The beef market in the European Union.

This report analyses the market for beef in the European Union. The information in this report primarily concerns the EU-15 countries. More than half of the beef consumption in the EU is sold as fresh beef products at the retail level, the rest being used in processed products or sold through catering outlets. This report will primarily focus on the market for beef sold fresh at the retail level. The report analyses consumption patterns and looks at various explanations of changes in beef consumption. A complementary analysis of the structure of the beef supply chain will comprise all links from farmers through cattle markets, slaughtering companies and wholesalers to retailers. Such an analysis of the basic structure of the distribution chain is helpful with a view to understanding the market’s use or non-use of marketing parameters like branding, advertising, product quality, and new product development. Section 2 contains an overview of the European beef market including trends in consumption, production and foreign trade as well as a description of some legal and political issues as well as of some factors concerning health and food safety, which are of importance to the beef market participants. In section 3 the beef consumption patterns in the EU are analysed and various factors influencing consumption patterns are considered, including demographic and economic factors as well as the influence of consumer preferences. Section 4 contains an analysis of the beef sector in terms of structure, competition and marketing strategies. Section 5 concludes the report with a summary of key findings. A number of interviews with slaughtering companies, trade organisations and retail chains in the United Kingdom, Greece and Denmark have been conducted to support the compilation of information for the report. The interviews have contributed to a better understanding of the market and they have provided validation for some of the information gathered in the report. The areas covered concern market trends, relations between actors in the distribution chain, product quality, new product development, branding, advertising and promotion. Where interviews contained valuable insights or comments which were difficult to summarise in a meaningful way, the answers have been reproduced in smaller print in nearly full length. Some of the data are incorporated in the text. The interview guidelines are attached in the Appendix. Five interviews were conducted in Denmark, three in the United Kingdom and four in Greece. The companies are classified according to size and market. Codes are used in the report to identify respondents. A legend of codes can be found in the Appendix.Food; Meat products; European Union

Udviklingen på afsætningsmarkederne for dansk svinekød.

Danmark er verdens niende største producent af svinekød. Ca. 85% af den danske produktion afsættes i udlandet fordelt på ganske få hovedmarkeder. I Europa er de primære aftagere Tyskland, Storbritanien, Frankrig, Italien, mens Japan er det vigtigste marked uden for Europa, efterfulgt af Rusland, USA og Sydkorea. I denne rapport analyseres udviklingen på hjemmemarkedet og i de nævnte eksportmarkeder for dansk svinekød ud fra et værdiperspektiv, og der identificeres markedskrav og trends af betydning for den danske svinesektors muligheder for at fastholde og styrke sin position på de primære afsætingsmarkeder fremover.Svinekød; produktion; Danmark; afsætning; eksportmarkeder

Four cases on market orientation of value chains in agribusiness and fisheries

This working paper presents results from the project ‘Supra-company level determinants of degree of market orientation of value chains in agriculture and fisheries’, which is carried out in cooperation between MAPP – Centre for Research on Customer Relations in the Food Sector, Aarhus School of Business, Denmark, the Norwegian College of Fisheries Science, University of Tromsø, Norway, and the Department of Marketing, University of Stirling, Scotland. It has benefited from grants from the Danish Social Science Research Council and from the Norwegian Research Council. The present working paper is the ‘long’ version of the empirical work in the first major phase of the project, where we study four examples of food value chains to get insight into their degree of market orientation and possible determinants. The insights gained here have been used in subsequent empirical work that is currently underwayMarket orientation;

Den integrerede cykel: - et forsøg på at udvikle en velegnet bycykel.

I artiklen gives en kritisk gennemgang af de cykeltyper, der dominerer cykeltrafikken i Danmark. Der præsenteres nogle af de senere års forsøg på at skabe en egentlig bycykel. Der angives en alternativ indgangsvinkel til opgaven, og konceptet "Den integrerede cykel" opstilles. Til slut beskrives, hvorledes en arbejdsgruppe har søgt at realisere dette koncept ved udvikling og bygning af 6 prototyper, alle med rumligt stel

Patient are satisfied one year after decompression surgery for lumbar spinal stenosis

INTRODUCTION: Lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) is a clinical syndrome of buttock or lower extremity pain, which may occur with or without back pain. The syndrome is associated with diminished space available for the neural and vascular elements in the lumbar spine. LSS is typically seen in elderly patients, its prevalence is estimated to be 47% in people over the age 60 years. LSS is the most common reason for spine surgery in Denmark and the number of surgical procedures is likely to increase due to demographic changes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the patient-reported outcomes and perioperative complications of spinal decompression surgery in LSS patients.METHODS: This study is a retrospective study based on prospectively collected data from 3,420 consecutive patients with clinical and magnetic resonance imaging confirmed LSS. Patients were treated with posterior decompression surgery without fusion. Data were obtained from the DaneSpine register and collected pre- and post-operatively after a minimum interval of one year. The outcome measures were Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), European Quality of Life 5D (EQ-5D), visual analogue score (VAS), 36-Short Form Mental Component Summary (MCS), 36-Short Form Physical Component Summary (PCS) and self-reported walking distance.RESULTS: Of 3,420 cases enrolled, 2,591 (75%) had complete data after a minimum interval of one year. The mean ODI scores were 39.8 and improved to 24. The mean EQ-5D score was 0.40 and improved to 0.66. The mean VAS-leg improved from 54 to 36. The mean VAS-back improved from 46 to 34. The mean MCS improved from 28 to 36, and, finally, the mean PCS improved from 40 to 45. All p-values were 0.0000.CONCLUSION: Surgery improved all the patient-reported outcome measures and 82% of patients were satisfied.FUNDING: none.TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study was registered with the Danish Data Protection Agency.</p

