Building A Quality Label

As part of the measures taken to support diversification in disadvantaged regions (Integrated Development Project (IDP: 1985-1990), which then became Objective 5B zones (Rural Zones Development Project (RZDP 1992-1999)), one project successfully introduced a beef production and marketing chain, carrying the Ardenne Label. This experiment later provided inspiration for the introduction of an approved label system throughout the Walloon Region (Belgium). An analysis of the development of the Label Ardenne project, how it took concrete shape and its subsequent extension in the Walloon Quality Label, read in terms of socio-technical networks, demonstrates the limits of a quality chain project built on supply, and its difficulties in responding to demand and in managing the mass arrival of consumers into the picture with the generic quality crisis in the beef sector.