information, such as laser printed in peeled food products might play an important
role as new supports of data in the next future. Considering these results, we might
assert that labelling might continue as the most preferred information support
concerning beef meat products. The perceived toxicity of laser printing and RFID
techniques might be a handicap for their implementation on beef and bar codes
might be used as an accompanying support.
5. Product valorisation approach followed by the national supply
chain: the case of retailers’ private label
The beef market in Italy and Spain was characterized by important changes given
by the new labelling and traceability regulations and by the strategies adopted by
the actors of the supply chain. The coming into force of the European Community
Regulations on beef labelling has partly led to a reshaping of the structure,
organisation and strategies of the European beef chain. From being unbranded, the
sectors have become branded and there is a great deal of tension, particularly
between private labels, in the struggle to gain customer loyalty, through a
differentiation that expresses itself in the product specifications. The objects of
these specifications are gradually explained to the consumer through voluntary
labelling, but more often through information campaigns at the points of sale. As
suggested by Sans et al. (2004), in recent years retailers increased their prescription
power too along the supply chain, by developing actively with producers and
processors beef specifications defining products’ intrinsic and extrinsic attributes.
The growth of the large scale retailers in Italy has led to the creation of big
enterprises, even if the leading Italian distribution chain, COOP Italia, reaches a
turnover equivalent only to one third of Carrefour. In around 2000, the private
labels were introduced for fresh sectors: meat and vegetables. The large retailers
then launched a marketing strategy offering food quality and safety guarantee,
especially following the dramatic BSE crises. The strategy followed by Italian
retailers to restore consumer confidence after BSE crisis had, as a key element, the
development of new brands, associated to the retailer’ s private label, guaranteeing
the origin of beef, the feeding and breeding practices, the absence of growth
hormones and, in some cases, the respect of animal welfare standards (Mora and
Menozzi; 2005). The large scale retailers have recently developed their own
umbrella labels for a range of products including meat, vegetable and other
processed products with a specific quality and safety content, and dedicated lines
for typical and organic products. The efforts made by the large scale retailers to
reassure beef consumers and win their loyalty have been amply recompensed by
the increasing market share at the expenses of butcher’ s shops and by the growing
private label’s market share.
Two big French retail groups operating in Spain have developed similar beef
valorisation strategies for Spanish market, and different ones in their home. In a
context of intense competition between quality specifications, the two retailers have
developed marketing communication strategies according to the Spanish situation,
using “supply chain brands” as differentiation tools to ensure consumers’ loyalty
(Sans et al.; 2004).
In both countries, the main retail groups tended to provide voluntary information
in order to develop certified brands. They adopted multi- product policies aiming to
differentiate a range of products carrying the same brand, highlighting some
common concepts. In this context, the application of the beef voluntary labelling by
Italian and Spanish retailers allowed to add information on the label of the beef
meat sold under the private label about the animal, the production system, the
feeding, the bred, and so on.
15