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Article history: In a rapidly changing ecological, economic and political environment, environmentally sustainable and
Received 2 April 2013 energy-efcient farming systems are required (SCAR, 2008). The development and adoption of innovation
Received in revised form 23 February 2015 are critical to improve the competitiveness of organic and low-input dairy systems. Understanding the
Accepted 25 April 2015
viewpoints of dairy supply-chain members on acceptable innovation is important to be able to improve
Available online 14 May 2015
organic and low-input dairy supply chains. This study uses Stephensons Q methodology to investigate
the opinions of organic and low-input dairy supply-chain members in relation to innovation in the dairy
Keywords:
sector. A sample of dairy supply-chain members (consumers, farmers, retailers, processors) was recruited
Innovation
Organic farming
from each European country involved in the study (Belgium, Italy, Finland, the United Kingdom). On the
Dairy supply chain one hand, the data show a high degree of consensus across all of the participants within the supply chain,
Q-methodology for whom innovations were deemed not to be acceptable in organic (from an ethical and/or regulatory
perspective) and low-input dairy systems. On the other hand, the consumer views of acceptable dairy
innovations were centred around animal welfare, while the farmers and processors/retailers preferred
innovations related to feed quality, feed efciency, and soil management. This study illustrates the value
of Q methodology in eliciting subjectivities about food-policy-related issues.
2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2015.04.008
0306-9192/ 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
26 S. Mandolesi et al. / Food Policy 54 (2015) 2534
a product distribution, price or communication can lead to an the farm level (e.g., organic milk) and the processing level (e.g.:
innovation, either in a process and/or in a product, or in the eyes high quality, branding and product innovation) (DG Agri, 2012).
of one, or more, of the actors in a supply chain. Supply chain perspectives towards innovations that facilitate
Depending on who perceives the newness, we can regard a the use of breeds and feeding strategies to maintain productivity,
given product as new or not. Newness in the eyes of the producer improve animal health and welfare while meeting the market
or the distributor does not necessarily translate into innovation in requirement for high quality milk, can be relevant.
the eyes of the consumer (Grunert and Traill, 1997). In the food The present study investigates the role of innovation in organic
system, for example, innovations at the level of the farmer maybe and low-input dairy supply chains as an instrument to improve the
related to new technology or resources used in the eld that were competitiveness of the dairy system. The purpose is to contribute
not previously available (e.g., a special harvesting machine) or to the understanding of the expectations of organic and
innovations at the level of the distributor maybe related to low-input dairy supply-chain members in relation to innovations
new storage strategies, or time-saving changes might not be per- along the whole supply chain that enhance the sustainability of
ceived at the consumer level, unless they translate into price the farming systems.
reductions or increased value for money. We have applied Q methodology to investigate the perspectives
The market is affected by consumer distrust in new products of the supply-chain members towards innovations in organic and
and by product failures. Failure rates for new products in consumer low-input dairy supply chains. This methodology is particularly
food markets have been reported to vary a lot, ranging from 33% up suited to the study of the subjectivity and attitudes of people
to 80% (Doan and Chambers, 2012; Jongen and Meulenberg, 2005). towards new issues. First, we provide a brief description of Q
Many studies have extensively investigated the reasons for success methodology and of our specic application to innovation in dairy
or failure, across a wide range of new products and different indus- systems. The data are then presented and discussed, with specic
tries. The results here have shown that the consumer level of reference to the EU dairy sector. Our conclusions focus on both
acceptance of innovations is only part of the issue. Consumer needs supply-chain member consensus and the differing viewpoints on
should be taken into consideration as a point of departure for an innovations, to dene how more sustainable farming systems can
effective new product-development strategy, but R&D is only one be achieved while enhancing the competitiveness of organic and
of the steps that determine whether innovations are successful low-input dairy systems.
or not (Grunert and Traill, 1997). Extensive knowledge of the mar-
ketplace, along with company skills and communication in
cross-functional teams involved in new product development, Materials and methods
and as well as communication along the supply chain, are all
together the factors that will improve the chances of success of Q methodology was developed in the 1930s by William
innovations (Jongen and Meulenberg, 2005; Capitanio et al., Stephenson, one of the most gifted students and assistants of
2009). In particular, from among these strategies, cooperation Charles Spearman, the inventor of factor analysis (Stephenson,
along the supply chain, which has also been referred to as 1935, 1936a, 1936b, 1953; Burt and Stephenson, 1939).
co-innovation, is an important element of success for innovations Stephenson introduced his new method as a means of systemati-
in the food industry (Omta and Folstar, 2005). cally identifying clusters of viewpoints about a topic.
