Application of fuzzy delphi technique approach in sustainable inheritance of rural cooking techniques and innovative business strategies modeling

Abstract

Transformation and sustainable development must be undertaken in accordance with the trends of the times, which presents challenges to rural areas worldwide. In addition to preserving rural food specialties and presenting them in new ways to attract consumers, these areas must link farmers’ production, processing, sales, and management. It is imperative to sustainably pass on rural foods and theircooking techniques and integrate them into innovative business strategies so that delicious rural foods can be sold on the consumer market, boosting rural economies and their development. The main objective of this research was to conduct indicator modeling and empirical analysis for the sustainable inheritance of Taiwan’s rural cooking techniques and the development of innovative marketing strategies. The Fuzzy Delphi Technique was used as the main research method to select agricultural experts and rural household economy organizations for indicator modeling and empirical analysis. The results of the research indicate that agricultural experts believe that market operation is the primary developmental focus of cultural inheritance and innovation, whereas household economy organizations believe that education, training, promotion, and development are the primary developmental focuses. The greatest contribution and innovation of this research are the findings that culinary education and training, organized by the farmers’ association, can sustainably pass on traditional rural cooking techniques, and the process of incorporating local ingredients into commercial gourmet food should also consider aspects of the economic and marketing strategies of market operation, facilitating the sustainable inheritance of unique, traditional, local, and rural food culture.