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The potential of partnerships between restaurants and food forests in The Netherlands

How do we increase biodiversity in the Netherlands? By working together! What can food forests and restaurants mean for each other? This report focuses on the question: “What is the potential of collaborations between food forests and restaurants in the Netherlands?”Interviews revealed that successful partnerships are based on direct supplier relationships, internal motivation and niche products that create a unique selling point.

Sustainability, higher margin opportunities & economic crisis: lessons from the global study of premium products

Role of corporate leadership and innovation claims on consumer perception of premium products

Premium by design: how to understand, design and market high end products

Why do consumers buy socially responsible products

This paper describes a study into consumers' reasons for buying socially responsible (SR) products, such as Fair Trade products and organic meat. As opposed to other studies, we use a qualitative approach based on 25 in-depth interviews and include several different products in the research. This leads to several new results, such as: (1) buying SR products is perceived as an imperfect moral duty; (2) low quality of SR products is a dissatisfier, but high quality not a satisfier; (3) the attitude towards SR products is related to the reputation of charitable funds; (4) the demand for SR products is negatively related to the frequency of purchasing SR products; (5) reflection on SR products raises the demand for SR products; (6) consumers that have witnessed the social problems that SR products aim to alleviate purchase more SR products. Finally, we find that the demand for different SR products is correlated: if a consumer buys one SR product, it is more likely that (s)he purchases other SR products as well.

Decoding consumer perceptions of premium products with rule-developing experimentation

Purpose: This paper aims to summarize the results of an empirical project to understand the perceptions of consumers of the future high end products in the USA. This project was a precursor of a larger global project on the topic. Design/methodology/approach: The approach utilizes the consumer insights-driven process, rule-developing experimentation (RDE), introduced by the senior authors and developed in cooperation with Wharton School of Business (University of Pennsylvania). The empirical part was conducted with qualified US consumers (middle- and upper-middle class respondents). Based on a series of in-depth qualitative interviews with global leaders of luxury and premium companies, star designers and thought leaders, five dimensions of high end offering were identified, with each dimension having a unique set of four factors (elements). The second part included a quantitative survey based on RDE (modified conjoint analysis) conducted in the USA with 373 qualified middle- and upper-middle class respondents to discover the driving forces behind their perceptions of high end. Findings: There are four distinct consumer mindsets towards future high end products. The segmentation is based on a disciplined experimentation afforded by RDE and produces a more targeted understanding of the consumer mind. Practical implications: The paper provides insights of what might drive the consumer perception of high end products in the near future. The pattern-based consumer mind-set segmentation creates actionable directions for corporations in answering today's big question "How can brands migrate from being cost-driven commodities to higher margins and profits?" The answer is in the high end. Originality/value: The approach offered here could help designers and brand managers to efficiently create better products that consumers like and perceive as high end. This will result in higher margins and help marketers to differentiate their respective products from the competition.