Fostering innovations in the food system should be protable at In the Stephenson approach, we shift from by-variable factor
the farm level, to produce competitive food products in the market analysis (the standard approach, which in Stephensons papers
place, as well as producing environmentally sustainable and was addressed as the R methodology) to by-person factor analysis
energy-efcient products at the same time (SCAR, 2008). The (Q methodology) (Watts and Stenner, 2012). By inverting the rows
capacity of a company to produce innovations that will be accepted and the columns of a typical factor analysis, Q methodology moves
and understood along the supply chain, until the nal consumer, is the focus from variables and patterns across variables to the
of utmost importance. Hence, having a deep understanding of the inter-correlations and patterns across individuals (Previte et al.,
levels of acceptance of innovations along the supply chain is just 2007). As Q methodology focuses on correlations between individ-
as important as understanding consumer acceptance. However, uals (not between variables), factor analysis is used to group the
to date, most investigations into food innovations have been from people with similar opinions. The strength of Q methodology is
the consumer side. There is little literature on acceptance of innova- the chance to use the data e.g., opinions by different groups of
tive technologies and products in the food area along the supply people to identify common or divergent patterns, while allowing
chain, compared to the literature on examining consumer accep- subjects to explain their choices in their own words and possibly to
tance of food innovations (Ronteltap et al., 2007). interpret the subjects point of view (Brown, 1980; McKeown and
The European dairy industry, with a turnover of 53 billions Thomas, 1988) to identify possible solutions in different elds
euros in 2011, of which 8.1 billion exported (DG Agri, 2012), (e.g., political, social, environmental).
contributes to 14% of total agricultural production (Marquer, Q methodology has traditionally been applied in psychology
2013). Despite some country differences the milk production of and medical research (McKeown and Thomas, 1988), although it
the 28 EU Member States has been increasing over the last is now used in a broader range of social sciences disciplines
decade, making the EU one of the worlds leading milk producers. (Hall, 2008; Barry and Proops, 1999). The application of Q method-
According to Eurostat, the EU milk production in the year 2012 ology in agricultural research is relatively limited to date (Brodt
was forecasted to exceed 157 billion tons from over 23.1 million et al., 2006; Davies and Hodge, 2007; Eden et al., 2008; Hall,
head of cattle. 2008; Kristensen and Enevoldsen, 2008; Fairweather, 2010;
Nevertheless, the European milk system, operating within the Kristensen and Jakobsen, 2011; Augustin et al., 2012; Nicholas
framework of milk quotas set to address the issue of surplus pro- et al., 2014), although its use is slowly expanding.
duction since 1984 but to be abandoned in April 2015 is going to Q methodology was used to identify different farmer goals and
face new challenges. Dairy supply chain members are going to management styles that characterise different farming approaches
operate in a rapidly changing environment. Increased competitions (e.g., Environmental Stewards, Production Maximizers, and
on world markets, but also the need for a sustainable development Networking Entrepreneurs; Brodt et al., 2006) and different envi-
of the European milk sector, are expected to affect the sectors ronmental management styles (e.g., Environmentalists,
competitiveness. This process will induce more innovation at both Progressives, Commodity Conservationists, Jeffersonians and
S. Mandolesi et al. / Food Policy 54 (2015) 2534 27
Yeomen; Davies and Hodge, 2007). It has also been used to identify and medium enterprises and the academic partners and policy
the attitudes of farmers towards genetically modied (GM) crops stakeholders in organic and low-input dairying. The questionnaire
(e.g., pro GM, uncertain position, or a fatalistic attitude towards was designed to collect data on the innovations in
the adoption and impact of GM technology; Hall, 2008). farming/supply-chain practices that the subjects would like to
Fairweather (2010) applied Q methodology to dairy-farming sys- see for the organic dairy sector in their country, and those they
tems in combination with a causal mapping technique, to dene would like to see for their own organic business or for those that
a new model of socio-ecological dairy systems. Relevant Q studies they represent.
