Budućnost mliječnih proizvoda na sredozemnom tržištu: specijaliteti ili potrepštine?

Dairy sector in the Mediterranean basin have some special features: it corresponds to an area of relative specialization, particularly for cheese and the sub-sector of small ruminants; at the same time consumption increase, sometimes supported by policymakers, led to the development of import flows of dairy commodities; in the last decade however production growth overcame consumption growth, partly moving the focus of the dairy policies from the demand to the supply side. This has important implications for the relations between dairy specialties and commodities, which in this case must be defined not only in terms of purchasing and consumption behaviour, but also of production elements as tradition and localism. The analysis of structural and commercial situation for countries of the North, East and South coast of the Mediterranean sea shows that for the first group specialties can play as an answer to lack of cost competitiveness on the dairy commodities market, in the last one market development should be based on commodities more than specialties while a complementarity can exist for Eastern Mediterranean countries.Mliječni sektor u Sredozemnom bazenu ima neke osobite karakteristike: odgovara području relativne specijalizacije, osobito sira te podsektor malih preživača, a istodobno raste potrošnja, katkada, potpomognuta kreatorima politike, što dovodi do razvoja uvoza mliječnih proizvoda; u zadnjem desetljeću, međutim, rast proizvodnje nadmašio je rast potrošnje, pa je fokus mljekarske politike djelomično pomaknut od potrošnje na ponudu. Ovo ima važne posljedice za odnose između mliječnih specijaliteta i potrepština koje u tom slučaju treba definirati ne samo u odnosu na ponašanje kod kupovanja i potrošnje nego i na elemente proizvodnje kao tradicije i lokaliteta. Analiza strukturnog i komercijalnog stanja zemalja na sjevernoj, istočnoj i južnoj obali Sredozemnog mora pokazuje da za prvu skupinu specijaliteti mogu biti odgovor na pomanjkanje konkurentnosti cijena na tržištu mliječnih proizvoda, a u tom slučaju razvoj tržišta trebao bi se temeljiti na potrepštinama a ne na specijalitetima dok komplementarnost može vrijediti za zemlje istočnog Sredozemlja

Consumer preferences for front-of-pack nutrition labels: the case of nutri-score labelling in Spain

In Europe, in the Farm to Fork Strategy (FTFS), published on 20 May 2020, has been indicated for the 2022 the harmonization of all nutritional labelling introduced by European countries voluntarily, following the art 35 of the Regulation 1196/2011. Actually, different countries have introduced front-of-pack nutrition labels (FoPNL) as a tool to help their citizens to make healthy decisions when shopping. For example, Nutri-Score has already been endorsed by a number of European countries, Spain being the second country adopting it (2018) and rejected by some others, like Italy that claims it penalizes Made in Italy food products, especially the EU quality certified. This study analyses Spanish consumer’s choices and understanding of Nutri-Score, NutrInform Battery and Multiple Traffic Light. 400 Spanish consumers participated in an online survey during the fall 2020 and a Discrete Choice Experiment was implemented (DCE). The primarily analysis indicate that Spanish consumers value positively the FoPNL, but Nutri-Score was not preferred as the best option since the most valued was the NutrInform Battery

Consumer preferences for front-of-pack nutrition labels: the case of Nutri-score labelling in Spain

In Europe, in the Farm to Fork Strategy (FTFS), published on 20 May 2020, has been indicated for the 2022 the harmonization of all nutritional labelling introduced by European countries voluntarily, following the art 35 of the Regulation 1196/2011. Actually, different countries have introduced front-of-pack nutrition labels (FoPNL) as a tool to help their citizens to make healthy decisions when shopping. For example, Nutri-Score has already been endorsed by a number of European countries, Spain being the second country adopting it (2018) and rejected by some others, like Italy that claims it penalizes Made in Italy food products, especially the EU quality certified. This study analyses Spanish consumer’s choices and understanding of Nutri-Score, NutrInform Battery and Multiple Traffic Light. 400 Spanish consumers participated in an online survey during the fall 2020 and a Discrete Choice Experiment was implemented (DCE). The primarily analysis indicate that Spanish consumers value positively the FoPNL, but Nutri-Score was not preferred as the best option since the most valued was the NutrInform BatteryPublishe

