Multi-actor approaches to implement cooperative strategies and value chains based on sustainability

Abstract This special issue of Agricultural and Food Economics consists of four articles that were part of the scientific programme of the First SIDEA-SIEA Joint Conference, held in Bisceglie in September 2017. The conference afforded agricultural economists the opportunity to reflect on cooperative strategies to promote competitiveness of the agri-food supply chain, with a focus on environmental quality and social sustainability. The selected articles address these themes from different perspectives: those of firms, of consumers, and of policy makers, stressing that sustainability calls for the active participation of all of the actors. The case studies presented propose an effective interpretation of the strategies for value creation with respect to the challenges of climate change, food waste management, the development of marginal rural areas, and that of the fish sector

Territory, environment, and healthiness in traditional food choices: Insights into consumer heterogeneity

Traditional foods are facing new market challenges tied to current trends in food habits and their determinants, such as the decline of domestic food preparation, the increased demand for convenience foods, the increasing importance of industrial food production, and the evolution of regulations on food safety. In this context our study aims at improving the knowledge of consumer segments in traditional foods market in order to develop better marketing strategies. The preferences for different credence attributes are investigated applying a latent class choice model to the extra-virgin olive oil market in Italy. Results show the existence of a marked heterogeneity of preferences, which determines the presence of both vertical and horizontal differentiation of the product

Consumer Response to Quality Differentiation Strategies in Wine PDOs

Abstract The wine-growing sector is probably the area of agriculture that best expresses the binomial of production quality-territorial identity. In fact, the identification of agricultural production with the territory, its peculiarities and its atmospheres generates a relationship that is mutually advantageous and that the consumer perceives and values. This binomial is the basis that has generated the PDOs, which represent a winning solution for the success of productions that are otherwise fragmented and have little market "recognisability". A current debate that has spread to various wine-growing areas questions the advisability of introducing sub-zoning based on quality levels in order to better promote the typical characteristics of each territory. The objective of this paper is to verify whether the strategy of sub-zoning based on the quality diversification of productions could constitute an appropriate tool to further promote a territory's productions. Towards this end, we have developed a discrete choice experiment to compare a new Chianti Classico DOCG type of excellence with other 4 DOCG Tuscan Sangiovese wines. The results show that introducing this new typology into a territory that has already been awarded the DOCG certification can represent a valid development strategy for the firm, as well as for territories

Post-lockdown changes in diet in Italy and the USA: Return to old habits or structural changes?

This study analyses the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on food consumption at the end of the first lockdown in the New York State (USA) and in Italy (spring 2020). The results of our study show that important changes occurred in food habits in these two countries, in which lockdown was very similar. Three models of response to the shock of the lockdown were noted in both countries. The first model (40%) includes individuals who largely increased their food consumption, the second model (26%) showed a more virtuous and responsible behaviour, while the third model (34%) displayed no change in food consumption. Diet quality in terms of healthiness and sustainability declined in the USA, while in Italy, approximately one-third of the sample showed an improvement in diet in these same areas. The use of sociodemographic, motivational, and behavioural variables to profile subjects who adhered to each food model has made it possible to obtain information that can be used to develop communication campaigns and policies for a healthier and more sustainable diet