Patient are satisfied one year after decompression surgery for lumbar spinal stenosis

INTRODUCTION: Lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) is a clinical syndrome of buttock or lower extremity pain, which may occur with or without back pain. The syndrome is associated with diminished space available for the neural and vascular elements in the lumbar spine. LSS is typically seen in elderly patients, its prevalence is estimated to be 47% in people over the age 60 years. LSS is the most common reason for spine surgery in Denmark and the number of surgical procedures is likely to increase due to demographic changes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the patient-reported outcomes and perioperative complications of spinal decompression surgery in LSS patients.METHODS: This study is a retrospective study based on prospectively collected data from 3,420 consecutive patients with clinical and magnetic resonance imaging confirmed LSS. Patients were treated with posterior decompression surgery without fusion. Data were obtained from the DaneSpine register and collected pre- and post-operatively after a minimum interval of one year. The outcome measures were Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), European Quality of Life 5D (EQ-5D), visual analogue score (VAS), 36-Short Form Mental Component Summary (MCS), 36-Short Form Physical Component Summary (PCS) and self-reported walking distance.RESULTS: Of 3,420 cases enrolled, 2,591 (75%) had complete data after a minimum interval of one year. The mean ODI scores were 39.8 and improved to 24. The mean EQ-5D score was 0.40 and improved to 0.66. The mean VAS-leg improved from 54 to 36. The mean VAS-back improved from 46 to 34. The mean MCS improved from 28 to 36, and, finally, the mean PCS improved from 40 to 45. All p-values were 0.0000.CONCLUSION: Surgery improved all the patient-reported outcome measures and 82% of patients were satisfied.FUNDING: none.TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study was registered with the Danish Data Protection Agency.</p

Danish national clinical guidelines for surgical and nonsurgical treatment of patients with lumbar spinal stenosis

Purpose: To summarize the recommendations from the national clinical guideline published by the Danish Health Authority regarding surgical and nonsurgical interventions in treatment of lumbar spinal stenosis in patients above the age of 65 years. Methods: A multidisciplinary working group formulated recommendations based on the GRADE approach. Results: Seven of the recommendations were based on randomized controlled trials and three on professional consensus. The guideline recommends surgical decompression for symptomatic lumbar spinal stenosis. Supervised exercise and postsurgical supervised exercise are recommended due to the general beneficial effects of training on general health, even though there was no evidence on an effect on neurogenic pain. The guideline does not recommend manual therapy, paracetamol, NSAIDs, opioids, neurogenic pain medication, muscle relaxants, and decompression combined with instrumented fusion as there was no evidence of the beneficial effect. Conclusion: The recommendations are based on low to very low quality of evidence or professional consensus as well as patient preferences and positive or harmful effects of the intervention. The true treatment effect may therefore be different from the estimated effects, which is why the results should be interpreted with caution. The working group recommends intensified research in relation to all aspects of management of lumbar spinal stenosis. Graphical abstract: These slides can be retrieved under Electronic Supplementary Material.</p

Degenerative Spondylolisthesis Is Associated with Low Spinal Bone Density: A Comparative Study between Spinal Stenosis and Degenerative Spondylolisthesis

Spinal stenosis and degenerative spondylolisthesis share many symptoms and the same treatment, but their causes remain unclear. Bone mineral density has been suggested to play a role. The aim of this study was to investigate differences in spinal bone density between spinal stenosis and degenerative spondylolisthesis patients. 81 patients older than 60 years, who underwent DXA-scanning of their lumbar spine one year after a lumbar spinal fusion procedure, were included. Radiographs were assessed for disc height, vertebral wedging, and osteophytosis. Pain was assessed using the Low Back Pain Rating Scale pain index. T-score of the lumbar spine was significantly lower among degenerative spondylolisthesis patients compared with spinal stenosis patients (−1.52 versus −0.52, P = 0.04). Thirty-nine percent of degenerative spondylolisthesis patients were classified as osteoporotic and further 30% osteopenic compared to only 9% of spinal stenosis patients being osteoporotic and 30% osteopenic (P = 0.01). Pain levels tended to increase with poorer bone status (P = 0.06). Patients treated surgically for symptomatic degenerative spondylolisthesis have much lower bone mass than patients of similar age treated surgically for spinal stenosis. Low BMD might play a role in the development of the degenerative spondylolisthesis, further studies are needed to clarify this