Publications

October 2002 (Revised February 2006)
Case

Codex Alimentarius and Food Labeling

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Hal Hogan

Codex Alimentarius is a set of international food standards devised by the Codex Commission, a body within the United Nations jointly sponsored by the FAO and WHO. The purpose of the standards is to harmonize global trade in food products and agricultural commodities,... View Details

Keywords: Standards; Trade; Agreements and Arrangements; Food; Agribusiness; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Globalization; Health; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

August 2008 (Revised September 2008)
Case

The Flaxil Label (B)

This case focuses on the 2001 negotiation between Mytex Pharmaceuticals and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The outcome of the negotiation would determine the new label for Mytex's blockbuster drug for arthritis, Flaxil. The negotiation is quite... View Details

Keywords: Governance; Risk and Uncertainty; Value Creation; Negotiation; Attitudes; Health Care and Treatment; Government Administration; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

March 2012
Article

A 2-phase Labeling and Choice Architecture Intervention to Improve Healthy Food and Beverage Choices

By: Anne Thorndike, Lilian Sonnenberg, Jason Riis, Susan Barraclough and Douglas E. Levy

Objectives: We assessed whether a 2-phase labeling and choice architecture intervention increased sales of healthy food and beverages in a large hospital cafeteria. Methods: Phase 1 was a 3-month color-coded labeling intervention (red="unhealthy" yellow="less healthy"... View Details

Keywords: Health; Sales; Change; Food and Beverage Industry

August 2008 (Revised September 2008)
Case

The Flaxil Label (A)

This case focuses on the 2001 negotiation between Mytex Pharmaceuticals and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The outcome of the negotiation would determine the new label for Mytex's blockbuster drug for arthritis, Flaxil. The negotiation is quite... View Details

Keywords: Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Health Disorders; Product Launch; Negotiation Process; Business and Government Relations; Safety; Pharmaceutical Industry

March 2016
Case

Advanced Leadership Pathways: Doug Rauch and the Daily Table

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Peter Zimmerman and Penelope Rossano

Former Trader Joe’s President Doug Rauch developed an innovative idea to address the challenge of food insecurity, food waste, and nutrition. His concept was a new retail grocery model, offering nutritious affordable food to a food insecure population in the inner city... View Details

Keywords: Food Waste; Poverty; Food Security; Food Labeling; Nonprofit; Food; Social Entrepreneurship; Social Enterprise; Nonprofit Organizations; Nutrition; Health

August 2008 (Revised September 2008)
Supplement

The Flaxil Label (C): Debrief and Endnotes

This case focuses on the 2001 negotiation between Mytex Pharmaceuticals and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The outcome of the negotiation would determine the new label for Mytex's blockbuster drug for arthritis, Flaxil. The negotiation is quite... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Value Creation; Negotiation; Health Care and Treatment; Sales; Pharmaceutical Industry

November 2000
Case

Dean Foods

By: Ray A. Goldberg, David E. Bell, Ann Leamon and Kim Slack

After 50 years of successful growth, mostly by acquisition, Dean Foods, the nation's second-largest dairy processor, has established a division to develop and market branded products nationally. Can a $4 billion company rely on a $300 million growth vehicle? Is this... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Divisions; Transition; Food; Goods and Commodities; Brands and Branding; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Product Development; Value Creation; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

September 1993 (Revised December 1993)
Case

Cott Corp.: Private Label in the 1990s

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Robert S. Kaplan

Private label cola, Cott, gets 30% of the market in Canada. How does it move into the U.S. market? How do retailers evaluate its benefit costs? Does Cott use an existing structure or build new ones? Does Cott diversify from drink to snack foods? View Details

Keywords: Private Sector; Cost Management; Labels; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Industry Structures; Diversification; Food and Beverage Industry

January 2009 (Revised October 2009)
Case

GLOBALGAP: Food Safety and Private Standards

By: David E. Bell and Mary Louise Shelman

In response to new laws governing liability and several food safety scares in the 1990s, European retailers drove the creation of a universal production standard based on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) for fresh fruit and vegetables and a third-party certification... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Food; Governance Compliance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business and Government Relations; Safety; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Europe

15 Nov 2018
Book

Can the Global Food Industry Overcome Public Distrust?