Facebook Ads as a Demographic Tool to Measure the Urban-Rural Divide

In the global move toward urbanization, making sure the people remaining in rural areas are not left behind in terms of development and policy considerations is a priority for governments worldwide. However, it is increasingly challenging to track important statistics concerning this sparse, geographically dispersed population, resulting in a lack of reliable, up-to-date data. In this study, we examine the usefulness of the Facebook Advertising platform, which offers a digital "census" of over two billions of its users, in measuring potential rural-urban inequalities. We focus on Italy, a country where about 30% of the population lives in rural areas. First, we show that the population statistics that Facebook produces suffer from instability across time and incomplete coverage of sparsely populated municipalities. To overcome such limitation, we propose an alternative methodology for estimating Facebook Ads audiences that nearly triples the coverage of the rural municipalities from 19% to 55% and makes feasible fine-grained sub-population analysis. Using official national census data, we evaluate our approach and confirm known significant urban-rural divides in terms of educational attainment and income. Extending the analysis to Facebook-specific user "interests" and behaviors, we provide further insights on the divide, for instance, finding that rural areas show a higher interest in gambling. Notably, we find that the most predictive features of income in rural areas differ from those for urban centres, suggesting researchers need to consider a broader range of attributes when examining rural wellbeing. The findings of this study illustrate the necessity of improving existing tools and methodologies to include under-represented populations in digital demographic studies -- the failure to do so could result in misleading observations, conclusions, and most importantly, policies.Comment: To be published in the Proceedings of The Web Conference 2020 (WWW '20

Value-chain configuration and socio-economic performance into fruit networks: an outlook on long-run insights

The diversification of agri-food products through emerging chains has a fundamental economic role in Ecuador. Socio-economic and productive factors are still affecting their progress and performance. Also, the current growth of market opportunities at the local and international level is a driver to support them. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze social and production aspects to understand the dynamic across the Peruvian groundcherry (Physalis peruviana) chain stages. The goal was to introduce the chain dimensioning to contribute with relevant insights. We performed the research applying a framework that accounts with chain configuration and descriptive tools. The boundaries clustered pre-production, production and post-production actors. We executed surveys at the supply chain levels to identify strengths and weaknesses based on specific socio-economic and productive variables. The paper points out that diversification of marketing channels and the strengthening of organizational structures are the main long-term strategies to reinforce the Peruvian groundcherry chain. The main contribution is the application of the chain configuration as a tool to assess food chain performance comprehensively.La diversificación de los productos agroalimentarios a través de las cadenas emergentes tiene un papel económico fundamental en el Ecuador. Los factores socioeconómicos y productivos siguen afectando su progreso y desempeño. Además, el crecimiento actual de las oportunidades de mercado a nivel local e internacional es un motor para apoyarlas. Por lo tanto, este estudio tuvo como objetivo analizar los aspectos sociales y de producción para comprender la dinámica de la cadena de la guchuva (Physalis peruviana) a través de sus etapas. El objetivo fue introducir el dimensionamiento de la cadena para contribuir con ideas relevantes. Realizamos la investigación aplicando un marco que considera la configuración de la cadena y herramientas descriptivas. Fronteras establecidas para el estudio agrupó a los actores de la preproducción, producción y posproducción. Realizamos encuestas en los niveles establecidos para identificar fortalezas y debilidades basadas en variables socioeconómicas y productivas específicas. Los resultados señalan que la diversificación de los canales de comercialización y el fortalecimiento de las estructuras organizativas son las principales estrategias a largo plazo para reforzar la cadena de guchuva. La contribución principal fue la aplicación de la configuración de la cadena como una herramienta para evaluar el rendimiento de la cadena alimentaria de manera integral.Gerencia de Comunicación Institucional, DG SICyP, INTAFil: Moreno Miranda, Carlos Santiago. Universidad Técnica de Ambato. Facultad de Ciencia e Ingeniería en Alimentos; Ecuador. Wageningen University and Research. Agricultural Economics and Rural Policy Group; HolandaFil: Pilamala-Rosales, Araceli Alexandra. Wageningen University and Research. Agricultural Economics and Rural Policy Group; HolandaFil: Ortiz, Jacqueline. Wageningen University and Research. Agricultural Economics and Rural Policy Group; HolandaFil: Moreno Miranda, Raúl. Universitat de Barcelona. Facultat de Farmacia y Ciencias de la Alimentación; EspañaFil: Molina-Sánchez, José Isaac. Wageningen University and Research. Agricultural Economics and Rural Policy Group; HolandaFil: Cerda-Mejía, Liliana. Wageningen University and Research. Agricultural Economics and Rural Policy Group; HolandaFil: Rama, Daniele. Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore. Alta Scuola di Management ed Economia Agro-Alimentare; Itali

