to investigate the characteristics and effects of food advertisements targeted at children in Iran and review the existing regulations on food marketing targeted at children in the country. In this study, we searched Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, Google, and Google scholar, in addition to Iranian scientific search engines, including Iranian Research Institute for Information Science and Technology (Iran.doc), Scientific Information Database (SID), Iranmedex, Magiran, and Civilica up to December 2020 to find any literature about food marketing to children in Iran and current related regulations and policies in the country. A total of 23 eligible studies were selected for this review. Most of the studies had focused on television as the media to assess. The main food products advertised with reference to children included: Salty snacks, including cheese puffs, chips, cheese fish snacks, puffed corn, and sweet snacks such as ice creams, cakes/biscuits/cookies and candies, beverages/drinks/soft drinks/fruit juices, dried fruits and fruit rolls, and chocolates. Strategies that most commonly used in marketing foods to children in Iran were emotional appeals, misleading messages/claims, use of music and known characters to children, as well as conveying happiness and/or security. The main reported violation of food regulations included using obese children, either as consumers or presenters of the product. In Iran the advertising of unhealthy food products for the general population is banned; however, it is weakly implemented. There are a limited number of regulations that have addressed children explicitly in this regard. The main barriers identified in partial implementation of regulations included weakness in scientific criteria, legal enforcement guarantee, poor intersectoral collaboration, inadequate infrastructures, and poor monitoring. Policies and regulations in food marketing need to clearly address children as an important audience. It is suggested future policies focused on children cover all forms of food marketing and consider all types of persuasive food marketing strategies targeted at children.

Consumers’ attitudes, motives and behaviour towards organic yoghurt in Croatia

The organic food market is constantly growing, while organic yoghurt belongs to the category of the best-selling organic products in the dairy products group. The aim of this study was to determine consumer behaviour in the purchase and consumption of organic yoghurt, attitudes concerning organic yoghurt, and motives for organic yoghurt purchase. An online survey was conducted among organic yoghurt buyers. More than a third of respondents buy and consume organic yoghurt two to three times a month. Respondents buy most often organic yoghurt made from cow’s milk, in plastic packaging, in supermarkets and specialty stores. The most important motives for buying organic yoghurt are health, nutritional value, and food safety. Respondents have positive attitudes about organic yoghurt. The results of this research are useful for organic food producers (especially organic yoghurt producers) in planning and improving production, and also for food marketing experts in designing and implementing promotional activities.

Made in Italy in the Japanese F&B Market and the Marketing of Freedom

Italy in Japan resounds with fashion, lifestyle and most of all food. From HoReCa to home cooking to gifts, Italian F&B products have taken Japanese consumers by storm in the past few decades, imposing Made in Italy as the most loved national brand. But the Japanese market is extremely mature, fast and notoriously one of the most sophisticated globally. Competition is fierce and relying on the quality of the product itself is not enough to secure commercial success in a country where form often prevails over content. That is when (good) food marketing becomes the crucial element in dictating the lifespan of a brand. To what degree are Italian producers aware of this? And what is the best approach to minimize failure?

Nutrition Policies in Germany: A Systematic Assessment with the Food Environment Policy Index (Food-EPI)

Objective: To systematically assess Germany’s nutrition policies, to benchmark them against international best practices, and to identify priority policy actions to improve population-level nutrition in Germany. Design: We applied the Food Environment Policy Index (Food-EPI), a methodological framework developed by the INFORMAS network. Qualitative content analysis of laws, directives and other documents formed the basis of a multi-staged, structured consultation process. Setting: Germany. Participants: The expert consultation process included 55 experts from academia, public administration, and civil society. Results: Germany lags behind international best practices in several key policy areas. For 18 policy indicators, the degree of implementation compared to international best practices was rated as very low, for 21 as low, for 8 as intermediate, and for none as high. In particular, indicators on food taxation, regulation of food marketing, and retail and food service sector policies were rated as very low to low. Identified priority actions included the binding implementation of nutrition standards for schools and kindergartens, a reform of the value added tax on foods and beverages, a sugar-sweetened beverage tax and stricter regulation of food marketing directed at children. Conclusions: The results show that Germany makes insufficient use of the potential of evidence-informed health-promoting nutrition policies. Adopting international best practices in key policy areas could help to reduce the burden of nutrition-related chronic disease and related inequalities in nutrition and health in Germany. Implementation of relevant policies requires political leadership, a broad societal dialogue, and evidence-informed advocacy by civil society, including the scientific community.

A Review of Antecedents and Effects of Loyalty on Food Retailers toward Sustainability

With the increase in consumer awareness of sustainability and diversified retailer brands, the conceptualizations and dimensions of brand loyalty are changing. Existing research studies have focused on traditional constructs and measurements to explain new phenomena in the food retail sector but ignored the environmental and social effects on consumers’ attitudinal and behavioral loyalty. This study entails an extensive and structured review of definitions, taxonomy, dimensions, and measurements of loyalty within a food marketing context. With an additional emphasis on the notion of sustainability, it provides a perspective theory synthesis that integrates all testified antecedents of all types of loyalty to emphasize a trend of sustainability beyond brand scope, whereby sustainability values create loyalty. A systematic literature review and qualitative analysis methods were used to identify the relevant literature. The studies that qualified for inclusion were those that reported (1) research methods, (2) dimensions of brand loyalty, (3) knowledge of sustainability factors, and (4) organic marketing. This paper summarizes and compares the key constructs and measurements of loyalty to retailers. The results show inconsistencies in relation to two important attitudinal dimensions, namely, brand satisfaction and brand value. Although loyalty towards product brands, loyalty toward service organizations, store loyalty, and retailer loyalty have been studied in recent decades by marketing academics, little attention has been paid to clarifying their role in food retailing, especially regarding whether the established dimensions are relevant in conceptualizing consumer loyalty in sustainability based on organic food marketing. The theoretical implications are discussed in association with the research gap between loyalty dimensions and sustainability values, as well as multidimensional measurements development. The practical implications of this review are important for food retailers and organic food marketers that can meet the satisfaction and retain consumers’ loyalty by providing organic and sustainable products and improving related service quality involving environmental consequences and social well-being.