Characteristics of Extremaduran Agri-food Companies According to Innovation Strategies

Agri-food industry is of great importance in the manufacturing industry of Spain and, more specifically, in the Autonomous Community of Extremadura. This industry is undergoing substantial changes that detect the need to include innovation within its strategies to change and adapt its products to new consumers' food demands and markets in order to be more competitive and to differentiate from other producers. As in other industries, innovation provides agri-food companies with the possibility of generating higher incomes and increasing their productivity and competitiveness. Based on these considerations, the main objective of this study is to analyze how agri-food companies in Extremadura value the importance of innovation in their strategies, and to carry out their characterization based on innovation strategies. Data have been taken from a survey conducted in 2013 from which a representative sample of agri-food companies was selected. Exploratory factor analysis differentiates four types of strategies based on the importance that companies give to innovation, from which firms are characterized according to a series of variables such as size, innovative activity, innovation barriers, benefits of innovation, and demand of public actions. The results obtained permit to differentiate typologies of agri-food companies from the innovative policy point of view. This characterization is important and useful for designing public policies.