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Kennzeichnung von nicht genetisch veränderten Erzeugnissen: Eine Fallstudie zu deutschen Molkereien
Author(s) -
Punt Maarten,
Venus Thomas,
Wesseler Justus
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
eurochoices
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.487
H-Index - 15
eISSN - 1746-692X
pISSN - 1478-0917
DOI - 10.1111/1746-692x.12119
Subject(s) - labelling , business , competitor analysis , agricultural science , production (economics) , profit (economics) , marketing , commerce , economics , biology , microeconomics , biochemistry
Summary Food suppliers in the EU must comply with labelling regulations for genetically modified organisms ( GMO s). However, excluded from mandatory labelling are food products derived from animals fed with GM feed (mainly GM soybean in the EU ). Because of this labelling exemption, consumers are unable to identify which animal products were derived without the use of GMO s. Therefore, Germany and other countries introduced voluntary ‘ GM ‐free’ labelling legislations or guidelines that allow companies to signal that their products are ‘ GM ‐free’. We present the results of a survey among German dairy companies. We asked them whether they produce ‘ GM ‐free’ and to assess the ‘ GM ‐free’ market in terms of (1) the current status, (2) potential benefits, (3) limitations and (4) risks. We find that smaller dairy companies mostly switch completely, whereas ‘ GM ‐free’ production of larger dairy companies is often limited. The results indicate that for switching to ‘ GM ‐free’ production, long‐term effects such as the creation of a positive image or differentiation from competitors are more important for dairy companies than short‐term effects such as higher sales or profit.