Abstract

Marketing orientation is both the key objective of most food producers and their biggest challenge. Connecting food and agricultural production with the changing needs and aspirations of the customer provides the means to ensure competitive advantage, resilience and added value in what you produce. But market orientation is not something that you can just buy in or bolt on to what you do. Market orientation is a matter of changing the culture of your organisation; finding ways of learning more about your customers and understanding their needs; changing your development and reward systems to educate your employees; it may also involve significant changes to your production processes.

This comprehensive collection of original research explores the challenges and opportunities associated with market orientation along the food supply chain; from the animal feed industry to meat retailing and from organic foods to old world wines. All the chapters provide exceptional insight into understanding how market orientation can benefit food suppliers and how it is essential for long-term success.