Tasty or Sustainable? The Effect of Product Sensory Experience on a Sustainable New Food Product: An Application of Discrete Choice Experiments on Chianina Tinned Beef

This study aims to contribute to the existing literature by verifying whether the degree of liking of a new food product influences people\u2019s preferences and willingness to pay from a discrete choice experiment when dealing with sustainable food products. To this purpose, we considered the case study of the introduction into the Italian market of a new food product: tinned Chianina meat. Among the attributes considered for this new product, two in particular were related to sustainability: organic breeding and the preservation of a traditional rural landscape. Half of the respondents underwent a sensory test before taking part in the hypothetical market (discrete choice experiment), while the remaining were administered the tests in reverse order. Tasting the product before the discrete choice experiment did not produce different willingness to pay (WTP) parameters as estimated by a taste factor interaction. However, separating the respondents into those who liked or disliked the product in the tasting condition revealed differences in willingness to pay results. The preferences are different for more than 50% of the attributes considered, and the magnitude of this difference is quite relevant. The WTP for one well known and certified sustainability related attribute\u2014organic breeding\u2014was not affected by the liking, while, for the other\u2014the preservation of a traditional rural landscape\u2014the effect of liking decreases the WTP. As a consequence, we suggest that tasting and liking studies should be routinely coupled with discrete choice studies when analyzing the introduction of new food products, especially when considering sustainable attributes in the experimental design. In the case of organic products where the expectations about taste are higher, neglecting to consider their sensory perception, along with the other discrete choice experiment attributes, could seriously undermine their long lasting success on the market

The Role of Sensory Perception in Consumer Demand for Tinned Meat: A Contingent Valuation Study

none4noThis study presents an analysis of consumer preferences for a new food product: Tinned Chianina meat. Respondents (N = 249) participated in a sensory test, where they were also asked to declare their willingness to pay (WTP) for the tasted product. The WTP data were collected after the sensory test by means of the contingent valuation method using a payment card elicitation format. Data were analysed with Cragg’s double-hurdle model to understand which factors influenced market participation (WTP > 0) and then the variables that influenced the declared WTP. According to our results, sensory perception played a key role in explaining both participation in the market and the magnitude of the expressed WTP. Moreover, we found that the sensory aspects have a different effect on the decision to participate in the market and on the magnitude of the expressed WTP. Smell and flavour are the most important in determining the probability of entering the market, while texture has the greatest impact on the declared WTP.openVecchiato, Daniel; Torquati, Biancamaria; Venanzi, Sonia; Tempesta, TizianoVecchiato, Daniel; Torquati, Biancamaria; Venanzi, Sonia; Tempesta, Tizian

Environmental Sustainability and Economic Benefits of Dairy Farm Biogas Energy Production: A Case Study in Umbria

Accelerating demand to reduce the environmental impact of fossil fuels has been driving widespread attention to renewable fuels, such as biogas. In fact, in the last decade numerous policy guidelines and laws regarding energy, the environment and agriculture have been issued to encourage the use of animal sewage as a raw material for the production of biogas. The production of energy from biogas in a dairy farm can provide a good opportunity for sustainable rural development, augmenting the farm’s income from traditional sources and helping to reduce the overall environmental impact of the energy sector. This paper investigates the trade-off between the environmental and economic benefits of an agro-energy farm in the Umbria region of Italy that employs livestock sewage and manure, dedicated energy crops (corn and triticale silage) and olive waste. The environmental analysis was performed using the LCA methodology, while the economic investigation was carried out by reconstructing the economic balance of the agro-energetic supply chain based on the budgets of each activity performed. The LCA results show, on the one hand, the predominant weight of producing dedicated crops compared to all other processes in the supply chain and, on the other hand, a significant reduction in environmental impact compared to that caused by energy production from fossil fuels. Economic analysis revealed that the results depend significantly on what rate per kWh the government incentives guarantee to agricultural producers of renewable energy

Rural sustainability and food choice: the effect of territorial characteristics on the consumers\u2019 preferences for organic lentils