on the dairy sector have also been reported in other studies. The concourse consisted of over 200 statements. To reduce
Kristensen and Enevoldsen (2008) explored farmer expectations these to a manageable number that could be presented and ranked
in relation to participation in a health management programme by the respondents, a subset of statements was drawn from the
by the describing of four factors: Teamwork, Animal welfare, concourse, which formed the so-called Q sample. To make these
Knowledge dissemination and Production. Then Kristensen and statements fully representative of the concourse, the Fisher exper-
Jakobsen (2011) investigated the perception of risk of disease imental design principles were applied, as suggested by Brown
and the importance of biosecurity for dairy farmers. Augustin (1970, 1993). A deductive factorial design was used to group the
et al. (2012) described the contribution of the dairy industry to glo- large number of potential statements into theoretical categories.
bal food security, highlighting the importance of an integrated The deductive approach was preferred to the inductive approach
approach across the whole supply chain, to improve the sustain- (e.g., Glaser and Strauss, 1967), where the categories emerge from
ability of the dairy industry. Kramer et al. (2003), applying Q patterns that are observed during the collection of the statements
methodology to investigate different perspectives of dairy produc- (McKeown and Thomas, 1988), given the research objectives. By
ers non-participating to a dairy herd improvement project, identi- applying this approach 3 a priori hypothetical or theoretical con-
ed four different viewpoints sometimes critical for program cepts (as in Dryzek and Berejikian, 1993) were dened Breeds,
improvement: productive efciency; unaware producers; eco- Feed and Management practice on farm and supply chain. Than
nomic resources; social pressures. Nevertheless, despite a range the statements were organised by these thematic areas into a
of attempts in elds such as food (Eden et al., 2008; Kramer 9-cell matrix (3 levels 3 themes) (Table 1) (McKeown and
et al., 2003) and agricultural policy (Pelletier et al., 1999), the Thomas, 1988). A Q sample of 34 statements (the Q set), was struc-
potential role of Q methodology in agricultural research, remains tured. The theoretical structure developed for use in this study was
mostly related to a single group of individuals. Usually farmers not completely balanced, but an unequal number of statements in
or stakeholders viewpoints are explored, but the advantages of each cell aimed to guarantee a full coverage of the original con-
structuring subjectivities for establishing common or divergent course population. After a pilot study held in Aberystwyth in
viewpoints in comparison groups is lost. December 2011, we rened the statements included in the nal
Few studies adopted Q methodology as a means to identify and Q sample and their actual wording. Due to the trans-national nat-
understand the viewpoints of different group of individuals. Group ure of this study, the nal Q sample as the concourse was
comparisons, that is studies showing the same Q sample to differ- developed in English. Each statement was translated and back
ent group of people (different P set), are usually studied when sev- translated, from English to the national languages of the countries
eral countries are involved and previous knowledge of the country involved in the survey (Finland, Belgium, Italy, the United
cultural and linguistic differences is relevant in the concourse Kingdom), to test the comprehension of the statements in a way
preparation (Brown and Feist, 1992; Rhoads and Brown, 2002; that was understandable in any cultural context (Brislin, 1970).
Webler and Tuler, 2006; Courtois et al., 2013). Even fewer Q stud- The pilot study aim was twofold: it allowed checking the consis-
ies compare groups of people with different cultural background in tency of the Q sample out of the concourse gathered through a
a specic topic (e.g. consumers and producers like in the present diversity of sources , but also solving problems of comprehension
study): Deignan (2009) compares students and teachers perspec- out of the target population. To tackle the issue of different social
tives on the same educational programme, while Deignan (2012) languages between consumers, farmers and retailers/processors,
compares viewpoints of North-England university students with following Deignan (2012), we allowed for heteroglossia and the
dyslexia and their specialist dyslexia support staff in a context of plural nature of subjectivity by wording statements in the least
a policy change in relation to dyslexia support. Finally, (technically) complex language: that of consumers, to be sure that
Donaldson et al. (2010), in their yet unpublished study, compare understanding was not biasing values and viewpoints.
views of different groups in different countries in the context of All of the selected statements were randomly numbered and
a healthcare EU project. printed onto separate cards.
