Qualidiff - Quality-based differentiation of salmon

Qualidiff is a visionary research project with the anticipated impact to enhance the long-term competitiveness and resilience of the Norwegian salmon farming industry through quality-based differentiation strategies. The project's aim is to provide novel theoretical insights and practical guidelines regarding opportunities, benefits, requirements, and costs associated with various quality-based differentiation strategies throughout the whole salmon value chain. Key questions addressed in the project are: To what extent is Norwegian salmon differentiated in the market? Are demands for quality in the marketplace met? What is the scope for differentiation based on feed quality, fish welfare and the environmental impact of salmon farming? What is the role of ecolabels in consumer perceptions of quality? And what are the costs and requirements associated with various differentiation strategies throughout the value chain? The focus is on intrinsic quality attributes such as type and amount of fat, flesh color, form and appearance, feed, as well as extrinsic quality dimensions such as ecolabels, branding, services, and other quality related attributes. The competitive benefits of various differentiation strategies are assessed by investigating both strategic opportunities and their associated requirements and costs throughout the value chain. Some recent results: A study based on scanner data from a consumer panel in Denmark with a focus on salmon products found substantial variation in consumer preferences. But attributes related to convenience was found to be very important in consumer decision making. The results also showed that eco-labels had a significant effect on buying behavior but for most households it was more likely to choose products without eco-labels. But this was probably due to a lack of salmon products with eco-labels in Danish supermarkets. Another study based on retail scanner data examined whether products farmed trout, tilapia and pangasius labeled with the logo of the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) gained any price premiums compared to similar products without the logo. The results show a price premium of 9% ASC-labelled trout products and premiums of about 6% for tilapia and pangasius. The project comprises a group of researchers from Nofima, IRIS, University of Stirling, and University of Florida. To ensure relevance, Qualidiff has a reference group consisting of three industry participants, including a feed producer (Skretting), one exporting firm (Villa Seafood) and the Norwegian Seafood Council. Qualidiff will also benefit from a group of Nofima researchers with extensive technical expertise relating to salmon quality, feed, filleting, shelf life and packaging.

I tråd med at Qualidiff var et forskerprosjekt vurderes prosjektet å ha bidratt betydelig til flere forskningsfelt gjennom vitenskapelig publisering i fagjournaler som dekker ulike fagområder som forbrukeratferd, industriell kjøpsatferd, bedriftsstrategi, markedsforskning og markedsføring. Prosjektet har dermed styrket fagmiljøene ved Nofima, Universitetene i Stavanger/IRIS, Florida og Stirling som også har opparbeidet seg ytterligere erfaring og kunnskap knyttet til ulike sider ved differensiering av laks. Kunnskapen som er opparbeidet hos de ulike fagmiljøene forventes å være av stor nytte for sjømatnæringen. Dette særlig fordi prosjektets fokus på kvalitet og bærekraft er svært relevant for høyst tidsaktuelle forskningstema som sirkulærøkonomi og matsystemer. Møtene vi har hatt med en svært engasjert referansegruppe tyder også på at forskningen har vært oppfattet som nyttig og interessant i næringen.

Qualidiff is a visionary research project with the anticipated impact to enhance the long-term competitiveness and resilience of the Norwegian salmon farming industry through quality-based differentiation strategies. Some of the key questions to be addressed in the project are: To what extent is Norwegian salmon differentiated in the market? Are demands for quality in the marketplace met? What is the scope for differentiation based on feed quality, fish welfare and the environmental impact of salmon farming? What is the role of ecolabels in consumer perceptions of quality? And, what are the costs and requirements associated with various differentiation strategies throughout the value chains involved? The project will provide novel theoretical insights and practical guidelines regarding opportunities, benefits, requirements and costs associated with various quality-based differentiation strategies throughout the whole value chain for salmon. The focus will be on intrinsic quality attributes such as type and amount of fat, color of the flesh, form and appearance, as well as extrinsic quality dimensions such as ecolabels, branding, and other quality related communication. By focusing on both strategic opportunities and their associated requirements and costs throughout the whole value chain, the true competitive benefits of various differentiation strategies can be assessed. The consortium consists of experts within diverse fields such as marketing strategy, consumer behavior, industrial buying behavior, economics, and innovation. Qualidiff has a reference group consisting of four highly motivated industry participants, which includes one salmon feed producer (Skretting), one exporter firm (Villa Seafood), one medium sized fully integrated producer firm (Nordlaks) and the Norwegian Seafood Council. Qualidiff will also benefit from a group of Nofima researchers with extensive technical expertise relating to salmon quality, feed, filleting, shelf life and packaging.