A Multi-Criteria Analysis of Spelt Food Processing Alternatives on Small Organic Farms

Abstract

ABSTRACT The nutritional, technological and processing characteristics of spelt wheat make it suitable for organic farming. Furthermore, spelt wheat can be directly processed into different kinds of food products on the farm itself, and represents additional business and market opportunities for organic farmers. In this paper we examine different spelt processing alternatives on a chosen organic farm in northeastern Slovenia. Simulation modeling, cost-benefit analysis and multi-criteria decision analysis were applied in order to find the most suitable spelt processing solution for the analyzed farm. The presented methodological framework upgrades the standard financial cost-benefit analysis with a quantitative utility function and a qualitative DEX-i modeling approach. The calculation of utility function (u) and DEX-i evaluation produced the following spelt processing project rankings: spelt husking (u = 2,67) spelt cookies (u = 2,18), spelt flour (u = 1,65) and spelt bread (u = 1,63). The proposed methodology enables multi-criteria spelt processing project ranking; however, further studies are suggested for the development of multi-criteria decision analysis-based methods for this topic.