Consumer behavior in choice of minimally processed vegetables and implications for marketing strategies

The purpose of this work is to stimulate the debate on the economic aspects of minimally processed fresh-cut production, assessing the purchase intentions of consumers of fresh-cut products. In order to gain this purpose and compare with the literature, results of previous on-field research, that involved consumers of fresh-cut lamb's lettuce (Valerianella Locusta Laterr), are presented and discussed. This work deals with the information collected as marketing and economic analysis on food products object of the research project \u201cNovel strategies meeting the needs of the fresh-cut vegetable sector \u2013 STAYFRESH\u201d. Intentions to purchase fresh-cut lamb's lettuce from environmental sustainable farms, simulating a fresh-cut product with an Eco-label, are investigated. Several studies referred to the approach that sets out different types of motives that affect attitude and willingness to pay for minimally processed products. The managerial implications make it possible to assess how much the different types of motives influence the attitude and affect the choices and the behavior of the consumers. To complete, a cost analysis of the fresh cut lamb's lettuce product is proposed. These results are proposed waiting for the Eco-labeling Board (European Union Eco-labeling Board) decisions on the feasibility of an Eco-label for food products. \ua9 2015 Elsevier Lt

An inquiry on north-eastern Italian farmers' perception of climate change and related risks to agriculture

Even though agricultural activities have always had to face systemic risk, increasing uncertainty linked to market conditions, policy revision and climate change require the adoption of extensive, functional and informed risk management strategies. Our study aims to investigate north-eastern Italian farmers’ perception of climate change-related risks and attitudes towards adaptation strategies, in order to promote the adoption of effective communication strategies and the development of more attractive insurance schemes to widen famers’ interests. Cross-sectional survey data were analysed using structural equation modelling to explore concerns over the impact of climate change on agricultural activities and identify the factors that promote the adoption of coping strategies. According to the results, the actual experience of negative consequences linked to specific extreme meteorological events is the main driver for the adoption of mitigation strategies. Further efforts on awareness of climate change and its consequences, coupled with the provision of simpler and more tailored insurance schemes, are required to support a widespread diffusion of adaptation strategies among farmers

Marketing relazionale nella filiera delle agroenergie

Il presente lavoro si \ue8 posto l\u2019obiettivo di analizzare, attraverso la formulazione e la stima di un modello di equazioni strutturali, quanto l\u2019evoluzione del paradigma del marketing transazionale, nella sua recente declinazione a Marketing Relazionale, possa fornire un nuovo approccio manageriale al contesto delle attivit\ue0 agricole ed agroindustriali, contesti produttivi che hanno l\u2019opportunit\ue0 di utilizzare la sostenibilit\ue0 ambientale come leva comunicazionale, caratterizzando la propria operativit\ue0 anche verso la produzione di agro/energie, quali ad esempio il bioga

Sunflower oil innovation, claim assessment and consumer’ motivations to accept this food

The food product innovation is advancing under pressure of: 1.st the growing request of innovations in foods products and processing challenging new consumers’ needs; 2.nd, the advance in nutrigenomics and its contribution to increase knowledge about the relation between nutrition and food, iii) biotechnologies contribution to create customized food products to satisfy a variety of customers’ needs (Hobbs, 2002).           An emerging food product category is the nutraceutic food, contributing to satisfy ‘nutrients’ and ‘medical needs; beside it is easier with genomic techniques the original food composition to challenge the customers’ needs it must be considered the consumers’ adverse reaction for any technique used to change the food product composition. Purpose of this research is to suggest a modification of the sunflower oil composition obtained with genomic technique to change the product from bulk commodity to enhanced specialty food with health claims. The traditional bulk commodity market is based on uniform quality standard, higher volume of production priced at the minimum marginal cost. The specialty market segment demands products with distinctive attributes of higher quality and safety standards, more varieties and sustainability, supported by marketing mix strategies to set up higher prices and better margins according with customers’ preferences. A growing importance in consumers’ preferences are the combination of nutritional, health and environmental attributes that must be properly communicated with ad hoc messages describing the product’s claim. To test the consumers’ awareness about healthy claim and willingness to accept these enhanced food products, an explorative SEM analysis is conducted with a questionnaire. The results suggest that the consumer is in favor of the health and environmental care, nevertheless it is opportune to examine in deeper the causes (health claim, technology and environmental impact, communication, culture and others) to convince the consumers to adopt these functional product. The first part of the research is dedicated to analyze the innovations and demonstrate the scientific evidence of the health claims of the modified sunflower oil, describing the role of PUFA (Poly-unsaturated fatty acids).  It is discussed the metabolic pathway of the eico-esanoid EPA and DHA generated from modified sunflower oil, responsible of benefic effects on the human metabolism. The second part is dedicated to the inference about the consumers’ acceptance of this functional sunflower oil using SEM model. It is our conviction that this procedure will open new perspectives of food innovation in creation of nutrition and healthy food  to satisfy the growing population in the world.

