How well do food retailers know their customers? The case of mountain food products in Europe

The issue of how well retailers predict consumers' preferences and requirements for food products has seldom been examined in literature. This paper deals with this issue focusing on the specific case of mountain food products (MFP) in Europe. Due to consumers' imperfect knowledge of MFP and the absence of an official definition of these products, retailers are surrounded with uncertainty about how to market these products and especially about how consumers perceive and assess MFP. In this paper, we analyse retailers' perceptions as regards MFP and the extent to which they match consumers' views. Results reveal that retailers' perceptions differ by country. They also show that retailers associated with 'alternative' supply chains seem to have a more accurate perception of consumers' preferences as regards MFP.