Publications

October 2004
Case

DNA Traceability at Maple Leaf Foods

By: Ray A. Goldberg, Joan McRobbie and Matthew L. Reisman

Maple Leaf Foods is concerned about the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (Mad Cow Disease) issue in Canada and the reputation of Canadian meat products in the domestic and global markets. DNA can now trace products from sow and piglets to consumer pork products.... View Details

Keywords: Food; Globalization; Nutrition; Performance Efficiency; Performance Improvement; Safety; Technology Adoption; Food and Beverage Industry; Canada

26 Jan 2010
News

The Roots of Food and Agribusiness Thinking

27 Sep 2021
Blog Post

Working to Change the Food System

dedicate my time and energies toward. This year you’ll be co-president of the Food, Agriculture, and Water Club. What motivated you to pursue this role? What goals do you have as co-president? I think to the broader HBS population,... View Details

July 2012
Case

Barclays Capital and the Sale of Del Monte Foods

By: John Coates, Clayton Rose and David Lane

This case explores the reputational and legal issues that arise as Barclays Capital attempted to manage client conflicts by following established industry practice in the face of changing legal norms. In February 2011, Judge Travis Laster granted a preliminary... View Details

Keywords: Client Management; Fiduciary Duty; Mergers ＆ Acquisitions; Investment Banking; Private Equity; Ethics; Finance; Reputation; Banking Industry; United States

04 Mar 2015
News

Focus on food

2017
Working Paper

Cellophane, the New Visuality, and the Creation of Self-Service Food Retailing

By: Ai Hisano

This working paper examines how innovations in transparent packaging, specifically cellophane in the mid-twentieth century United States, helped retailers create full self-service merchandising systems, including selling perishable food. While self-service stores began... View Details

Keywords: Food; Product Marketing; Business History; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

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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

25 Jan 2021
Working Paper Summaries

India’s Food Supply Chain During the Pandemic

Keywords: by Matt Lowe, G V Nadhanael, and Benjamin N. Roth; Food & Beverage; Food & Beverage

April 2007 (Revised May 2007)
Case

John Mackey and Whole Foods Market

By: Nancy F. Koehn and Katherine Miller

Traces the history of organic agriculture from its pre-industrial roots to the present day, and examines the growth of Whole Foods Market in the context of the broader growth of the organic industry. Also investigates John Mackey's role as a founder and leader of the... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Food; Entrepreneurship; Agribusiness; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

December 2021
Article

India's Food Supply Chain during the Pandemic

By: Matt Lowe, G.V. Nadhanael and Benjamin N. Roth

We document the impact of India’s COVID-19 lockdown on the food supply chain. Food arrivals in wholesale markets dropped by 69% in the three weeks following the lockdown and wholesale prices rose by 8%. Six weeks after the lockdown began, volumes and prices had fully... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; Supply Chain; Health Pandemics; Food; Policy; System Shocks; Food and Beverage Industry; India

02 Jan 2020
News

How a Change to Food Inspectors’ Schedules Can Make Our Food Safer

July 1998 (Revised December 2001)
Case

Jollibee Foods Corporation (A): International Expansion

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Jamie O'Connell

Noli Tingzon, newly-appointed international division VP at Jollibee, the Philippines-based hamburger chain, is faced with the challenge of expanding fast food operations in Asia in the face of stiff competition. The case describes Jollibee's six-year international... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Motivation and Incentives; Expansion; Global Range; Global Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; Philippines

October 2010 (Revised November 2010)
Case

Belco Global Foods

By: C. Fritz Foley and Matthew Johnson

This case introduces students to the fundamental issues that managers face when deciding what international trade finance terms to use when transacting with other firms. In late 2009, Pam Arnold, the head of global credit at Belco Global Foods, must decide which trade... View Details

Keywords: Trade; Credit; Financing and Loans; International Finance; Globalized Firms and Management; Food and Beverage Industry

December 1982
Article

Determinants of Food Consumption in American Households

By: D. Schmalensee and J. Quelch

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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

2019
Working Paper

Optimal Interventions for Increasing Healthy Food Consumption Among Low Income Households

By: Retsef Levi, Elisabeth Paulson and Georgia Perakis

The federal government currently spends over $100 billion per year on policies aimed to increase fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption among low income households. These include price-, nutrition education-, and access-related interventions. Currently, the government... View Details

Keywords: Bi-level Optimization; Optimal Subsidies; Public Policy; Food Policy; Central Planner; Government Administration; Poverty; Food; Nutrition

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August 2023
Case

WayCool: Reimagining the Food Supply Chain

By: Paul Gompers and Kairavi Dey

Founded in 2015, WayCool, is an Indian agri-tech start-up that built a B2B operation acquiring fruits and vegetables from product-specific agriculture companies and small-holding farmers. It sold them to business customers, such as local retail stores, restaurants, and... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Digital Transformation; Operations; Business Strategy; Supply Chain; Performance; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Technology Industry; Web Services Industry; Asia; South Asia

16 Jun 2017
News

Does Amazon’s Acquisition of Whole Foods Check Out?

November 2009 (Revised December 2009)
Case

DaChan Food (Asia) in China

By: Ray A. Goldberg and David Lane

DaChan Food in China is providing leadership in the quality, health, and environmental needs of the Chinese consumer as poultry consumption increases there. Continuing to provide that leadership as global and national competition increase becomes more and more... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Food; Leadership Development; Demand and Consumers; Brands and Branding; Competitive Strategy; Vertical Integration; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; China