ON INNOVATION AND MEETING REGULATION THE CASE OF THE BELGIAN FOOD INDUSTRY

The food industry represents one of the most important industries in the Belgian economy. Over the last decades, however, the food sector faced dramatic changes. Internationalisation and the succession of food scares forced the food industry to introduce innovations. The core argument of this paper is that food manufacturing companies have responded to the changing environment through strategies that are not R&D based but do correspond to what is understood as innovation in the new economy. The paper therefor builds on literature in the domain of the new economy, economics and policies of the Belgian food industry and the principles of specific food innovations.