MCDM approach for planning a sustainable livestock enterprise

Beside the livestock activity provides excellent nutritional ingredients for the human diet, growing conflict among stakeholders are caused by the sharing of the property rights about the environment. Traditionally livestock management was focused on profit maximization related to scale economies, however an increasing number of stakeholders are concerned about the negative side effect of environmental externalities and solicit to adopt sustainable technologies to curb the natural resource depletion, soil and water pollution, gaseous emissions and others. Purpose of this paper is to introduce a revisited multi-criteria decision making approach based on solid theoretical fundaments to produce sustainable solutions to achieve economic, social and environmental objectives

Rasch Model for Assessing Propensity to Entomophagy

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations supports the production of edible insects as a promising and sustainable source of nutrients to meet the increasing demand for animal-derived products by the growing world population. Even if insects are part of the diet of more than two billion people worldwide, the practice of eating insects (entomophagy) raises challenging questions for Western countries where this is not a habit. The research applied the Rasch models and showed that, in the case of hunger or need, 70.8% of the sample declared that they would be willing to eat insects. The willingness to habitually consume and pay for insect food is very low, but the percentages are higher than people who had actually had insect tasting experiences. This demonstrates that a communication process is necessary that aims to overcome psychological/cultural barriers. Only in this way will it be possible to increase the propensity to consume insects

Designation and Certification Strategies for Fungus-Resistant Grape Wines: An Exploratory Study in Italy

Fungus-resistant grapes (FRGs), or pilzwiderstandfähig (PIWI) in German, are obtained through crossbreeding Vitis vinifera and other Vitis species. FRG adoption is among the most promising strategies to pursue and improve sustainability in the wine industry; however, actual spread and impact on sustainability will largely depend on designation and certification possibilities and procedures for FRG wines, in line with the framework set by the European Union (EU) Regulation 2021/2117. The aim of this study is to discuss the potential impact on consumers’ preferences of four hypothetical designation and certification settings for FRG wines: (I) new names without certification; (II) extended use of the original Vitis vinifera variety names without certification; (III) new names and ad-hoc designations (Protected Designation of Origin, PDO); (IV) extended use of the original Vitis vinifera variety names and existing PDOs. Participants’ reactivity to the alternatives was tested through market simulations on a non-probabilistic sample of 301 Italian university students. According to the results, extension of existing names and PDOs is the best option to enhance industry sustainability, preserve its quality paradigm, and fairly manage competition between traditional and new wines. Still, further investments are needed to promote FRG adoption and development

LA PARTECIPAZIONE DEI MILLENNIALS ALL’AGRICOLTURA URBANA: UN’ANALISI EMPIRICA

Emerging global trends in urbanization and population growth put at risk the sustainability and resilience of current food production and consumption models. Growing urbanization of rural people reduces the availability of agricultural workforce, while demand for food is increasing. For these reasons, a revision of food production strategies and policies is necessary to guarantee food security. Under this perspective, a growing number of municipalities are adopting urban agriculture and urban gardening as means to increase food production in the city and provide ecosystem services. Our study applies the Theory of Planned Behavior to analyze the attitude of younger Millennials towards urban farming. According to the results, social pressure is the primary catalyst for deciding to undertake urban agriculture and self-production of food. The integration of these evidences in urban food policies is discussed in the conclusion