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The decoupling of support for crops under the reform of the CAP has led to concern within the UK as to whether its cereal sector can remain competitive when exposed to unprotected international commodity prices. This paper reports on a Global Benchmarking and Competitive Analysis of the UK Cereals Sector. The UK cereals sector was broken down into : Animal Feed Manufacture; Malting, Brewing and Distilling; Flour Milling and Baking; Industrial Applications - Starch, Bio-Fuels, Pharmaceutical. Four panels of UK experts were assembled. Each panel identified six main competitor countries to the UK for each supply chain and compiled a list of key factors affecting competitiveness. A total of 1500 questionnaires were distributed. Assurance, traceability, enforcement of regulation, and quality control procedures are regarded as strong in the UK. Supply chains have a good size structure providing a stable supply of raw material, well-located for usage outlets. However there appears to be a lack of co-operation, integration and trust within the supply chains. Specific training and education is required and there is a problem of recruiting and retaining skilled staff. There is a lack of benchmarking and sharing of good practice. There is concern that productivity improvement is threatened by the erosion of the UK research base. Overall a lack of confidence in the future of the sector is impeding entrepreneurship and innovative strategic investment.

This paper investigates the heterogeneity of food consumption patterns in Europe. The analysis relies on a wide set of indicators, namely the structure of calorie, protein and fat consumption as well as the consumption of main foodstuffs. Clusters based on estimated income elasticity of calorie and protein demand are also reported. Income elasticities of animal products tend to exceed those corresponding to the total calorie demand. The same pattern holds true for the elasticity of demand for proteins. Main dimensions of consumption are identified based on factor analysis and used subsequently for the purpose of clustering countries. The hard core clusters are those that remain stable regardless of the algorithm used in classification or the indicators as a proxy of food consumption patterns. A limited number of hard core clusters of countries emerged. The paper concludes with a discussion of clusters with homogeneous patterns of consumption., Nous étudions dans cet article l’hétérogénéité des schémas de consommation alimentaire en Europe. Est analysée, en particulier, la consommation des catégories alimentaires les plus importantes et leur contribution aux apports caloriques et nutritionnels. Des groupes sont constitués, basés sur les élasticités de la demande de calories et de protéines. Les élasticités-revenu des produits animaux sont supérieures à celles de la demande calorique totale. Nous observons le même résultat pour la demande de protéines. L’objectif est d’identifier les principales dimensions de la consommation alimentaire à l’aide d’une analyse factorielle, afin de constituer des groupes de pays homogènes. Nous dégageons des classes stables, quel que soit l’algorithme de classification utilisé ou quels que soient les indicateurs des schémas de consommation alimentaire. Nous obtenons un nombre limité de groupes stables. L’article se termine par une discussion sur l’homogénéité de ces groupes., Petrovici Dan A., Ritson Christopher, Ness Mitchell. Exploring disparities and similarities in European food consumption patterns. In: Cahiers d'Economie et sociologie rurales, N°75, 2e trimestre 2005. pp. 23-49.

This paper draws upon a consumer survey carried out in Bucharest (Romania) to explore determinants of food choice in a transition economy. An adapted version of the Theory of Reasoned Action was developed. This included attitude toward intention, habit and preference as independent variables. The structural equations modelling carried out in 'Analysis of MOment Structures' AMOS showed a significant positive influence of all variables. Similar to other studies conducted in European Union (EU) countries (Saba, Di Natale, 1998) habit outweighed the other variables. The study emphasises the heterogeneity of consumer beliefs about food. Furthermore it was suggested that there is scope for noneconomic variables in explaining food choices and consumer behaviour in these emerging economies, though the influence of these variables may be still limited relative the economic factors. Further research on special groups is required to quantify the influence of non-economic factors and compare the results estimated in Romania with other countries which are candidates to EU accession.