Wheat Industry: Which Factors Influence Innovation?

Vitor Francisco Dalla Corte; Paulo Dabdab Waquil; Kyle Stiegert

doi:10.4067/S0718-27242015000300002

Authors

Vitor Francisco Dalla Corte Business Graduate Program, Faculdade Meridional (IMED). Av. Senador Pinheiro, 304, zip code 99070-220 - Passo Fundo, RS.
Paulo Dabdab Waquil Center of Studies and Researches in Agribusiness (CEPAN), Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS). Av. Bento Gonçalves, 7.712, zip code 91540-000, Porto Alegre, RS.
Kyle Stiegert Department of Agricultural & Applied Economics (AAE), University of Wisconsin (UW). 427 Lorch Street, Taylor Hall, zip code 53706-1503, Madison, WI.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-27242015000300002

Keywords:

innovation, food industry, wheat products.

Abstract

A change in the profile of food consumption is occurring because of the new context of demographic growth, the increase of income in developing economies, and urbanization. In Brazil, consumption patterns have trended from fresh to processed food and internal and external growth in demand has led to opportunities that require new and higher levels of technological innovation and associated managerial skill. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of innovation on a key Brazilian food industry: wheat product markets. Results showed that while most firms did not innovate in the past year, new investments in R&D were important for innovation to occur compared to other factors such as the size of the company, the integration in supply chain, and the age of the company. These results demonstrate that innovation is not a random or unpredictable process, but a complex and diverse process that may be specific to each industry.