Food quality and product export performance: An empirical investigation of the EU situation

Abstract

The relationship between product quality and export performance is investigated. Five EU countries (Italy, France, Spain, Germany, United Kingdom), 3 product categories (cheese, meat preparations, and wine), 3 export destinations (intra-European Union, extra-European Union, and world), and 2 periods (1995-1999 and 2000-2005) are analyzed. The regression results show that the connection between product quality and export performance depends on the product category (but not on the period) and differs (but not in all cases) according to the export destination. An implication arising from this analysis is that considering international marketing of quality food products in teaching and training programs could contribute to the enhancement of EU agribusiness competitiveness in increasingly liberalized and quality-conscious markets. © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.