2023/12/13 by Raynaud, Emmanuel
#0 #BIEN COMMUN #COMMON GOODS #DIFFERENTIATION #ORGANOLIPTIC QUALITY #QUALITE ORGANOLEPTIQUE #QUALITY LABELS #SIGNE DE QUALITE #TOMATO
paper · doi:10.17180/nqjg-aa13
Product quality is in the very heart of the competitiveness of food supply chains. As a tool for segmenting market supply, it aims at better meeting varying consumers’ expectations. However, for many aspects of quality are not easily measured by consumers at the time of purchase. Various types of quality indicators are available to reduce this information asymmetry between buyers and sellers and smooth market transactions: brand names, labels, official quality signs, special characteristics of the products,… Based upon the example of gustative quality of fresh tomato, we showed how and why the available quality indicators presently available to consumers do not contribute to a strong segmentation through organoleptic quality. Necessary conditions to improve quality identification are proposed. We insist on the organizational dimension of the signalization showing why coordination among the various steps of the supply chain is required to better rely on gustative quality as a differentiation tool.