JamesBrey Food is the largest segment of the global economy. It is also widely recognized as more critical for human health than any pharmaceutical drug on the planet. But significant changes in the industry are making people lose trust in many institutions involved in... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Agriculture & Agribusiness

2009
Article

Modeling Expert Opinions on Food Healthfulness: A Nutrition Metric

By: Jolie M. Martin, John Beshears, Katherine L. Milkman, Max H. Bazerman and Lisa Sutherland

Research over the last several decades indicates the failure of existing nutritional labels to substantially improve the healthiness of consumers' food and beverage choices. The difficulty for policy-makers is to encapsulate a wide body of scientific knowledge in a... View Details

Keywords: Judgments; Food; Nutrition; Labels; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Demand and Consumers; Measurement and Metrics; Mathematical Methods

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September 2012
Article

Food Choices of Minority and Low-Income Employees: A Cafeteria Intervention

By: Douglas E. Levy, Jason Riis, Lillian M. Sonnenberg, Susan J. Barraclough and Anne N. Thorndike

Background: Effective strategies are needed to address obesity, particularly among minority and low-income individuals.

Purpose: To test whether a two-phase point-of-purchase intervention improved food choices across racial, socioeconomic (job... View Details

Keywords: Working Conditions; Safety; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Competitive Advantage; Cost

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17 Oct 2016
HBS Case

Business Solutions That Help Cut Food Waste

different ways. Nature isn’t perfect.” Another issue that contributes to food waste are “consume by” date labels on products. Alvarez says they were created in the 1970s, to find an easy way for workers in... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Food & Beverage

17 Jun 2017
Research & Ideas

Amazon, Whole Foods Deal a Big Win for Consumers

Source: 400tmax Editor's Note. Online retailing behemoth Amazon announced June 16 that it would acquire upscale grocery chain Whole Foods Market in a deal valued at more than $13 billion. Though the company has dabbled with the idea of a brick-and-mortar footprint in... View Details

Keywords: by Jose Alvarez and Len Schlesinger; Retail

11 Jan 2017
Research & Ideas

The Paradoxical Quest to Make Food Look 'Natural' With Artificial Dyes

investigations and advice of chemist Bernhard Hesse. However, the USDA didn’t require the use of certified dyes—or even the certification of food dyes, much to Hesse’s chagrin; it was still legal to use uncertified dyes, provided the... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

January 2020 (Revised April 2020)
Teaching Note

Brandless: Disrupting Consumer Packaged Goods

By: Jill Avery

Brandless, an online direct-to-consumer seller of upscale private-label consumer packaged goods (CPG), offered consumers a limited assortment of values-conscious products delivered directly to their homes with the simplicity of one fixed $3.00 price point that promised... View Details

Keywords: Brand; Brand Management; DTC; Private Label; Groceries; Packaged Food; Personal Care; Startups; Retailing; Amazon; Brands and Branding; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Business Startups; Disruption; E-commerce; Consumer Products Industry; Retail Industry; United States

September 2013
Case

Advanced Leadership Pathways: Laurent Adamowicz and Bon'App

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Juliane Calingo Schwetz and Patricia Bissett Higgins

After a successful career as Chairman and CEO of Paris-based luxury food company Fauchon, Laurent Adamowicz sought to reduce obesity and improve health outcomes. Adamowicz created a mobile application to provide consumers with more accessible and interpretable... View Details

July–August 2018
Article

From Niche to Mainstream (HBR Case Study)

By: Elie Ofek

A large Japanese snack maker faces challenges in marketing products in the US. Several options for jumpstarting sales are presented. View Details

Keywords: New Product Marketing; Retail Trade; Private Label; International Expansion; Cultural Branding; Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG); Product Marketing; Expansion; Global Range; Brands and Branding; Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

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November 2017 (Revised October 2018)
Case

Brandless: Disrupting Consumer Packaged Goods

By: Jill Avery

Brandless, an online direct-to-consumer seller of upscale private-label consumer packaged goods, offered consumers a limited assortment of values-conscious products delivered directly to their homes with the simplicity of one fixed $3 price point that promised an... View Details