Innovation activities in the European dairy industry

This paper deals with innovation activities in the dairy sector of several European countries, with an emphasis on Germany, and their relation with several market structure variables. Input-oriented measures of innovation like R&D expenditures are discussed and used as well as output-oriented measures like the number of new products. R&D expenditures in the food and drink industry are often lower than in other manufacturing sectors. The importance of R&D expenditures of the food industry within EU member states differs widely. The dairy sector is one of the most active sectors in launching new products. The launching of new products are discussed with respect to the type of enterprises, motives, product categories, and possible relationships with market growth and advertising. SMEs are the driving force of lauching new products in Germany, whereas co-operatives and MNEs launch fewer products. No clear relationship between the number of launches and market growth or equally advertising could be observed. The results are more or less conflicting.