Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate consumer preferences in the Slovenian context with regard to cheese, ham and honey labelled with the national and EU protected designation of origin (PDO) indication and the protected geographical indication (PGI) associated with price and origin.Design/methodology/approach: An online survey with a representative sample of the Slovenian population of 650 consumers was conducted. Consumer preferences were estimated using choice-based conjoint analysis.Findings: The findings show that price is the most powerful driver of consumer preferences for cheese and honey, whereas it is origin for ham, which proved to be the most strongly desired “Slovenian” food product of all items analysed. Label is the least preferable attribute for all three products considered. Cheese, ham and honey bearing the national PDO and PGI labels were more desired than products carrying the EU PDO and PGI labels. The study findings also show the main statistically significant differences in the age and gender of consumers.Research limitations/implications: The biggest limitation is that the study focused on certain labels only, related to quality, and origin in particular.Practical implications: This result highlights the need to extend and intensify promotional and communication activities to increase consumer preferences for the national and EU PDO- and PGI-labelled cheeses, ham and honey.Originality/value: This study contributes to relevant literature by presenting the results regarding consumer preferences for the EU and national quality labels for different food categories in Slovenia, which has no tradition in using the EU quality labels.

The bedding material used in barns for dairy cows has a significant effect on animal welfare and performance. Bedding influences the duration in which animals remain lying down and, consequently, the processes of rumination and milk production. It is crucial to have a complete understanding of the properties of bedding materials and the effects of alternative bedding materials on dairy cattle. This paper aims to evaluate the physical, chemical, and biological properties of various alternative and conventional bedding materials for dairy cattle for use in compost bedded pack or freestall barn systems. We analyzed 50 samples of 17 bedding materials produced in 3 European countries. We analyzed physical properties including the water holding capacity, porosity, moisture content, bulk density, dry bulk density, and particle size. Chemical analyses were performed to determine the total N, total organic C, and C:N ratio. In the biological analyses, the Escherichia coli count, total bacteria count, coliform count, and Klebsiella spp. count were assessed. The results demonstrated how the physical properties of the bedding materials may influence the chemical and biological properties. All of the materials presented adequate chemical properties to be used as bedding material. The physical properties of the bedding materials differed widely among the materials except for the dry bulk density, which presented no difference. Moreover, the contamination of each studied microorganism was observed for each bedding material to determine which material had the lowest level of contamination. Posidonia oceanica, Miscanthus grass, and spelt husks could be considered as a potential alternative material for use as bedding material for dairy cows in both systems (i.e., composted bedded pack and freestall). This experiment illustrated the importance of performing thorough physical, chemical, and biological analyses before implementing a material as bedding for dairy cattle.

The impact of cow mammary gland diseases on the quality of colostrum is not conclusively defined; research results are conflicting. However, it is widely believed that mastitis lowers the level of immunoglobulins and the quality of the colostrum produced. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the influence of somatic cell counts (SCC) on the colostrum immunostimulating and chemical components. The experiment was conducted on an experimental organic dairy farm in which a herd of approximately 250 cows was kept in a freestall housing system, with the average performance exceeding 6,000 kg of milk per lactation. Colostrum and milk samples were taken individually from each cow seven times during the experiment: from the first to second day after calving–twice per day, and from the third to fifth day after calving–once per day. Therefore, after preliminary analyses, the cows were divided into two groups based on the cytological quality of their colostrum at the first collection: 1. SCC ≤400,000 cells/ml (good quality colostrum; GCC– 18 cows), 2. SCC ≥ 400,000 cells/ml (low quality colostrum; LCC– 22 cows). The study found almost double the concentration of immunoglobulins and essential fatty acids in first milking colostrum in the GCC group than in colostrum from the LCC group. In addition, an increase in the concentration of lysozyme in first milking colostrum was associated with a decrease in the concentration of immunoglobulins. In addition, the increase in the level of lysozyme was associated with a decrease in the concentration of immunoglobulins. In conclusion, the SCC of first milking colostrum can be used as an indicator of colostrum quality.

To evaluate market-oriented strategic decision-making by farmers in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) farm development paths of dairy farmers in Slovenia, Poland and Lithuania were analysed. The influence of internal strengths and weaknesses, external opportunities and threats, and farmer goals on strategic choices and performance were explored. Principal component, hierarchical cluster and regression analyses were performed to test the conceptual framework. Seven strategic groups emerged with specific development paths, that is, Wait and see, Movers, Chain integrators, Specializers and Diversifiers. The latter two split into cooperative and independent groups. Maximisation of profit and sustainable farming ranked highest as farming goals. Availability of land and labour were weaknesses for all strategic groups in all countries. External opportunities and threats varied between countries and to a lesser degree between strategic groups. The Wait and see and Cooperating diversifier groups gave less optimistic scores than other strategic groups. The attitudes of CEE farmers towards the market and future Common Agricultural Policy remain more negative than those of a group of Western European farmers. The results of this study confirm that internal strengths and weaknesses, external opportunities and threats, together with farmers’ goals and strategies influence farmer performance, but independently of each other. Strategies do not appear to be a mediating variable between the internal and external environment of the farm and the performance of the farm. Policy makers, companies and extension workers should take the heterogeneity in strategic development into account when dealing with these and similar groups of farms.

In recent years, like others in Europe, the Slovenian government has introduced national and European quality schemes and launched a campaign to inform consumers and boost demand for local products. Very few studies consider consumers' hedonic liking of different food products labeled with Protected Designation of Origin (PDO)/Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) indications. This study therefore aims to fill this research gap and identify whether information affects the hedonic liking of various typical Slovenian PDO/PGI‐labeled products compared to their alternative conventional food products, whether Slovenian consumers like different typical Slovenian PDO/PGI‐labeled food products relative to their conventional food products, and which food products they sensorically prefer. The study findings show consumer hedonic liking is identical for all PDO/PGI‐labeled regional products, yet their sensory preferences reveal some significant differences between the analyzed products by age, gender, and education. Accordingly, studies should employ different sensory analyses for different food products and not generalized consumer hedonic liking/preference based on just one food product.Practical applications: The finding that consumers do not hold hedonic preferences for either PDO/PGI‐labeled or conventional products when both informed and blind has significant implications for the Slovenian government, the marketers of labeled products and consumer policy aiming to promote better labeled products. For transition countries like Slovenia that have recently introduced food products labeling meeting EU standard but have a relatively small food industry based on local ingredients, traditional recipes, and production methods, our findings reveal the need to extend and intensify promotion and communication activities that highlight the guaranteed quality and use of local ingredients to boost consumers' preferences for PDO/PGI‐labeled products like cheese, ham, and honey.

The study analyses the importance of the protected designation of origin (PDO) as a selection criterion in purchases of traditional food products in a consumer’s daily life, the awareness of products with a PDO label, and determinants of use of the PDO label for purchasing PDO-labelled products. A survey questionnaire was distributed by regular mail to a representative sample of Slovenian consumers. The survey results show that the presence of a PDO label on a food package is not too important for respondents. Slovenian consumers tend to pay greater attention to the taste of the product, its positive impact on their health, and the ingredients. There is low awareness of PDO-labelled products, which may be explained by the fact that Slovenia has a weak tradition in using geographical indications. Among consumers who were aware of products with a PDO label, their interests and quality perceptions played a significant role in shaping their use of the PDO label. The study demonstrated a direct relationship between the belief the PDO signals a better-quality product and use of the PDO label.