Union wages and hours in the baking industry.

Some years issued in the congressional series.

An objective method to monitor and quantify texture of salted herring during ripening in barrels at 4°C

Changes in the texture (elastic nature) of the flesh of barrel salted herring during the ripening process at 4°C have been monitored. The method employs the analysis of stress-relaxation curves after compression to half of the sample thickness on an lnstron Model 1112. The parameter 'T/P' for each sample represents the reciprocal of the gradient of a line connecting P and T0.368p. This parameter characteristic of each sample's texture was calculated as the ratio of 'T/P' where, T is the relaxation time and is defined as the time required for a stress at constant strain to decrease to 1/e of its original value, where 'e' is the base of natural logarithms (2.7183). Since 1/e=0.368, the relaxation time is the time required for the force to decay to 36.8% of its original value. P is the peak height of the curve (i.e. the force value at the maximum height). This method was adopted from the bakery industry for testing the degree of gluten development in bread dough. The 'T/P' values obtained over the course of ripening for differently treated salted-herring in barrels ranged between 1 and 12. The trends in 'T/P' value, during ripening period for the different samples, appeared to be parallel changes in texture perceived by sensory observation (subjective measurement), although the heterogeneous nature of the samples gave standard deviations, about the replicate sample mean, around 5%. The method appears promising as an objective measure for monitoring this aspect of the textural quality of barrel salted-herring through ripening if reproducibility of test results can be improved by more careful standardization of sample preparation and test protocol.

Sweetening abroad

This project aims to plan the internationalization strategy of the Portuguese small firm A Tarte, producer of a gourmet pie, to a European country in order to enlarge its sales. Therefore, a thorough analysis of the company and of the bakery market is performed to understand the complete environment. It is followed by a quantitative analysis of fourteen countries to select the most attractive market, whose results indicated United Kingdom as the best option. After, the direct exporting entry mode was analysed and costs estimated. Lastly, the expansion to London is recommended to be pursued with a UK local agent/distributor support

Estrategias de internacionalización de la industria de panaderia en el mercado de la provincia de Shanxi China

China es el cuarto país más extenso del mundo así como el más densamente poblado. En la actualidad, se ha caracterizado por ser una economía con un papel importante en el comercio mundial. Es por este motivo, que en el año 2010 se convirtió en el país con más exportaciones en el mundo, ubicándose en las primeras economías después de los Estados Unidos. Por otro lado, China considera a Colombia como un país influyente en América Latina, lo que posibilita que en un futuro se puedan convertir en socios comerciales. Sin embargo, se debe resaltar que por su extensión, China es un país de diversas culturas por lo que el trabajo “Estrategias de internacionalización de la industria de panadería en Colombia hacia la provincia de Shanxi, China”, se centrara únicamente en la provincia de Shanxi. Dicha provincia es reconocida por su gran abundancia de recursos minerales, adicionalmente, juega un papel decisivo en la red eléctrica del Norte de China y planea convertirse en la base industrial del país por lo que promete un futuro próspero para su población convirtiéndose en un lugar potencial para centrar el trabajo. También, se debe resaltar el auge y crecimiento de la industria de panadería en Colombia ya que no solamente es perteneciente a la canasta familiar sino que es necesario y rentable para los empresarios. Además es una industria que genera productos de alta calidad y con valor agregado. Como toda industria colombiana esta también tienen ciertas falencias entre ellas se debe resaltar la falta de asociación; problemática en la cual se basara este trabajo ya que, como dice Anónimo 2011, “La importancia de su creación radica en que asociados, los panaderos podrían llegar fácilmente a encontrar soluciones a ese bajo consumo o incluso lograr alianzas para una mayor capacitación” y así facilitar la entrada a mercados internacionales. Para mostrar lo anterior, se analizaran 3 casos de empresas Colombianas, que muestran las diferentes etapas para entrar a un mercado internacional. La primera de ella Noel, con su trayectoria en el mercado Colombia, en este momento cuenta con presencia en varios países de Latinoamérica y Norteamérica. La segunda Pan Pa Ya que a través de su técnica de ultracongelación ha logrado conquistar países en Latinoamérica, Europa, Japón, Canadá entre otros. Finalmente se encuentra Ramo, empresa que aún no ha logrado entrar en mercados internacionales, pero se encuentra mejorando sus procesos para internacionalizarse y para llegar a aquellos colombianos que viven en el exterior. Como complemento se busca resaltar la importancia de la asociación y la creación de clústeres de las empresas colombianas para la generación de productos de alta calidad que satisfagan las condiciones requeridas para entrar en nuevos mercados, teniendo en cuenta las pautas necesarias para generar ventajas competitivas y estrategias de internacionalización

Identifying innovation strategies:insights from the greek food industry

This paper emphasizes on the concept of innovation which is more and more nowadays recognized as of significant importance for all companies across different business sectors. The paper initially provides a review of the innovation literature in terms of types, classifications, and sources of innovation that have been proposed over time. Then, innovation in the context of the food industry is examined and it is attempted to identify innovation strategies followed by Greek food companies based on a value driven approach of innovation. The paper finally, provides insights from eight Greek food companies, which were selected from four subsectors: fruit and vegetables, dairy products, meat products (cured meats), and bakery products. The criterion used for the selection was market success and outstanding performance (e.g. market share, achieved results). Evidence indicates that companies tend to innovate along the dimension of offerings, which is more related to the traditional view of product and process innovation.

Evolutions of an Online Generation: Education, Industry and IMC

This paper traces the evolutions of a new generation of students who are predominantly the ‘online generation’; explores the emerging impact of this generation on industry; identifies the changing role of education from traditional classroom to an online environment; and explores the contribution related to integrated marketing communications (IMC). Educational requirements from a business perspective must incorporate global business demands; virtual learning environments progress the online generation towards a post-modern learning state. The central proposition of this paper is that the emergence of IMC in evolving industry practices is influenced by student generations who are producing a new paradigm of alignment between education and industry. This is purely a conceptual exploration using limited examples to provide some context and illustrate the questions raised for consideration.