TY - JOUR A1 - Borghoff, Lisa Marie A1 - Strassner, Carola A1 - Herzig, Christian T1 - Organic Juice Processing Quality from the Processors’ Perspective: A Qualitative Study JF - foods N2 - Organic food quality is based on processing. While the EU organic production regulation focuses on agricultural production, private standards provide more detailed information about further processing. For the development of organic processing, practitioner perspectives can provide valuable input. To get insight into practitioner perspectives, we conducted semi-structured expert interviews with nine employees of seven partly organic juice processing companies from Germany and Austria. Interview topics were (i) quality of organic juice processing in general, (ii) assessment of specific processing techniques, (iii) product quality of organic juice and (iv) flow of information between producer and consumer. We conducted a thematic analysis. We found that the experts’ understanding of process quality mostly includes more aspects than the EU organic production regulation. It covers the whole food chain plus aspects of social and environmental sustainability. The experts prefer directly bottled juice of local raw materials but chiefly accept juice made from concentrate of exotic raw materials because of environmental concerns. Organic juice is preferred when it is cloudy and natural fluctuations are interpreted as an indicator of natural quality. The experts report that consumer information is challenging because of low food literacy. Raising this might help reduce the number of processed juices on the market. KW - organic food processing KW - organic food quality KW - juice processing KW - expert interviews KW - Germany Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:hbz:836-opus-156994 SP - 1 EP - 18 PB - MDPI ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Borghoff, Lisa Marie A1 - Strassner, Carola A1 - Herzig, Christian T1 - Processors' understanding of process quality: a qualitative interview study with employees of organic dairies in Germany and Switzerland JF - British Food Journal N2 - Purpose: Organic food processing must include organic principles to be authentic. This qualitative study aims to understand the processors' understanding of organic food processing quality. Design/methodology/approach: This study is based on semi-structured expert interviews with eight employees of six purely or partly organic dairies from Germany and Switzerland. Interview themes are (1) quality of organic milk processing in general, (2) assessment of specific processing techniques, (3) product quality of organic milk and (4) flow of information between producer and consumer. The interviews have been audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed. Findings: (1) Experts prefer minimal processing; some prefer artisanal processing, whilst others stress the advantages of mechanisation. (2) High temperature short time (HTST) pasteurisation and mechanical processing techniques are accepted; ultra-high-temperature (UHT) milk processing is partly rejected. (3) Traditional taste and valuable ingredients should be present in the final product. Natural variances are judged positively. (4) Consumers' low level of food technology literacy is challenging for communication. Research limitations/implications: The results cannot be generalised due to the qualitative study design. Further studies, e.g. qualitative case analyses and studies with a quantitative design, are necessary to deepen the results. Practical implications: The paper shows which processing technologies experts consider suitable or unsuitable for organic milk. The paper also identifies opportunities to bridge the perceived gap between processors' and consumers' demands. Originality/value: The study shows the challenges of processors in expressing the processors' understanding of process quality. KW - organic milk processing KW - quality perception KW - expert interviews KW - qualitative text analysis Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:hbz:836-opus-157019 SN - 0007-070X SP - 1 EP - 32 PB - Emerald Publishing ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Elsner, Friederike A1 - Herzig, Christian A1 - Strassner, Carola T1 - Agri-food systems in sustainability transition: a systematic literature review on recent developments on the use of the multi-level perspective JF - Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems N2 - A sustainability transition (ST) of the agri-food system (AFS) is necessary due to manifold environmental and social exigencies. Scholars widely refer to the multi-level perspective (MLP) in the analysis of those transitions. The fast pace of articles covering AFS transitions, the evolving research on spaces between the three levels, and the consisting unclear conceptualization of MLP levels call for a systematic update on literature utilizing MLP in AFS articles covering ST. As a basis for reporting, this systematic literature review uses the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). The search was conducted on the database Scopus encompassing the period from 2018 to 2022. After the selection procedure, 58 articles were included in the review. We extracted data based on a combination of a concept-driven and data-driven coding scheme. Qualitative research approaches outweigh and interrelated activities within the AFS are being analyzed, predominantly in the agricultural sectors. The focus lays on ongoing transitions. The concept of sustainability and its direction is considered as given (e.g., through the case lens), without further elaborations. The niche constitutes the most prominent object of study and scholars refer to rather socially innovative activities than technological innovations, providing distinct views on radicality and strategies to breakthrough. A space between niche and regime is being presented, with slightly distinct conceptualisations. Actors from both levels collaborate and exert transformative power. The regime is presented as static but also more vividly evolving views on the regime are demonstrated. The landscape receives the least attention and the focus lays on immaterial characteristics. Combinations of MLP with other frameworks have proven useful, for instance, regarding elaborations on the agency on the landscape level. Generally, an unclear conceptualization of regime and landscape persists, lacking a theoretical elaboration. Further research applying MLP should aim for a deeper examination of its theoretical construct, especially in terms of regime and landscape. More quantitative or mixed-methods research could supplement the current dominating qualitative approaches by testing and validating qualitatively constructed theories and phenomena. Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2023.1207476 IS - 7 SP - 1 EP - 21 ER -