Assessment of Beef Quality Determinants in the Retailing Premises

Abstract

This study explains how infrastructure and beef processing practices in beef retailing premises (BRPs) are useful for beef purchasing decision. In this respect, features and beef retailing practices were assessed against the questionability of beef that is retailed in least developing countries (LDCs). This assessment was carried out by testing the null hypothesis that hypothesizes that BRPs in Dar es Salaam and Mbeya cities do not comply with the FAO technical requirements. The retailed beef in many BRPs is compromised with the status of the infrastructural development, the situation that may result in the questionability of the consumed beef. The Likert based information regarding 22 beef quality impacting factors (BQIF) from BRPs in Dar es Salaam and Mbeya, respectively, was analyzed with respect to the gaps identified and beef retailing conceptual model. This study is important as it provides general picture in connection to the status of the assessed BQIF in BRPs for the cities in the least developing countries (LDCs). In this regard, the study has shown that the compliance of BRPs in the LDCs' cities is too weak to meet the infrastructural technical requirements due to existence of more stringent provisions in the developed specifications. The study finally identified the local infrastructural beef quality determinants in LDCs' BRPs as the gap to be bridged by other studies.