Dr. Meike Rombach

Senior Lecturer in Horticultural Management

Meike.Rombach[at]lincoln.ac.nz

PO Box 85084
Lincoln University
Lincoln 7647, Canterbury
New Zealand

Dr. Meike Rombach (Senior Lecturer in Horticultural Management) is an alumna of the chair of Economics of Horticulture and Landscaping. She is a member of Department Land Management and Systems at Lincoln University in New Zealand and program director for the Diploma in Horticultural Business and the Bachelor of Commerce Horticulture. Her area of research and teaching is horticultural management. Meike holds a master degree in International Horticultural Science, and studied at the University of Bologna, the Technical University Munich and at the Boku Wien. Further, she completed an apprenticeship in ornamental flower production. Meike’s research is dedicated to consumer preferences for experimental products such as food and ornamental plants, which includes flowers, apples, pet food and plant based meat and milk alternatives.

Scientific publications

Kartikasari, A., Dean, D.L., Rombach, M. & Suhartanto, D. (2023). Discomfort and proactiveness of New Zealand OFD consumers during the coronavirus pandemic, Journal of Foodservice Business Research (online). doi.org/10.1080/15378020.2023.2214067

Rombach, M., Dean, D.L. & Bitsch, V. (2023). "Got milk alternatives?" Understanding key factors determining U.S. consumers’ willingness to pay for plant-based milk alternatives. Foods 12 (6), 1277. doi.org/10.3390/foods12061277

Dean, D., Rombach, M., Vriesekoop, F., de Koning, W., Aguiar, L. K., Anderson, M., . . . Alvarez, B. (2023). Should I really pay a premium for this? Consumer perspectives on cultured muscle, plant-based and fungal-based protein as meat alternatives. Journal of International Food and Agribusiness Marketing, 35, 25 pages. doi.org/10.1080/08974438.2023.2169428

Dean, D., Rombach, M., de Koning, W., Vriesekoop, F., Satyajaya, W., Yuliandari, P., . . . Aguiar, L. K. (2022). Understanding key factors influencing consumers’ willingness to try, buy, and pay a price premium for mycoproteins. Nutrients, 14 (16), 15 pages. doi.org/10.3390/nu14163292

Manna, V., Rombach, M., Dean, D., & Rennie, H. G. (2022). A design thinking approach to teaching sustainability. Journal of Marketing Education 44 (3), 362-374. doi.org/10.1177/02734753211068865

Rombach, M., Dean, D., Vriesekoop, F., de Koning, W., Aguiar, L. K., Anderson, M., . . . Boereboom, A. (2022). Is cultured meat a promising consumer alternative? Exploring key factors determining consumer's willingness to try, buy and pay a premium for cultured meat. Appetite, 179, 13 pages. doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2022.106307

Rombach, M., & Dean, D. (2023). Edible landscape: Key factors determining consumers’ commitment and willingness to accept opportunity cost and risk of foraged food. Frontiers in Horticulture, 2, 11 pages. doi.org/10.3389/fhort.2023.1028455

Rombach, M., & Dean, D. L. (2023). Exploring key factors driving urban foraging behavior in garden and non-garden locations. Foods, 12(5), 18 pages. doi.org/10.3390/foods12051032

Rombach, M., Dean, D. L., & Baird, T. (2022). Understanding apple attribute preferences of US consumers. Foods, 11(2), 14 pages. doi.org/10.3390/foods11020166

Rombach, M., Dean, D. L., Baird, T., & Kambuta, J. (2022). COVID-19 and the Locavores: Investigating the drivers of US consumer preferences for apples. Agronomy, 12(7), 20 pages. doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12071691

Rombach, M., Dean, D. L., Baird, T., & Kambuta, J. (2022). Should I pay or should I grow? Factors which influenced the preferences of US consumers for fruit, vegetables, wine and beer during the COVID-19 pandemic. Foods, 11(11), 18 pages. doi.org/10.3390/foods11111536

