The consumer profile of certified beef in the XXI century

Abstract Text: The beef production chain has been reinvented as a consequence of changes in perceptions and importance of its various players. The emergence of the current model, which combines quality and food safety, was in the late twentieth century. It was due to the expansion of the international trade in meats and an awareness of the connection between health crises and animal derived products. These changes in the supply chain and the difficulty of the consumer to judge quality and food safety favored the emergence of the certification processes in the beef market. The aim of this study was to characterize the publications and evaluate the consumer profile of certified beef. A systematic search of descriptive and/or sensory research published between 2002 and 2012 was performed. Three hundred twenty seven indexed papers were found in the literature on the proposed subject. Only 34 papers were selected for (10.4%) in depth evaluation, based on its importance and meta-analysis methodology. Over these ten years there was a gradual increase in the number of publications. Concerning the spatial distribution of publications, the highest proportion was from the European continent (46.2%), followed by North (23.1%) and South America (15.4%). More than half of the analyzed articles (60.5%) studied traceability, and less representative was animal welfare and geographical origin (11.6%/each). There was a predominance of studies on accreditation type most sought or demanded by consumers (35.8%), followed by willingness of the consumer to pay a premium price (33.9%) and the relationship between socio-demographic characteristics and certification type (30.7%). The consumer demand for certified beef in the XXI century increased after the health crises and the quality differential became a relevant point in the buying decision. This process was influenced by social and demographic characteristics.

Keywords: Food certification, Meta -analysis, traceability