As the study focused on the understanding of the points of view
of dairy supply-chain members, the participant sample P set
Procedure and sampling was structured to include a sample of respondents who were the-
oretically relevant to the problem under consideration (Van Exel
Q methodology consists of ve steps (McKeown and Thomas, and de Graaf, 2005). People working in the supply chain
1988): construction of the concourse, development of the Q sam- (Farmers, Processors and Retailers) plus dairy consumers were
ple, selection of the P set, Q sorting, and Q factor analysis1. selected in each of the four European Countries (Belgium,
In Q methodology, the concourse refers to, the ow of commu- Finland, Italy, and the United Kingdom).
nicability surrounding any topic (Brown, 1993), which is repre-
sented by a collection of all of the possible statements that
Table 1
respondents might make about the subject at hand (Van Exel and The structured sampling matrix.
de Graaf, 2005). We developed our concourse by combining mate-
rials obtained from previous studies on innovations in the Themes
dairy-farming system with the answers derived from a question- Q sample (n = 34 statements) Breeds Feed Management
naire sent by email to the Sustainable Organic and Low-Input practice
Dairying (SOLID) European project partners including the small Levels Organic 2 5 5
Low input 4 3 7
Conventional 3 3 2
1
For further details on the Q methodology, see Brown (1980).
28 S. Mandolesi et al. / Food Policy 54 (2015) 2534
+1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 +7 +8 +9
+1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 +7 +8 +9
+2 +3 +4 +5 +6 +7 +8
+3 +4 +5 +6 +7
+4 +5 +6
+5
Table 3
Factor arrays.
category of opinion regarding the topic under investigation viewpoint the same factors could probably have been gotten from
(Brown, 1986). other subjects but in the ways in which the various viewpoints
A scree test plotting of the eigenvalues on a line graph also themselves differ. In our case, the subjects Q sort is attributed to
conrmed the choice for the three categories. In the scree test, the the factor that has the highest proportion in the communality2.
number of factors to extract was selected by looking at a sort of el- The interpretation of factors proceeded in terms of factor arrays
bow in the graph, as the point at which the line changes slope (Addams, 2000), which are the scores obtained for each statement
(Watts and Stenner, 2012). Once the two factors were selected, as a sort of weighted average of the scores given to that statement
the varimax rotation was used to maximize the amount of study by the Q sorts related to that factor (Addams and Proops, 2000).
variance explained (Watts and Stenner, 2012). The factor arrays are shown in Table 3 for each category of respon-
Factor estimates were obtained by attributing sorts to a factor dents (Consumers, Farmers, Retailers & Processors).
following a simple two-step strategy: (1) factors estimates are pre- The factors are the subjective composite viewpoints that
pared by weighted averaging only those Q sorts that load signi- emerged from the participants in the Q sorting process.
cantly on a given factor; (2) in case one sorts is confounded, i.e. Distinguishing statements outline different attitudes or viewpoints
loads signicantly on more than a factor, then the sort is attributed on the discourse surrounding the topic being investigated. For each
to the factor having the highest loading. This strategy allows max- supply chain category, distinguishing statements ranked
imising the exploratory power (not be confused with explanatory
power) of the factors without compromising on accuracy of data 2
The communality (h2) is the sum of squares of the factor loadings by rows and is a
representation. Indeed, using Browns (1980) words, we are not measure of the extent to which a persons response has something in common with
generally interested in what particular persons rendered a the other subjects (Brown, 1980).
30 S. Mandolesi et al. / Food Policy 54 (2015) 2534
Table 4 Table 5
Rotated factor loadings for Consumers. Rotated factor loadings for Farmers.
(P < 0.05). and health were highly valued. Innovation in animal housing was
relevant to increased animal welfare (16, +4),3 together with pro-
statistically signicantly differently by the factor group and longed maternal feeding (12, +4) and innovations that eliminate
eventually consensus statements i.e., similarly liked or disliked the use of antibiotics (13, +3). Innovations focused in other areas
between the 2 factors were identied for understanding the posi- were less interesting.
