Canadian Consumers’ Dining Behaviors during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications for Channel Decisions in the Foodservice Industry

Big data-driven spatio-temporal heterogeneity analysis of Beijing's catering service industry during the COVID-19 pandemic

The Catering Service Industry (CSI) experienced profound impacts due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the long-term and multi-timepoint analysis using big data remained limited, influencing governmental decision-making. We applied Kernel Density Estimation, Shannon Diversity Index, and the Geographic detector to explore the spatial heterogeneity and determinants of the CSI in Beijing during the pandemic, with monthly granularity. The temporal-spatial dynamics of the CSI presented a "W"-shaped trend from 2018 to 2023, with pivotal shifts aligning with key pandemic stages. Spatial characteristics exhibited heterogeneity, with greater stability in the city center and more pronounced shifts in peripheral urban zones. Districts facing intricate outbreaks showed lower catering income, and Chinese eateries exhibited heightened resilience compared to others. The CSI displayed strong interconnections with living service sectors. Development in each district was influenced by economic level, population distribution, service facilities convenience, and the risk of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dominant factors included total retail sales of consumer goods, permanent population, average Baidu Heat Index, density of transportation and catering service facilities, infection cases and the consecutive days with confirmed cases existing. Consequently, we suggested seizing post-pandemic recovery as an avenue to unlock the CSI's substantial potential, ushering a fresh phase of growth.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Food Safety Inspection Outcomes in Toronto, Canada: A Bayesian Interrupted Time Series Analysis

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic resulted in major disruptions to the food service industry and regulatory food inspections. The objective of this study was to conduct an interrupted time series analysis to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on food safety inspection trends in Toronto, Canada. Inspection data for restaurants and take-out establishments were obtained from 2017 to 2022 and summarized as weekly counts of inspections, pass ratings, and total infractions. Bayesian segmented regression was conducted to evaluate the impact of the pandemic on weekly infraction and inspection pass rates. On average, a 0.31-point lower weekly infraction rate (95% credible interval [CI]: 0.23, 0.40) and a 2.0% higher probability of passing inspections (95% CI: 1.1%, 3.0%) were predicted in the pandemic period compared to prepandemic. Models predicted lower infraction rates and higher pass rates immediately following the pandemic, with additional variability compared to the prepandemic period, that were regressing back toward pre-pandemic levels in 2022. Seasonal effects were also identified, with infraction rates highest in April and pass rates lowest in August. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an initial positive effect on food safety outcomes in restaurants and take-out food establishments in Toronto, but this effect appears to be temporary. This finding could be due to the beneficial impact of COVID-19 protection measures in these establishments or other factors such as less volume of customers. Additional research is needed to investigate causes of the identified differences as well as seasonal and long-term inspection trends postpandemic. Results can inform future food safety inspection planning, outreach, and pandemic preparedness.

A scientometric review of hotspots and emerging trends in sustainable business model

A sustainable business model (SBM) has become an inevitable trend for the traditional business model to follow the development of the times. Based on scientometrics, we explored and visually analyzed SBM's hotspots and emerging trends using the references co-citation networks, landmark references, burst references, keywords co-occurring networks, timeline map, and burst keywords indicators. Our findings consist of four aspects: hotspots and emerging trends, hotspots evolution history, landmark references, and burst references evolution history. First, the core hotspots are "sustainable innovation" and "open innovation". Second, the main hotspots have evolved from "sustainable innovation," "strategy," "performance," and "supply chain" from 1998 to 2012 into "resource-based view," "product-service system," "China," "life cycle assessment," and "conceptual framework" in 2013-2017. And "circular economy," "renewable energy," "value creation," "decarbonization" have appeared since 2019, which are emerging trends of SBM. Third, we have found ten landmark references in total. Articles written by Bocken & Short, Boons & Ludeke-Freund, and Zott & Amit are the three most landmark references that significantly impact the whole field. Last, the top 10 cited references have burst since 2011 and lasted until 2022. The article written by Teece became a long-term cited hotspot from 2011 to 2018. Moreover, the article written by Geissdoerfer & Vladimirova, which burst in 2020-2022, was the most cutting-edge. This research aims to enrich the existing research theories related to SBM and help governments and enterprises capture hotspots and emerging trends of SBM so that they can better understand and study SBM.

Consumer Perceptions about the Value of Short Food Supply Chains during COVID-19: Atlantic Canada Perspective

The recent global COVID-19 pandemic has revealed weaknesses in the global food system, with short food supply chains (SFSCs) and long food supply chains (LFSC) being impacted differently. This raises the question as to whether the pandemic has contributed to a greater interest in and demand for locally produced foods. To answer this question, a study was undertaken to explore how consumers perceive SFSCs in delivering social, economic, and environmental benefits and whether these perceptions have been enhanced during the pandemic. A survey was carried out among consumers in Atlantic Canada who purchase food from SFSCs. Based on 80 valid responses, the findings revealed that consumers perceive SFSCs to deliver more social benefits post-pandemic than they thought SFSCs did before the pandemic. Supporting the local economy, food safety, freshness, and product quality are key motivators of shopping from SFSCs. Consumer perceptions about the sustainability of SFSCs did not vary much based on sociodemographic factors. Also, the COVID-19 pandemic did not significantly alter consumer spending and frequency of shopping from SFSCs. This may affect the SFSCs’ ability to expand operations beyond current levels and suggest the complementarity between SFSCs and LFSCs for more sustainable consumption patterns. The study provides valuable insights into the attractiveness of the local food businesses and the effect of unexpected events such as COVID-19 on consumer behaviors.