This book analyzes the economics of the food industry at every stage between the farm gate and the kitchen counter.
Central to the text are agricultural marketing problems such as the allocation of production between competing products (such as fresh and frozen markets), spatial competition, interregional trade, optimal storage, and price discrimination.
Topics covered will be useful to students who expect to have careers such as food processing management, food sector buying or selling, restaurant management, supermarket management, marketing/advertising, risk management, and product development. The focus is on real world-relevant skills and examples and on intuition and economic understanding above mathematical sophistication, although the text does draw on the nuances of modern economic theory.
1. Introduction: the Basics of the Food Industry 2. Cost Economics for Processing Plants 3. Pricing Economics for Food Processing 4. Trade among Regions 5. The Economics of Storage 6. Plant Location and Size Decisions 7. Risk Management 8. The Economics of the Marketing Sector 9. Price Discrimination 10. Imperfect Competition and Game Theory 11. Spatial Competition 12. Food Retailing and the Food Service Industry 13. Launching a New Product 14. Special Organizational Features in the Food Industry