The importance of pulse cultivation and consumption is recognized by the scientific community in terms of human nutrition, food security, biodiversity and a valid substitute for animal protein. In some marginal areas, pulse cultivation represents also a protection against the abandonment of agricultural land, the preservation of traditional landscape and the maintenance of natural environments, besides contributing to the safeguard of traditional gastronomy and culture. This study explores how some characteristics connected with rural sustainability, like the preservation of the traditional rural landscape, production area in a Natura 2000 Site of Community Importance (SCI) and EU quality labels (PDO and PGI), might influence organic consumers\u2019 choice of lentils. Data were collected in the Umbria region (Italy) in 2014 by interviewing 213 consumers\u2019 members of Organic Solidarity Purchase Groups (O-SPGs). The Discrete Choice Experiment methodology was used, and three different models (Multinomial Logit Model (MNL), Mixed Logit Model (RPL) and Endogenous Attribute Attendance (EAA)) were applied to verify the reliability of the estimates. Attribute non-attendance (ANA) behaviour was taken into account. Results reveal that the presence of ANA had an impact on both the relative importance of the estimated attributes and the magnitude of the estimated mean WTP. Therefore, this study suggests that WTP mean estimates should be considered with caution for marketing purposes if ANA is not considered. Looking at pulses, the results help to understand the importance in monetary terms of the relationship between lentil choice and rural sustainability

CONTRIBUCIÓN AL CONOCIMIENTO DE UNA PATOLOGÍA (SÍNDROME PARAPLÉJICO BOVINO) DE LA GANADERÍA EXTENSIVA DE LOS LLANOS DE VENEZUELA. PARTE II: ESTUDIO ETIOPATOGÉNICO Y ESTRATEGIAS DE CONTROL

En los llanos venezolanos, que abarcan unos 12 millones de hectáreas tienen asiento los sistemas de producción cría-levante y vaca-maute. Los animales pastorean en sabanas de suelos ácidos donde predominan comunidades de pastos del género Trachypogon, Axonopus y Andropogon, para sostener a unos 8 millones de cabezas de mestizo cebú x criollo. Las condiciones ambientales y de manejo de estas llanuras no son las más idóneas para sostener una ganadería de carne fuertemente mestizada, debido a que innovaciones tecnológicas no han sido incorporadas para mejorar el manejo cualitativo de los rebaños y, en general, la eficiencia de estos sistemas de producción. Un modelo de investigación integral, que implicó realizar estrategias de investigación: aplicada, básica y operativa, en fincas de los productores afectados por el síndrome parapléjico bovino (SPB) acompañado de un conjunto de estrategias en un paquete de mínimas tecnologías (PMT) para ser adoptado por los ganaderos. Se evaluó prioritariamentela situación nutricional y el manejo integral de los animales, se corrigieron las deficiencias detectadas; reflejándose su eficacia en indicadores bioproductivos del rebaño como: edad al primer parto, índice de preñez, índice de natalidad e índice de mortalidad. Además, fueron realizados estudios etiopatogénicos basados en estudios submicroscópicos e histoquímicas de fibras musculares de animales enfermos comparadas con las de animales sanos. Los resultados confirmaron: 1. El SPB es un trastorno de origen multifactorial estrechamente vinculado a deficiencia de minerales, especialmente fósforo, 2. La elevación del patrón tecnológico con el paquete de mínima tecnología (PMT) en los sistemas de producción extensiva, además de erradicar el SPB, aumenta significativamente su eficiencia.Contribution to the Knowledge of an Illness (Paraplegic Syndrome) of the Livestock at the Venezuela’s Plains. Part II: Etiopathogenic Study and Strategies for ControlABSTRACTIn Venezuelan plains have about 12 millions Ha, were settled the productions systems known as cow-calf and breeding-raising, with acids soils and most of their pasture belongs to the genus Trachypogon, Axonopus and Andropogon. It keeps about 8 millions of crossbred heads (zebu x criollo); the environmental conditions and management are inadequate, for livestock raising; because of the lack of technological innovations to improve the efficiency of the productions system. The origin of the Paraplegic Syndrome (BPS) may be related to the adverse environmental conditions. An integral research model, that involve: applied, basic and operative researches, was fulfilled by a multidisciplinary and inter-institutional teamwork in order to apply a set of strategies in a minimum technologies package (MTP) by the producers in the affected farms to investigate and eradicate this trouble, knowing the nutritional situation and the integral management, which was corrected in accordance with the detecteddeficiency. A systematic follow up of the results was practiced to know the progress in the control of BPS and to evaluate the positive effect of the MTP on the most important bioproductive indicators in the herd: age of first birth, pregnancy rate, birth rate, and mortality rate. Therefore, etiopatogenic studies based on submicroscopy and histochemical analysis of the muscular fiber from ill and health animals were performed. The results showed: 1. BPS is a condition of multifactorial origin and closely associated to mineral deficiencies, especially in phosphorus. 2. Improve of technological pattern with MTP in the Venezuelan production system increasing in its efficiency and eradication of the BPS