tions represented by the factor groups. The importance of animal welfare, as explained by the partici-
pants during the post-sort discussions and interviews, was related
Consumers to ethical reasons. Consumers in this group are strongly reluctant
for innovation that might have negative impacts on animal welfare
Animal welfare appeared relevant for both factors, although or might change the rhythms of nature. Ethical concerns, speci-
with differing underlying motivations; in the rst factor, the focus cally in relation to standards of animal welfare, explain the reason
was on the animal; in the second factor, the quality and its effects why any chemicals processing should be banned and indoor dairy
on human health appeared to be more relevant. Factor 1 explained systems should be improved. For example, this factor rejected the
27% of the study variance and 20 participants were signicantly innovation of improving the digestibility of feeds via physical,
associated with this factor. Factor 2 explained 20% of the study chemical, or other processing (32, 3); while improving animal
variance and 16 participants were signicantly associated with this welfare in indoor dairy system (34, +3), is a mean to provide the
second factor. Factor 1 is a bipolar factor: there are positive and animals in organic dairy systems already free range systems
negative loadings (Table 4) on this factor. This suggests a conict with higher levels of welfare.
within the factor. This factor includes a UK consumer whose view-
point, albeit focussing on the same innovation statements, is oppo- Factor 2: Quality advocacy
site of the way all the others perceive the most relevant This factor represents the viewpoint that we are what we eat.
innovations. We could have split the factor and considered the con- Therefore, what the cows eat will inuence the health of the cow
sumer to be a factor of her own, but since there is nothing special and the milk quality. The idea of this factor is that using better for-
about this particular consumer and since it is unwise to make a fac- age could inuence the quality of milk (7, +4). Another relevant
tor out of one sort only (Brown, 1980; Watts and Stenner, 2012) innovation for this group was related to the use of herbs in pas-
we have preferred not to do so and simply note his idiosyncratic tures with phytotherapeutic properties (6, +4). This factor sup-
viewpoint. ported improving the milk quality by applying innovations only
when they follow natural cycles, promote a natural feeding, by
Factor 1: Natural animal health and welfare purism
For this factor, the three top-ranked distinguishing statements 3
In the brackets from this point on, there are the number of the statement (in
show that innovations aimed at improvements to animal welfare bold) and the factor(s) average Q scores (arrays).
S. Mandolesi et al. / Food Policy 54 (2015) 2534 31
clearly the case for statement nos. 18, 26 and 28, which never might benet more from increasing world demand (Tacken et al.,
reached factor scores >3 in the arrays. As highlighted in other 2009).
studies, when individuals perceive food processing technologies Even though innovations to improve animal welfare are impor-
as unfamiliar due to the possible presence of unacceptable uncer- tant to Farmers and Retailers & Processors groups, these two
tainty or unknown risks (Grunert et al., 2011), related innovations groups prefer those innovations that are related to feed quality,
are rejected or at least considered suspicious. efciency and soil management. Especially for Farmers, the feeding
Furthermore, rating some rather complex and technical innova- quality and the efciency of resources used appeared to be impor-
tions well-known to farmers, but somewhat unknown to con- tant in the evaluation of innovation priorities; they particularly
sumers, accounts for some of the observed variability in Q sorts. valued those innovations that lead to minimising the use of pur-
Even if we accounted for the heteroglossia and used the least tech- chased feed through better use of home-grown feed and new for-
nical language, some consumers did not have full previous knowl- age varieties, and the contemporary aims for improvements in
edge of all the concepts and innovations presented. Consumers the input quality. The post-sorting interviews and discussions
strongly disliked and rejected all innovations related to farming showed that one group of Farmers (factor two) especially favoured
practices that moved away from natural cycles and organic agri- innovations relating to sustainability only if they can also improve
culture (statements nos. 26, 28, 29, 32, 33). the economic viability of the farm. Organic and low-input dairy
The consensus on innovations that related to the quality of systems have received much attention as more sustainable meth-
feed and new forage varieties specic for organic and low-input ods of farming. There is evidence from the literature that farming
farming was also relatively high across the respondent categories, and breeding practices that maintain the biodiversity are of the
even though the supply-chain members associate these innova- utmost importance for food production, health and the mainte-
tions with different benets. Both factors two of the Consumers nance of ecosystems (Thrupp, 2000).
