IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jfpoli/v34y2009i5p426-436.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The food system transformation in developing countries: A disaggregate demand analysis for fruits and vegetables in Vietnam

Author

Listed:
  • Mergenthaler, Marcus
  • Weinberger, Katinka
  • Qaim, Matin

Abstract

Food systems in developing countries are currently undergoing a rapid transformation towards high-value products and modern supply chains. While supply side aspects of this transformation have been analyzed previously, issues of consumer demand have received much less attention. This article analyses demand patterns for fresh fruits and vegetables in Vietnam, using household survey data and a demand systems approach. Demand for products from modern supply chains - particularly supermarkets and non-traditional imports - is highly income elastic, and the income effect is stronger than the impact of prices and supermarket penetration. This highlights the importance of considering demand side aspects when projecting future trends. Our results imply a continued restructuring of the food sector in the further process of economic development.

Suggested Citation

  • Mergenthaler, Marcus & Weinberger, Katinka & Qaim, Matin, 2009. "The food system transformation in developing countries: A disaggregate demand analysis for fruits and vegetables in Vietnam," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 426-436, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:34:y:2009:i:5:p:426-436
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306-9192(09)00034-7
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rodríguez, Elsa Mirta M. & Berges, Miriam & Casellas, Karina & Di Paola, Rosángela & Lupín, Beatriz & Garrido, Laura & Gentile, Natacha, 2002. "Consumer behaviour and supermarkets in Argentina," Nülan. Deposited Documents 392, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Sociales, Centro de Documentación.
    2. M. Ataman Aksoy & John C. Beghin, 2005. "Global Agricultural Trade and Developing Countries," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 7464, December.
    3. Prabhu Pingali, 2007. "Agricultural growth and economic development: a view through the globalization lens," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 37(s1), pages 1-12, December.
    4. Marcus Mergenthaler & Katinka Weinberger & Matin Qaim, 2009. "Consumer Valuation of Food Quality and Food Safety Attributes in Vietnam," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 31(2), pages 266-283, June.
    5. Sartorius, Kurt & Kirsten, Johann, 2007. "A framework to facilitate institutional arrangements for smallholder supply in developing countries: An agribusiness perspective," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(5-6), pages 640-655.
    6. Berdegue, Julio A. & Balsevich, Fernando & Flores, Luis & Reardon, Thomas, 2005. "Central American supermarkets' private standards of quality and safety in procurement of fresh fruits and vegetables," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 254-269, June.
    7. Jean-Joseph Cadilhon & Paule Moustier & Nigel D. Poole & Phan Thi Giac Tam & Andrew P. Fearne, 2006. "Traditional vs. Modern Food Systems? Insights from Vegetable Supply Chains to Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam)," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 24(1), pages 31-49, January.
    8. Pingali, Prabhu, 2007. "Westernization of Asian diets and the transformation of food systems: Implications for research and policy," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 281-298, June.
    9. Henson, Spencer & Reardon, Thomas, 2005. "Private agri-food standards: Implications for food policy and the agri-food system," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 241-253, June.
    10. Senauer, Benjamin, 2006. "The Growing Market for High-Value Food Products in Developing and Transition Countries," Journal of Food Distribution Research, Food Distribution Research Society, vol. 37(1), pages 1-6, March.
    11. Elsa Rodríguez & Miriam Berges & Karina Casellas & Rosángela Di Paola & Beatriz Lupín & Laura Garrido & Natacha Gentile, 2002. "Consumer Behaviour and Supermarkets in Argentina," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 20(4), pages 429-439, September.
    12. David L. Edgerton, 1997. "Weak Separability and the Estimation of Elasticities in Multistage Demand Systems," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 79(1), pages 62-79.
    13. Harald Tauchmann, 2005. "Efficiency of two-step estimators for censored systems of equations: Shonkwiler and Yen reconsidered," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(4), pages 367-374.
    14. Fernando Balsevich & Julio A. Berdegué & Luis Flores & Denise Mainville & Thomas Reardon, 2003. "Supermarkets and Produce Quality and Safety Standards in Latin America," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 85(5), pages 1147-1154.
    15. Weinberger, Katinka & Lumpkin, Thomas A., 2007. "Diversification into Horticulture and Poverty Reduction: A Research Agenda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(8), pages 1464-1480, August.
    16. J. Scott Shonkwiler & Steven T. Yen, 1999. "Two-Step Estimation of a Censored System of Equations," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 81(4), pages 972-982.
    17. Seale, James L., Jr. & Regmi, Anita & Bernstein, Jason, 2003. "International Evidence On Food Consumption Patterns," Technical Bulletins 33580, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    18. Unnevehr, Laurian J., 2000. "Food safety issues and fresh food product exports from LDCs," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 23(3), pages 231-240, September.
    19. Marcus Mergenthaler & Katinka Weinberger & Matin Qaim, 2009. "Consumer Valuation of Food Quality and Food Safety Attributes in Vietnam," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 31(2), pages 266-283.
    20. Thomas Reardon & C. Peter Timmer & Christopher B. Barrett & Julio Berdegué, 2003. "The Rise of Supermarkets in Africa, Asia, and Latin America," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 85(5), pages 1140-1146.
    21. Figui, Muriel & Moustier, Paule, 2009. "Market appeal in an emerging economy: Supermarkets and poor consumers in Vietnam," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 210-217, April.
