Staff Profile

I joined Newcastle University in 1979 as Professor of Agricultural Marketing and Head of the Department of Agricultural and Food Marketing. I was Head of the Department of Agricultural Economics and Food Marketing from 1987-1992; and Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Biological Sciences from 1992-2002.

I served for nine years on the MAFF National Food Survey Committee and followed this with eight years as the economist on the joint MAFF/DH Food Advisory Committee. I was a founder member of the Food Standards Agency Research Advisory Committee and its Economics Advisory Panel; and I am currently a member of the Agency’s Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes, with a remit to cover consumer and ethical issues. From 2000-2008 I was deputy Chairman of the Home Grown Cereals Authority. I was Chairman of the Agriculture Sub-Panel for the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise.

I formerly retired from the University in 2010, but remain academically active and continue teaching in food economics and marketing, mainly at the postgraduate level. I have recently become interested in Food Ethics. I have edited  a book on the subject for Wiley-Blackwell and I am a member of the Food Ethics Council.

Areas of expertise

• Food economics
• Food marketing
• Food policy
• Food ethics

Research Interests

Economic and marketing aspects of food choice
Consumer attitudes to food safety
Food and agricultural policy analysis

• Alamanos E, Kuznesof S, Ritson C. The influence of holidays on wine purchasing behaviour: Marketing and tourism insights based on a holiday experience in Greece. International Journal of Tourism Research 2016, 18(3), 228-235.
• McCarthy M, Brennan M, Kelly AL, Ritson C, de Boer M, Thompson N. Who is at risk and what do they know? Segmenting a population on their food safety knowledge. Food Quality and Preference 2007, 18(2), 205-217.
• Ritson C, Kuznesof S. Food Consumption, Risk Perception and Alternaitve Production Technologies. In: Eilenberg, J., Hokkanen, H.M.T, ed. An Ecological and Societal Approach to Biological Control. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer, 2006, pp.47-64.
• Petrovici DA, Ritson C, Ness M. Exploring disparities and similarities in European food consumption patterns. Cahiers d'Economie et Sociologie Rurales 2005, 75(2), 23-49.
• Bogue J, Ritson C. Integrating consumer information with the new product development process: the development of lighter dairy products. International Journal of Consumer Studies 2005, 30(1), 44-54.
• De Boer M, Mccarthy M, Brennan M, Kelly AL, Ritson C. Public understanding of food risk issues and food risk messages on the island of Ireland: The views of food safety experts. Journal of Food Safety 2005, 25(4), 241-265.
• Petrovici DA, Ritson C, Ness M. The theory of reasoned action and food choice insights from a transitional economy. Journal of International Food and Agribusiness Marketing 2004, 16(1), 59-87.
• Bogue J, Ritson C. Understanding consumers'perceptions of product quality for lighter dairy products through the integration of marketing and sensory information. Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica. Section C. Food Economics 2004, 1(2), 67-77.