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Abstract
Origin- claimed food products mainstream gives diverse features over
the world. The food labelling practices based on origin or provenance are
frequently developed as a reaction to global trading system: private and NGO's
initiatives (Fair Trade), enterprises in UK (Local Foods) and USA (Food Alliance),
medals for winners in local exhibitions awards, or public regulation in European
Union (PDO, PGI, Organic Farming). These practices claim at reaching
consumer expectations. For a consumer who is frequently being uprooted and is
stressed by his/her urban environment, the emotional content of where one's
food is produced is greater than ever. With a longing for one's home, the
consumer becomes an identity seeker. Origin, organic or fair trade food
products respond to this need of native tangs revival. Such food products help
consumer to identify his/her lost roots, to have recall of exotic holidays, to resist
against ethical values' decline and finally to accept globalisation of food trading
system.
Because of their historical and cultural content, these foods give a meaning to
taste. The demand for origin, organic and fair- trade food products is to be
found somewhere between lifestyle habits and changes. The future of these
products is supported, strangely enough, by the development of novel food
products such as fat - or sugar - free foods, restructured meat, alcohol- free
wine, and GMOs. The reference to tradition makes modernity tolerable. The
arrival of High Tech food products should also result in a demand for
compensatory products, and thereby favour those that can help to remove the
guilty feelings of ready- to- eat consumers. Therefore, origin- , organic- and
fair- trade- labelled foods seem to contribute to the modern food globalisation.
The paper focuses on the place of these products within European food
consumption. It examines in turn the rare estimation of market share of
labelled food products, and their consumers' perception and purchasing
behaviour in different sales channels, with a special focus on fair- trade and
organic farming. It concludes with consideration of the marketing dynamics,
which should be followed in order to favour consumption of origin- claimed
food products.