Publications

Article

The Rise of Synthetic Colors in the American Food Industry, 1870–1940

By: Ai Hisano

This article examines how, starting in the 1870s, food manufacturers in the United States began to use standardized color, achieved by synthetic dyes, as part of their marketing strategies. The emergence of the synthetic dye industry paralleled the growth of mass... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Food; Health; Brands and Branding; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry; United States

June 2022 (Revised October 2022)
Background Note

Digital Commerce and Delivery: Preparing Food and Retail Value Chains for a 50-50 World

By: William R. Kerr, Daniel O'Connor, Paige Boehmcke and Will Ensor

Increasing digitalization of grocery retail and quick commerce reveals insights about managing complex supply chains at scale and shifting revenue streams from product sales to data monetization. How are the roles of retailers changing? What happens if marginal cost... View Details

Keywords: Grocery Delivery; Grocery; Digitalization; Fulfillment; Delivery; Supply Chain; Disruption; Food; Supply Chain Management; Market Design; Trends; Value Creation; Goods and Commodities; Customer Value and Value Chain; Digital Transformation; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United States; China

Educators

March 1960
Case

Midway Foods Corp. (D3)

By: Edmund P. Learned and Bruce R. Scott

Keywords: Food and Beverage Industry

March 1960 (Revised April 1983)
Case

Midway Foods Corp. (A)

By: Edmund P. Learned and Bruce R. Scott

Keywords: Food and Beverage Industry

November 2000
Supplement

J. Perez Foods (B)

By: John A. Davis and Kacie LaChapelle

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Food and Beverage Industry

November 2000 (Revised September 2014)
Case

J. Perez Foods (A)

By: John A. Davis and Kacie LaChapelle

Examines the tensions that occur in family shareholder groups and how to prepare for them and manage them. View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Entrepreneurship; Business or Company Management; Management Practices and Processes; Family Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Business and Shareholder Relations; Family and Family Relationships; Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry

Educators

January 1980 (Revised July 1985)
Case

Anderson Clayton Foods (B)

By: Walter J. Salmon

Keywords: Food and Beverage Industry

16 May 2016
HBS Case

Food Safety Economics: The Cost of a Sick Customer

period of flat revenues or declining revenues, that sends a message to everybody in the food industry ” China, for example, has seen its share of well-publicized cases of food... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Food & Beverage

March 1960
Case

Midway Foods Corp. (E2)

By: Edmund P. Learned and Bruce R. Scott

Keywords: Food and Beverage Industry

March 1960 (Revised May 1983)
Case

Midway Foods Corp. (B1)

By: Edmund P. Learned and Bruce R. Scott

Keywords: Food and Beverage Industry

June 1986 (Revised October 2005)
Teaching Note

Kemp Foods Corporation (TN)

By: David F. Hawkins

Keywords: Food and Beverage Industry

October 1977 (Revised September 1983)
Case

Colonial Food Services Co.

By: Michael Beer and James G. Clawson

The first case in a four-part case series which outlines the events leading up to a performance appraisal interview. Describes the background of the company. View Details

Keywords: Performance Evaluation; Food and Beverage Industry

Educators

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

Historians.) Hisano’s paper looks at how industry players and regulators collectively decided what any given food is supposed to look like—and redefined the marketing meaning of “natural.” The quest for... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

April 1999 (Revised November 1999)
Case

ConAgra, Inc.: Across the Food Chain

By: Ray A. Goldberg, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Carlos A. A Gonzalez

Two years after taking over as CEO, Bruce Rohde must determine how best to deal with the changes affecting this major global agribusiness firm. He must reassess the direction of the company as well as determine in which industries it should participate. View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Management Teams; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Globalization; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

September 1994 (Revised September 1994)
Case

ConAgra, Inc.--The Food System Company

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Quintus Travis

Keywords: Food; Food and Beverage Industry

September 1999
Supplement

Jollibee Foods Corporation: International Expansion

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Presents interviews with CEO Tony Tan Caktiong and international division VP, Noli Tingzon, elaborating on issues and raising new issues on Jollibee's global strategy and organization. View Details

Keywords: Managerial Roles; Globalized Firms and Management; Global Strategy; Organizational Design; Expansion; Food and Beverage Industry