Rombach, M., Dean, D. L., Baird, T., & Rice, J. (2022). Fruit vending machines as a means of contactless purchase: Exploring factors determining US consumers’ willingness to try, buy and pay a price premium for fruit from a vending machine during the coronavirus pandemic. COVID, 2(12), 1650-1665. doi.org/10.3390/covid2120119

Rombach, M., & Dean, D. L. (2021). It keeps the good boy healthy from nose to tail: Understanding pet food attribute preferences of US consumers. Animals, 11(11), 15 pages. doi.org/10.3390/ani11113301

Rombach, M., & Dean, D. L. (2021). Just love me, feed me, never leave me: Understanding pet food anxiety, feeding and shopping behavior of US pet owners in Covidian times. Animals, 11(11), 18 pages. doi.org/10.3390/ani11113101

Rombach, M., Dean, D. L., & Baird, T. (2021). Exploring key factors determining US consumer preferences for growing over buying fruit in pre-Covidian and Covidian times. Horticulturae, 7(12), 14 pages. doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae7120575

Gabriel, A., Rombach, M., & Schmiedbauer, J. (2019). Integration und Arbeitszufriedenheit ausländischer Saisonarbeitskräfte als Grundlage für zirkuläre Beschäftigungsverhältnisse. DGG-Proceedings 9 (5), 1-5. doi.org/10.5288/dgg-pr-ag-2019, (published March 2021)

Gabriel, A., Rombach, M., Wieser, H., & Bitsch, V. (2021). Got waste: knowledge, behavior and self-assessment on food waste of university students in Germany. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review 24 (6) 951-970. doi.org/10.22434/IFAMR2020.0145

Rombach, M., Dean, D.L., Widmer, N.J.O. & Bitsch, V. 2021. „Oh, you shouldn’t have!” Understanding key factors impacting cut flowers gifting preferences in Germany. Horticulturae 7 (10), 368. doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae7100368

Rombach, M., Dean, D.L., Widmer, N.J.O. & Bitsch, V. 2021. Connected consumerism: Understanding fair trade cut flower purchase behavior in Germany. Sustainability 13 (21), 12133 (November). doi.org/10.3390/su132112133

Mair, S. & Rombach, M. (2020). Taking the helm at the family operation under the watchful eye of the predecessor: Succession in European horticulture and agriculture. European Journal of Horticultural Science 85 (2), 123-132. doi.org/10.17660/eJHS.2020/85.2.7

Rombach, M., Paul, S.E., Niedermann, L.F. & Bitsch, V. (2020). Peppers & More: A teaching case in organizational behavior. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review. doi.org/10.22434/IFAMR2020.0010

Meyerding, G.H., Spiwoks, E., Rombach, M. & Lehberger, M. (2019). Not only speed matters – Crisis response in the hypothetical case of a transport accident involving genetically modified crops. Food Policy 85 (May), 55-63. doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2019.04.006

Sedlmeier, R., Rombach, M. & Bitsch, V. (2019). Making food rescue your business. Case studies in Germany. Sustainability 11 (18), 5101https://doi.org/10.3390/su11185101

Rombach, M., Köhl, L. & Bitsch, V. (2019). Multi-layer Agency Problems in a Non-profit and For-profit Collaboration: A Case Study of a Delicatessen Product in Support of a Minority. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review 22 (5), 747-765. doi.org/10.22434/IFAMR2019.0014

King, R., Rombach, M., & Bitsch, V. (2019). Inclusion in German Horticulture. Acta Horticulturae 1242, 955-960https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2019.1242.140

Villnow, V., Rombach, M., & Bitsch, V. (2019). Examining German media coverage of the re-evaluation of glyphosate. Sustainability 11 (7), 1910. doi.org/10.3390/su11071910

Braun, C.L., Rombach, M., Häring, A.M. & Bitsch, V. (2018). A local gap in sustainable food procurement: Organic vegetables in Berlin’s school meals. Sustainability 10 (11), 4245. doi.org/10.3390/su10114245

Rombach, M., Ricchieri, F. and Bitsch, V. (2018). Food recovery and food redistribution in Italy. Acta Horticulturae 1215, 301-306. doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2018.1215.55

