Applebaum Best Thesis Award Winner – David Ortega

The William Applebaum Memorial Scholarship is awarded annually by the Food Distribution Research Society for outstanding graduate student research in food distribution and marketing. Current Ph.D and former Master student of our department, David Ortega is the winner of its 2009 MS Thesis Award.

Ortega’s thesis is entitled “Essays on Mead Demand in China.” It is composed of two essays, one on general meat demand and the other on urban consumer preferences for imported pork, both for Chinese markets. The empirical research is based on market surveys Ortega conducted in China during the summer of 2008 with his thesis advisor, Dr. Holly Wang. Two other members of Ortega’s thesis committee are Drs. Ken Foster and James Eales.

The results show that Chinese meat consumption keeps increasing, and the largest share in future meat expenditure increase will be allocated to pork. Chinese consumers’ willingness-to-pay for U.S. pork is heavily influences by food safety concerns.  They are reluctant in purchasing pork fed with lean meat additives.  
This scholarship is named after William Applebaum, Chief of Staff, Market Research Division: The Kroger Grocery and Baking Company; Assistant General Manager, Stop & Shop, Inc; and Lecturer on Food Distribution and Comparative Marketing, Graduate School of Business Administration, Harvard University.

David's winning abstract may be viewed here.

David's recent trip to China