    22. Masayoshi Maruyama & Le Viet Trung, 2007. "Supermarkets in Vietnam: Opportunities and Obstacles," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 21(1), pages 19-46, March.
    23. Thomas L. Cox & Michael K. Wohlgenant, 1986. "Prices and Quality Effects in Cross-Sectional Demand Analysis," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 68(4), pages 908-919.
    24. Seale, James L., Jr. & Regmi, Anita & Bernstein, Jason, 2003. "International Evidence On Food Consumption Patterns," Technical Bulletins 33580, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    25. Heien, Dale & Wessells, Cathy Roheim, 1990. "Demand Systems Estimation with Microdata: A Censored Regression Approach," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 8(3), pages 365-371, July.
    26. Wang, Zhigang & Mao, Yanna & Gale, Fred, 2008. "Chinese consumer demand for food safety attributes in milk products," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 27-36, February.
    27. Thomas Reardon & Spencer Henson & Julio Berdegué, 2007. "'Proactive fast-tracking' diffusion of supermarkets in developing countries: implications for market institutions and trade," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 7(4), pages 399-431, July.
    28. Deaton, Angus S & Muellbauer, John, 1980. "An Almost Ideal Demand System," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 70(3), pages 312-326, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kulke, Elmar & Suwala, Lech, 2015. "Internationalization of grocery retailers in emerging markets – general considerations and economic impacts," EconStor Preprints 247642, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    2. Moustier, Paule & Tam, Phan Thi Giac & Anh, Dao The & Binh, Vu Trong & Loc, Nguyen Thi Tan, 2010. "The role of farmer organizations in supplying supermarkets with quality food in Vietnam," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 69-78, February.
    3. Gómez, Miguel I. & Ricketts, Katie D., 2013. "Food value chain transformations in developing countries: Selected hypotheses on nutritional implications," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 139-150.
    4. Femenia, Fabienne, 2019. "A Meta-Analysis of the Price and Income Elasticities of Food Demand," German Journal of Agricultural Economics, Humboldt-Universitaet zu Berlin, Department for Agricultural Economics, vol. 68(2), June.
    5. Javier García-Enríquez & Cruz A. Echevarría, 2018. "Demand for culture in Spain and the 2012 VAT rise," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 42(3), pages 469-506, August.
    6. Okrent, Abigail M. & Alston, Julian M., 2011. "Demand for Food in the United States: A Review of Literature, Evaluation of Previous Estimates, and Presentation of New Estimates of Demand," Monographs, University of California, Davis, Giannini Foundation, number 251908, December.
    7. Ole Boysen, 2016. "Food Demand Characteristics in Uganda: Estimation and Policy Relevance," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 84(2), pages 260-293, June.
    8. Thiele, Silke, 2008. "Elastizitäten der Nachfrage privater Haushalte nach Nahrungsmitteln – Schätzung eines AIDS auf Basis der Einkommens- und Verbrauchsstichprobe 2003," German Journal of Agricultural Economics, Humboldt-Universitaet zu Berlin, Department for Agricultural Economics, vol. 57(05), pages 1-11.
    9. Asfaw, Abay, 2007. "Supermarket purchases and the dietary patterns of households in Guatemala:," IFPRI discussion papers 696, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    10. Mathew Joseph & Nirupama Soundararajan & Manisha Gupta & Sanghamitra Sahu, "undated". "Impact of Organized Retailing on the Unorganized Sector," Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, New Delhi Working Papers 222, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, New Delhi, India.
    11. Reardon, Thomas & Gulati, Ashok, 2008. "The rise of supermarkets and their development implications: International experience relevant for India," IFPRI discussion papers 752, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    12. Julia Bronnmann & Stefan Guettler & Jens-Peter Loy, 2019. "Efficiency of correction for sample selection in QUAIDS models: an example for the fish demand in Germany," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 57(4), pages 1469-1493, October.
    13. H.H. Chang & C. van Marrewijk & R. Stringer & W. Umberger, 2013. "Investment, awareness, supermarkets, and profits: heterogeneous chili farmers in Indonesia," Working Papers 13-13, Utrecht School of Economics.
    14. Cheng, Zhen & Larochelle, Catherine, 2017. "Demand for staple foods in Niger and Nigeria: A three-stage approach," 2017 Annual Meeting, July 30-August 1, Chicago, Illinois 258382, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    15. Mathew Joseph & Nirupama Soundararajan & Manisha Gupta & Sanghamitra Sahu, 2008. "Impact of Organized Retailing on the Unorganized Sector," Macroeconomics Working Papers 22167, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    16. Maertens, Miet & Swinnen, Johan, 2015. "Agricultural trade and development: A value chain perspective," WTO Staff Working Papers ERSD-2015-04, World Trade Organization (WTO), Economic Research and Statistics Division.
    17. Richard Ochmann, 2014. "Differential income taxation and household asset allocation," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(8), pages 880-894, March.
    18. Luigi Cembalo & Francesco Caracciolo & Eugenio Pomarici, 2014. "Drinking cheaply: the demand for basic wine in Italy," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 58(3), pages 374-391, July.
    19. Thomas Reardon & David Zilberman, 2022. "Symbiotic, Resilient, and Rapidly Transforming Food Supply Chains in LMICs: Supermarket and E-commerce Revolutions Helped by Wholesale and Logistics Co-pivoting," NBER Chapters, in: Risks in Agricultural Supply Chains, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Andrej Cupák & Peter Tóth, 2017. "Measuring the Efficiency of VAT reforms: Evidence from Slovakia," Working and Discussion Papers WP 6/2017, Research Department, National Bank of Slovakia.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:34:y:2009:i:5:p:426-436. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/foodpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.