Rombach, M., Bitsch, V., Kang, E., & Ricchieri, F. (2018). Comparing German and Italian Food Banks: Actors’ Knowledge on Food Insecurity and their Perception of the Interaction with Food Bank Users. British Food Journal. doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-11-2017-0626

Rombach, M., Widmar, N. O., Byrd, E. S., & Bitsch, V. (2018). Understanding preferences of German flower consumers: the desire for sustained beauty. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 46 (6), 560-576. doi.org/10.1108/IJRDM-10-2017-0229

Braun, C. L., Rombach, M., Bitsch, V. & Häring A.M. (2018). Structures and actors of the organic vegetable value chain for school catering: a case study of the Berlin-Brandenburg metropolitan region. Proceedings in System Dynamics and Innovation in Food Networks 2018, 133-142. doi.org/10.18461/pfsd.2018.1810

Rombach, M., Kang, E., & Bitsch, V. (2018). Good deeds revisited: motivation and boundary spanning in formal volunteering. International Review of Public and Nonprofit Marketing 15 (1), 105-126. doi.org/10.1007/s12208-018-0193-7

Rombach, M., Widmar, N. O., Byrd, E., & Bitsch, V. (2018). Do all roses smell equally sweet? Willingness to pay for flower attributes in specialized retail settings by German consumers. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 40 (January), 91-99. doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2017.09.007

Kizil, M., Rombach, M. & Bitsch, V. (2018). Innovationspotenziale der Bundesgartenschau: Entwicklung eines Evaluationsmodelles. DGG-Proceedings 7 (12), No 15. doi.org 10.5288/dgg-pr-mk-2017 (published December 2018)

Rombach, M., & Bitsch, V. (2017). Sector blending: evidence from the German Food Bank. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review 21 (2), 181-200. doi.org/10.22434/IFAMR2017.0064

Hermsdorf, D., Rombach, M., &  Bitsch, V. (2017). Food waste reduction practices in German food retail. British Food Journal 119 (12),  2532-2546. doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-06-2017-0338

Rombach, M., Canavari, M., & Pignatti, E. (2016). Branded pears? An exploration of German consumers' perceptions of the new club cultivar 'Angelys'. Acta Horticulturae 1120, 447-454. doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2016.1120.69

Rombach, M., & Bitsch, V. (2016). A typology of online flower shops on the German market. Acta Horticulturae 1132, 127-134. doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2016.1132.17

Rombach, M., Bitsch, V., Nellen, A., & Salomon, M. (2015). Dumpster diving in Germany. Acta Horticulturae 1132, 167-174. doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2016.1132.23

Rombach, M., Nellen, A., & Bitsch, V. (2015). Food movements and food waste in Germany: Slow Food members’ perspectives. Acta Horticulturae 1132, 175-182. doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2016.1132.24

Bitsch, V., Kokovic, N., & Rombach, M. (2015). Foodborne illness and media coverage: case study of the German E. coli outbreak in 2011. Acta Horticulturae 1103, 75-82. doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2015.1103.12

Rombach, M., & Bitsch, V. (2015). Food movements in Germany: Slow food, food sharing, and dumpster diving. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review 18 (3), 1-24. www.ifama.org/resources/Documents/v18i3/Rombach-Bitsch.pdf

Bitsch, V., Kokovic, N., & Rombach, M. (2014). Risk communication and market effects during foodborne illnesses: A comparative case study of bacterial outbreaks in the U.S. and in Germany. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review 17 (3), 97-114. www.ifama.org/.../V17Issue3BitschKokovicRombach.pdf

Rombach, M., Pignatti, E., & Canavari, M. (2013). Fokusgruppen mit deutschen Verbrauchern zur Klubbirne Angelys. In: W. Dirksmeyer, L. Theuvsen, & M. Kayser (Eds.), Aktuelle Forschung in der Gartenbauökonomie, Tagungsband zum 1. Symposium für Ökonomie im Gartenbaum 27. November 2013 in der Paulinerkirche Göttingen (pp. 45-58). Braunschweig, Germany: Thünen Report 22.