The actors of the meal
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | Stockholms universitet - Företagsekonomiska institutionen |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 3 000 000 |
| Project duration | January 2008 - December 2011 |
| Status | Completed |
Purpose and goal
The actors of the mealAs regards food it is well documented that consumers´ view of what is important to them in their food choice is far from coherent with their actual choice, and also that the food intake is responsible for many of today´s serious illnesses. Despite increasing consumer awareness and a rich food supply, the food intake has turned into a serious societal problem. The lack of coherence between peoples manifested wants and needs and their actual choice is a serious problem also for the firms in their attempts to offer a food supply that promotes consumers´ health and well being. A central question for firms is how this missing coherence can be understood and dealt with, which this study will deal with.
Results and expected effects
Food industry as well as policymakers will benefit from this new knowledge in their adjustments to improve the supply of food and meals. Moreover the project will add theoretical knowledge on consumers´ choice within contradictory goals.
Approach and implementation
In dealing with the problem we perform a longitudinal case study in close cooperation with a large retail grocery chain and four of their suppliers. We study in depth consumers´ considerations when they choose their food provisioning. The results are continuously fed back to the firms where they are analyzed at our joint workshops in order to identify the reasons for the ´mismatch´. The results probably point to the need for organizational changes of the food chain in order to offer conditions for enlightened consumer choices. Utilizing this knowledge will hopefully advance the consumer food supply as well as the competitiveness of the firms and the societal growth.