Worldwide, there is a great contradiction when it comes to food waste. On the one hand, it is estimated that up to 40 % of the globally produced food is lost or wasted every year, on the other hand about 925 million people suffer from malnutrition. In addition, food production has to be increased by 70 % to feed a population of 9 billion people in 2050. Due to these estimations, it becomes increasingly important to start initiatives to reduce food waste and its impact on natural resources. One reason why fruits and vegetables are wasted in developed countries is aesthetic standards set by retailers.Aesthetic standards regulate the shape and appearance of fruits and vegetables. Retailers have set these standards based on the assumption that consumers are only willing to buy fruits and vegetables without any cosmetic flaws. The result is that produce which are misshapen are sorted out in advance and go to waste. Within this context, this paper has two main objectives: first, to explore the attitudes of consumers towards fruits and vegetables with cosmetic flaws; and second, to unveil how these attitudes influence consumers' purchase intentions.A survey was conducted for this research in order to investigate whether this food waste is avoidable or not. A total of 213 participants from Germany took part in the survey. The results of this research indicate that consumers in Germany are potentially willing to buy misshaped

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to assess the competitiveness of the Uruguayan rural tourism sector against its main competitors from Argentina and Brazil, as perceived by Uruguayan stakeholders on the supply side. The paper will also evaluate the potential of Uruguay as a rural tourism destination in attracting German tourists. Design/methodology/approach -Two different questionnaires were administered, one to Uruguayan rural tourism stakeholders and another one to potential German tourists in Germany. Findings -The findings indicate that the main strengths of Uruguayan rural tourism offer, compared to Argentina and Brazil, are the hospitality and friendliness of local people, the natural and cultural attractions and the country's security and safety. Main weaknesses identified were the poor management of several destination components that are key to create a successful tourism destination and poor management of the "demand conditions" component of Dwyer and Kim's (2003) integrated model.

The main purpose of this paper is to evaluate the current business strategy of the Niagara wine region and to explore the potential of the Niagara wine region to specialise in Riesling grape variety. Questionnaires were administered to a range of different types of experts with a specialty in wine. Quantitative data from the Liquor Control Board of Ontario supplemented the core interviews. The results of this study indicate that differentiation through specialisation is the best strategy to develop the Niagara wine region. However, the structure of the wine industry encourages wineries to produce a vast array of grape varieties to cater to the needs of the domestic market. This has resulted in a loss of identity for the region. Though because Niagara Riesling is differentiable, world class, the most consistently awarded grape and unreproducible elsewhere, it is the prime candidate to become the representative grape for the region. By developing the Niagara style of Riesling and focusing on exporting small amounts of the variety, the region would benefit by developing an identity and increasing consumer confidence and sales.