Innovation Implementation Strategies for Consumer Driven Fruit Supply Chains

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to identify 1) which innovation implementation strategies have the highest success potential, and 2) which factors affect the adoption of fruit-related innovations by consumers. We focus on consumer-driven and responsive fruit supply chains. Design/methodology/approach - We propose a new conceptual framework that links fruit consumption to innovation implementation strategies. Thirty-six experts in four panels organized, respectively, in Spain, Poland, Greece, and the Netherlands evaluated the elements of the proposed framework. Findings - ‘Market orientation’ and ‘continuous learning and knowledge acquisition’ surfaced as the innovation implementation strategies with the highest success potential. However, the optimal mix of strategies depends on the particular innovation as well as the geographic and cultural characteristics of the targeted consumer population. Furthermore, improving technological competence is the single most important factor affecting fruit innovation adoption.Research limitations/implications - The reported results are derived from four small groups of purposefully chosen experts and supply chain stakeholders. Nevertheless, they provide new insights useful to policy makers, consumers, and entrepreneurs. Practical implications - In designing innovations, fruit chain actors should first and foremost consider the price premium consumers will have to pay. Furthermore, for some innovations geographic or cultural characteristics become very important. Therefore, fruit supply chains should design their innovation implementation strategies accordingly. Social implications - By adopting efficiently designed innovation implementation strategies, consumer-driven fruit supply chains will convince consumers to eat more fruit. Thus, given the critical contribution of fruit consumption to human health, an important social goal is achieved. Originality/value - While the literature on innovation is enormous, very little has been published on innovation implementation strategies adopted by consumer-driven and responsive fruit chains. The significance of addressing the above-mentioned issues stems from the need to increase fruit consumption in Europe, which lags behind the levels suggested by physicians and nutrition scientists. Fruit-related innovations are a useful means to achieving this goal.