15.01.2024 - Just published: A Bibliometric Analysis of Trends in the Relationship between Innovation and Food
An insightful article titled "A Bibliometric Analysis of Trends in the Relationship between Innovation and Food" was published by Dr. Gulnara Dzhunushalieva, a Senior Researcher at the University of Central Asia, and Prof. Ramona Teuber, a Professor for Agricultural and Food Markets Analysis at the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Nutritional Sciences, and Environmental Management, JLU Giessen. This article, published in the British Food Journal, explores the intricate dynamics between food and innovation, where sustainability changes the landscape, highlighting environmental, social, and economic pillars of innovation.
Abstract
Purpose
Food-related innovations might contribute to a qualitative leap in the transition to sustainable food systems. In this article, the authors map the existing literature on food and innovation in order to identify and systematise major research streams and relate them to current discussions on sustainability. The authors rely on a broad definition of innovation covering specific technological innovations as well as social, environmental and system innovations.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors analysed the relationship between innovation and food through bibliometric and content analysis, augmented with visualisation based on data (N = 7,987) extracted from the Web of Science. The published volume, research areas and influential journals were investigated using descriptive analyses.
Findings
This review categorises the literature on innovation and food into six main clusters, showing that most of the studies are carried out at the macro-level related to the global sustainable food systems. Network visualisation allowed them to distribute recent keywords associated with innovation across the agri-food value chain. Moreover, the authors identified environmental, social, and economic pillars of innovation, which not only relate to sustainability but are also associated with open innovation as well as social innovation and eco-innovation.
Originality/value
This bibliometric analysis is amongst the first to examine the holistic knowledge structure surrounding a triple concept of innovation, food and sustainability. In addition, the study identifies research gaps and indicates new research directions, which add further value.
Read more about research gaps and potential directions for advancing innovation in the food domain in the paper, which is available here.
Reference: Dzhunushalieva, G.D., and Teuber, R. (2024). A bibliometric analysis of trends in the relationship between innovation and food. British Food Journal, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-08-2022-0695