Tuning electrode and separator sizes for enhanced performance of electrical double‐layer capacitors

An electrical double‐layer capacitor (EDLC) comprises two porous electrodes sandwiching an electrolyte‐permeable separator, which prevents the electrodes from short‐circuiting. While previous studies have mainly focused on electrolyte and electrode properties of EDLCs, the device configuration in terms of electrode and separator sizes received less attention, with separators often simplistically modelled as infinitely large reservoirs of ions. Herein, we investigate how the relationship between electrode and separator thicknesses impacts EDLC charging. We find that the assumption of bulk reservoir holds only under specific conditions. Moreover, we identify a tradeoff between stored energy density and pressure variations within the separator, potentially jeopardizing the EDLC durability. We also explore the influence of ionic liquid additives on EDLC charging. While prior research has shown that trace amounts of uncharged additives with strong electrode affinity can significantly enhance energy storage, we observe this effect as negligible for electrodes and separators of comparable sizes. Instead, we show how to optimize EDLC performance by fine‐tuning the concentration of additives and separator‐to‐electrode size ratio to maximize stored energy density.Polish National Science Centre (NCN

Análisis de las dimensiones sociales, productivas y de gobernanza de la cadena de Physalis peruviana: un estudio de caso de la zona interandina en Ecuador

The diversification of agri-food products through emerging chains has a fundamental socio-economic role in Ecuador. However, a substantial amount of research has focused solely on examining agronomic yield. Conversely, there is a shift in the agri-food chain perspective to more sustainable production and consumption models. Socio-economic sustainability, chain configuration, and governance are aspects that can be improved. In this sense, socio-economic and productive factors are consequential with the level of development and still affect chain development. This study aimed to analyze social and production aspects to understand the dynamics of the Inca berry chain. Thus, vertical and horizontal dimensioning was introduced to contribute with relevant insights. The framework applied includes a revision of primary and support activities and high and low relevance flows. The research clustered pre-production, production, and post-production levels mapping the food chain, and identifying its actors. Results show several viable long-term strategies, such as marketing channel diversification, the intervention of academic institutions, and the empowerment of associations aimed towards circular economic models. The main contribution is the application of the chain configuration to assess performance. Based on the results obtained, our recommendation is to incorporate new indicators to analyze the environmental and institutional components in-depth. Both production unit professionals and academics may find this study useful to operationalize sustainability in agri-food chains.La diversificación de los productos agroalimentarios mediante cadenas emergentes juega un papel socioeconómico fundamental en Ecuador. Sin embargo, las investigaciones se han centrado solo en examinar el desempeño agronómico. Por otro lado, existe un cambio en la perspectiva hacia modelos de producción y consumo sostenibles. La sostenibilidad socioeconómica, la configuración de cadena y la gobernanza son aspectos para proponer mejoras. Los factores socioeconómicos y productivos son consecuentes con el nivel de desarrollo y aún afectan el progreso de las cadenas. Este estudio tuvo como objetivo analizar aspectos socioeconómicos y de producción para comprender la dinámica de la cadena de bayas incas, por lo cual se introdujo el dimensionamiento vertical y horizontal para contribuir con ideas relevantes. El marco aplicado cuenta con actividades primarias y de apoyo, y flujos de alta y baja relevancia. La investigación agrupó niveles de preproducción, producción y postproducción; además, se ejecutó el mapeo de la cadena alimentaria y la identificación de los actores. Los resultados obtenidos mostraron estrategias viables a largo plazo, como la diversificación de canales de comercialización, la intervención de instituciones académicas y el empoderamiento de las asociaciones, dirigidas a modelos circulares. La principal contribución es la aplicación de la configuración para evaluar el rendimiento. Además, recomendamos emplear nuevos indicadores para analizar los componentes ambientales e institucionales a profundidad. Los profesionales con unidades de producción y académicos pueden encontrar útil el estudio para poner en funcionamiento la sostenibilidad agroalimentaria