Purpose
The artisanal cheese industry in the Community of Madrid (CM) in Spain has recently experienced an increased development despite its traditionally limited cheese and milk production. The purpose of this paper is to explain this phenomenon by identifying the determinants of consumer attitudes towards cheese consumption in relation to the offer provided by recent artisan cheese producers.
Design/methodology/approach
A phone survey (n = 1,111 consumers) consisting of 17 questions was carried out to analyse cheese consumption culture in the CM. Principal component analysis was used to identify the factors that determine cheese-purchasing variance.
Findings
The first component was explained by hedonic (38 per cent of variance), followed by health aspects (24 per cent of variance) and price (15 per cent of variance). Price was identified as the most important criterion when purchasing cheese (67 per cent of consumers), followed by fat (57 per cent) and salt content (56 per cent). Results indicate a low cheese consumption culture in Madrid, as 48 per cent of consumers did not know exactly what kind of cheese they normally consumed. The type of milk used in cheese production was used to identify consumer profiles for market segmentation. Sheep and goat cheese consumers valued local production food quality and may be the driving force behind the expansion of artisanal cheese industry in Madrid.
Research limitations/implications
Madrid Region is one of the most important markets in Spain and Europe; however, local cheeses are not a traditional product in the market.
Practical implications
This paper offers a very interesting approach about how consumers’ culture can support a new local agricultural industry.
Social implications
Rural entrepreneurs can innovate focussing on new consumers demands. Local and handcrafted products are an opportunity in rural and periurban areas.
Originality/value
This paper shows consumer preferences and attitudes towards the novel artisan cheese sector that has expanded in the CM.
Energía y desarrollo están estrechamente relacionados. La historia del desarrollo transcurre paralela a la historia de las formas de generación y uso de la energía. La revolución que supuso la máquina de vapor en el siglo XVIII, implicaba la transformación de la energía calorífica en energía mecánica. Hasta esa fecha, la capacidad de trabajo provenía fundamentalmente de las calorías que ingerían los seres humanos y animales de carga. En menor medida, la energía del viento, el agua o la fuerza de la gravedad eran aprovechadas para mover molinos, barcos o desplazar cargas a través de sistemas de poleas.
Si bien la propuesta de desarrollo sostenible surgió en el ámbito del medioambiente, a raíz de su popularización y su incorporación en las agendas políticas ha sido objeto de diferentes interpretaciones. El reto actual es encontrar la forma de materializar ese desarrollo sostenible. La Agenda 2030 no detalla cómo lograrlo tal vez porque “cada país dispone de diferentes enfoques, visiones de futuro, modelos e instrumentos para lograr el desarrollo sostenible, en función de sus circunstancias y prioridades nacionales”. El presente artículo indaga en la conceptualización que queda implícita a lo largo de la resolución “Transformar nuestro mundo: la Agenda 2030 para el Desarrollo Sostenible”.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.