Food Authenticity
“What is food authenticity? Is it defined by the
consumer or producer?” A listener to our podcast, Behind the Aroma – Opacity and Food Authenticity, once asked me. To make it easy for consumers,
foodies, and other stakeholders in our food systems, I decided to explore
different scenarios to aid our understanding of the phenomenon.
Experiment I:
Geographical Indications
In the winter of 2024, I invited a single origin
coffee expert, roaster, and café (Cavan Coffee) owner to expose my students to the concepts of
fourth wave and single origin coffee. He presented to my international trade
class on a Friday evening about how he imports coffee directly from farmers in
Colombia, Ethiopia, and other parts of the world. This indicates that his
procurement process is both ethical and authentic. At the end of the lectures,
students said that they’ve not heard the phrase ‘fourth wave coffee’ let alone ‘single
origin’ coffee. He left us with sachets of single origin coffee for the
students to enjoy. Though instant coffee is supposed to be of low quality, this
is a premium coffee packaged as instant for people who don’t have the equipment
and time to meticulously brew a premium coffee.
The students, friends and policy makers love the
instant single origin, so I decided to do a single origin coffee ‘Challenge’ in
another undergraduate student class. In my Management of International
Enterprise class students were asked to explore the instant coffee offered by
Cavan coffee (packaged by Hasty coffee.com). After consumption, they were
expected to post their comments and pictures/videos on Instagram while tagging
ECVOntario and Cavan Coffee. This exposed the students to testing the
desirability of a new product – in this case a premium instant coffee. It also
strengthens students’ skills to use social media to promote the desirability of
products across platforms and borders that are based on authenticity,
traceability and ‘skin in the game’.
 |
| A Sachet of a Single Origin Instant Coffee |
This scenario shows that food authenticity can be
explained through single origin. Single origin is related to ‘geographical indications’
which is a type of intellectual property rights. Examples of single origin
coffees are Yirgacheffee, Mexican Li Maya, Peruvian Café Femenino, Sidamo, Fig
Mood -Costa Rica, Los Diamentes – Colombia, Mauricio Perez – Guatemala, and El
Horizonte, Geisha – Colombia.
Experiment II: Local
Foods
In our exploration of the meaning of authenticity,
local food is usually more authentic because it is easy to monitor the
activities of the farmers and processors and there is little or no need for
preservatives to extend the shelf life of a fruit or vegetable. In the winter
of 2024, a group of students in a final year undergraduate class were asked to
document their impressions about an apple from an orchard in the Brampton area
of the Greater Toronto Area. I have known the farmer for more than nine years.
On the issue of local
production
To explain the impact of proximity or distance on
quality, I bought a basket of fresh apples from the Guelph Farmers’ Market and offered
them to my students. 19 out of 98 students, 20 percent of the class,
participated and submitted their observations. The other students gave general
feedback during the semester. The apples were in season: October (Fall) –
May/June (Spring) from Applevue Apples, located between Brampton and
Georgetown. This farm sells different apples at the market such as Honey Crisp,
Gala, Empire, Portland, Mutsu, Ambrosia, and MacIntosh.
The students were told to pick an apple and indicate
the variety and their impressions about the apple.
Below are the students’ impressions.
Results
The students ranked the apple high in times of
freshness (8.92 /10) and taste (8.34/10). The students were unable to identify
the apple’s variety. This was to be expected because food is an experience
good where prior knowledge and consumption is required in the
identification process. As seen in the table below, they misclassified the
apple. The apple administered was Ambrosia which only 21% of the students got
right.
Identification by
students
|
Name |
Frequency |
Percentage |
|
Gala |
3 |
16 |
|
Royal Gala |
3 |
16 |
|
Honey Crisp |
6 |
32 |
|
Ambrosia |
4 |
21 |
|
Spanish Apple |
1 |
05 |
|
Fuji Apple |
2 |
10 |
|
Total |
19 |
100 |
Students also added notes that the apple was juicy,
crisp, not soft, no bruises but can be easily bruised, less than a week old,
firmness, aroma, appearance, No wax ( a cover or veil to hide the state of the
produce, commonly used to protect produce travelling long distance, use to
increase the aesthetic shelf life but this compromises quality and taste).
Although the students struggled to identify the
apple’s variety, they were clear and unanimous in the desirable qualities of a
locally produced apple.
Information
economics
The lesson from this small experiment is that opacity
is reduced with proximity and relationship with producers. The apples for the
experiment are from a family we know of their orchard. In-season is better than
off season because nutrients diminish with time. It is also important to note
that apples and most foods are experience goods. Physical inspection is
usually not adequate and may be misleading for goods like apples. An apple may
look fresh (covered with wax) but not good enough when consumed. Experience
goods – need to be tasted and consumed, though authenticity is not
necessarily guaranteed. For example, significant experience is required to
discern halal or grass-fed meat from non-halal or intensive beef production.
Experiment III:
Cultural Exploration
Sunfest, a festival to celebrate culture, food and
music, is a yearly event in London, Ontario. We attended the last day of the
event last year on July 5, 2024. Our
yearly ritual at this festival is to listen to music from different parts of
the world and try a new experience of the restaurant landscape of the city.
After we saw Alpha Yaya Diallo who was a new album tour we decided to visit Addis
Ababa Restaurant, an Ethiopian restaurant.
We shared a platter of injera, beans, collard green
potatoes, beef stew, and chicken stew with family friends. The injera was far
better, not sour, than some injera I have eaten before. Injera does not
necessarily taste the same. Teff varieties may be different, and mode of
preparation affects taste. The best stew on the platter for me was collard
green mixed with potatoes. This combination goes well with the injera. Coffee
was also served in the traditional cups. As per authenticity, the beans were
freshly roasted, and we were told to perceive aroma because according to the
Ethiopian culture it brings blessing. Frankincense was burnt throughout our
stay which contributed to the ambience and heavenliness of space. All meals
were prepared in-house based on our specifications.
Overall, it was an excellent experience. It is good to
try old and familiar experiences in a new space or place because the experience
may be different.
An Ethiopian platter as presented to us in Addis Ababa restaurant, London. Ontario.
*Special thanks to
Rufus Cavan, my winter 2024 TRSM students, and the Maitland’s.
Bamidele Adekunle| IRG &ECVOntario | SEDRD| University of Guelph
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