and the Retailers & Processors appeared to give great importance
to feed quality and especially forage as a means to improve
milk quality. The viewpoint that the cows (and us) are what Conclusions
we eat is apparently shared across these two groups. The role
of forage quality and composition for improved milk quality is A wide range of factors inuences the decision-making process
known to be highly relevant, and this represents a promising area of supply-chain members, and their willingness to make changes
of research (Dewhurst et al., 2006). Nevertheless, on the one and adopt innovations. Economic theory would suggest that prot
hand, the Consumers and Retailers & Processors groups assigned maximisation is the main driver, but other factors have signicant
great importance to innovations that related to the quality of roles as well as the relative protability of the new systems, such
feedstuff, and post-sorting interviews and discussions with the as: personal attitudes towards the environment; social factors
respondents claried that this is positioned in relation to the and professional relationships; agricultural policy; and the natural
quality of milk and dairy products. The type of feeding resources of the farm (Edwards-Jones, 2006). Participatory
animal-feed composition and the presence of GM ingredients research processes and collaboration along the supply chain will
signicantly affected the quality that they perceived for the pro- enable all of these drivers to be taken into account and will facili-
duct (Naspetti et al., 2012). On the other hand, farmers were cen- tate the adoption of innovations (Naspetti et al., 2011).
tred on the development of new forage varieties and the use of This Q methodology study was aimed at obtaining an under-
home-grown feed. standing of the viewpoints of organic and low-input dairy
In general, the Q scores did not differ that much across the supply-chain members in relation to innovations aiming to more
respondent categories, nor between the factors. Near polarisation sustainable farming systems. According to Brown (1980), a central
occurred in only two cases, both of which were related to animal concept behind Q methodology is that there are only a limited
welfare. Prolonging maternal feeding (statement no. 12) was seen number of distinctive viewpoints on any topic. A
as highly acceptable by both Consumer factors and by factor one of well-thought-out Q sample and a well-designed Q methodology
Retailers & Processors, although this was highly rejected by the study that contains a wide range of existing opinions on the topic
other factor. Farmers were substantially neutral on this matter. will indeed reveal these viewpoints. Although the results of any Q
Contrary with all other factors, only the rst Consumer factor study cannot be enlarged to the population, as they are only
highly concerned with animal welfare deemed innovation in related directly to the individuals who participate, the wide range
indoor housing (100% housed) for dairy systems as a highly accept- of viewpoints included in the present study provide a statistically
able innovation. In general, Consumers not only for factor one rigorous picture of the possible different supply-chain perspectives
tended to prefer innovations that are aimed at improvements to in the broader population.
animal welfare (e.g., maternal feeding, inside housing, herbs in The factors extracted identied synergies between various
pastures) and low levels of interference with any natural process groups, showing that there is a consensus for non-GM solutions
(e.g., genetic manipulation, speeding-up of animal maturity). On (among all of the respondent groups) and that especially the con-
one side, consumer concern regarding food processing in general sumers and some of the farmers give importance to animal wel-
has increased during the last few years in most European countries fare. The efciency of the supply chain and the better use of
due to food scares. On the other side, conveying innovations that forage and feed appear to be an important concern, especially for
improve animal welfare can be difcult since the consumer per- farmers, retailers and processors, although forage quality is crucial
ceives them as extrinsic quality cues that are not easily veriable also for a group of the consumers, as a means to improving milk
(credence attribute) and the costs associated with them might quality.
increase on-farm production costs. Nevertheless, a trade-off These ndings can contribute in the identication of pathways
between the farmers and the needs of the consumer is crucial of changes and valuable opportunities for innovations to be intro-
(Olynk and Ortega, 2013). This should consider that the cost price duced into the dairy system. The European dairy industry still
per litre of milk at the farmer level in the EU is among the highest accounts for 13% of the total food and drink turnover (CIAA,
in the world due to the costs of milk quotas and animal welfare 2012), but this is now facing many challenges. The abolition of milk
regulations, and the relatively high costs of inputs into the quotas and full liberalisation will affect the dairy industry compet-
dairy-farming system. In the near future, competitors like New itiveness in the near future. The dairy business is still a leader in
Zealand, Australia and South American, where the cost are lower, food innovation (7.8% for total food industry: CIAA, 2011), although
S. Mandolesi et al. / Food Policy 54 (2015) 2534 33
innovations in dairy products have become a necessity now, given CIAA, 2011. Data & Trends of the European Food and Drink Industry. Confederation
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