Sustainability in the wine industry: key questions and research trends

Sustainability is playing a key role in the wine industry as shown by the attention paid at several levels by the academia, institutions and associations. Nevertheless, the principle itself of sustainability opens a wide debate and it significantly affects firms in all their activities. Using a systematic literature review, this paper wants to highlight some of the questions that academics must face when they approach the issue of sustainability with a specific focus on the wine industry. In particular the paper aims to: highlight where research is going and what has already been done; define the contribution of background research in explaining the determinants of sustainable orientation in the wine industry; and understand the role of research (and academics' social responsibility) for the diffusion of a sustainable orientation within the wine industry. The purpose of this paper is to provide a detailed overview of the main research contributions to the issue of sustainability in the wine industry

Guida per la valorizzazione della multifunzionalità dell'agricoltura

This book publishes the results of the inter-regional project on "Evolutionary dynamics of agricultural enterprises and multifunctionality". Starting from the identification of a shared theoretical framework of the concept of multifunctionality, the study has developed a method for zoning the territory aimed at defining the different roles played by agriculture. The development of case studies, and meetings with stakeholders and focus groups, have made it possible to identify the weak and strong points within and outside the enterprises, with particular reference to the multifunctional components and the degree of repeatability and transferability of the experiences analysed. The result is to bring to light needs in terms of policies, tools for the valorisation of multifunctionality and strategies that enable the agricultural enterprises to commercially valorise functions not traditionally pertinent to the market.Con il presente volume si pubblicano i risultati del progetto interregionale «Dinamiche evolutive delle imprese agricole e multifunzionalità». La ricerca, partendo dall'individuazione di un quadro teorico condiviso sul concetto di multifunzionalità, ha sviluppato una metodologia di zonizzazione del territorio finalizzata a definire i diversi ruoli svolti dall'agricoltura. Quindi, attraverso la realizzazione di casi studio, incontri con i portatori di interesse e focus group, è stato possibile individuare i punti di forza e di debolezza, interni ed esterni alle aziende, con particolare riferimento alle componenti multifunzionali e al grado di ripetitibilità e trasferibilità delle esperienze analizzate. Vengono così in luce quali sono le necessità per quanto riguarda le politiche, quali gli strumenti per la valorizzazione della multifunzionalità e le strategie che consentono alle imprese agricole la valorizzazione commerciale delle funzioni non tradizionalmente di mercato

Changes in dietary preferences: new challenges for sustainability and innovation

The transformations in dietary habits that have occurred over recent decades draw attention to important issues concerning the relationship between lifestyles, diet and health, and open up new challenges for operators in the agricultural and food sector. This study intends to analyse these evolutions, comparing the dietary preferences of generation X in 2001 with its dietary preferences in 2011, and those of the following generation, the so-called generation Y. The analysis was conducted by applying latent class clustering to the food spending of a representative sample of Italian consumers. It has enabled us to identify the prevalent food patterns in 2001 and 2011 and to analyse their transformations, interpreting them in the light of social, cultural and economic changes. The comparison of food pattern characteristics over this period highlights the emergence of trends that move in two different directions. The first of these is the rise of a new dietary sensitivity towards a healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables and fish. The other concerns food patterns that are more vulnerable to diseases related to an unhealthy diet. These trends should draw the attention of public operators to the need for communication campaigns that target specific segments and aim to direct food habits towards healthier behaviours. A change in supply could also help improve the diet, especially if aimed at products with a high level of service provision and at establishments that serve food. Finally, the birth of a niche of consumers particularly drawn towards healthy eating opens the way for the industry to propose a series of innovative products. </jats:p

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