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The organic food market is characterized by an uninterrupted growth during the past decade (Fibl, 2010; Spiller, 2006; Hamm and Gronefeld, 2004). Between 2006-2007, the organic food market in Europe is growing on average about 10% per year with an average per-capita spending of 27 Euros across all European countries (Padel et al., 2009). This increase is accompanied by challenges in market structures, distribution channels as well as differentiation of expectations and buying motives of organic food consumers. On this regard, the “hedonistic” motives for purchasing of organic food such as health, taste and wellness gained importance in comparison with the “altruistic” purchasing motives such as environmental protection and animal welfare. Therefore, some scientists pointed out that sensory attributes are important elements that should be taken into account in the marketing strategies by organic food distributors (Brennan and Kuri, 2002, Padel and Foster, 2005) than even before. On this regard, available literature lacks of empirical research investigating experiences and expectations of organic consumers which may support organic food producers, processors and distributors in drafting their marketing strategies. The objective of this paper is to explore in-depth sensory experiences, expectations and perceptions of organic consumers when purchasing and eating organic food, using qualitative marketing research techniques. The output of this research will be the identification of some key elements which may make researchers able to address further research and may provide useful recommendations to food industry practitioners interested in marketing organic food. Focus group interviews supported by semi-structured questionnaire were performed during 2009; five groups composed by 6-10 organic food consumers in different locations in Italy were invited to join group discussions focused on their approach to sensory characteristics of food. Each interview had a duration of about 1 hour has been video recorded. The interviews content was transcribed and then analyzed with the method of content analysis. The results indicate that some consumers still appear to be confused about the meaning of the term „organic food‟. The term is often associated with a set of desired features of food such as naturalness, freshness, but without any reference to the method of production, or with other types of niche products, such as artisanal or “home made” foods, etc. Although it is not possible to draw reliable conclusions on the basis of a qualitative approach like this, we may make an attempt to raise hypotheses that can be tested in a following research based on a quantitative approach. Based on the analysis of interviews contents, the sensory and safety attributes seem to be more relevant to consumer choice for older participants (46-75 years) than younger (18-45 years), the latter paying more attention to environmental protection, animal welfare, absence of chemical preservatives or additives when they purchase organic food. This is presumably because childhood memories seem to be important for older participants, as they apparently serve as a “personal sensory-quality term of reference” when taste experiences of the childhood or former times are compared with nowadays sensory characteristics of food, suggesting that education and training on food taste may play a role in shifting preferences. However, basically sensory attributes still appear to be less important than other attributes such as environmental protection, animal welfare, absence of additives, etc., consumers take into account when purchasing and eating organic food. Consumers largely agree that organic food should be different from conventional ones in terms of shape, odour, colour, taste, texture, etc, but variety is also expected and between organic food themselves. Few consumers, however, also expect that organic food may mimic some successful branded products. Appea...

Since 1995, the Barcelona Process aims to establish a free trade area between Mediterranean countries by 2010. The most commercialized products from Mediterranean countries are fruit and vegetables. The agreement defines, only for some products, preferences at the entrance of the EU market, limited concession for each partner for single products, limited quantities and calendars. This work tries to analyse the impact of the liberalization on the Italian products applying a gravity model in order to asses the Italian import flows from eight Mediterranean countries which signed the Barcelona agreement. The econometric estimation includes fruit and vegetables at the aggregate level and some specified products that enter in competition with typical Italian Mediterranean production such as citrus, melons, potatoes and tomatoes. Since these Mediterranean countries appear as a highly heterogeneous block related to historical, cultural, political and geographical factors, the gravity equation controls these factors by an augmented gravity equation.

This paper aims to supply a comprehensive account of a particular sector of the fisheries industry. TH increase of demand for fish products has involved an uncontrolled exploitation of marine reserves and fishing has reached its threshold of biological sustainability. For these reasons, aquaculture has grown in a corresponding manner in the recent past. The present survey starts from these considerations and aims to describe the general situation of world-wide, European and Italian aquaculture and then to examine the farming and marketing of a particular kind of product, Penaeus spp., which significantly affects global production in terms of value but not of quantity.

This study proposes to evaluate the environmental sustainability of certain productive processes, which may be of interest for the enhancement, and economic development of specific hill and mountain areas of northern Italy. In order to make a comprehensive appraisal of the impact of the various activities in each geographical context, we adopted a methodology based on AHP multicriteria analysis. In particular, this method was applied to the cultivation of berries and fruit chestnut, also with reference to alternative cultures already consolidated in the areas under investigation

The role of agriculture in the field of energy is part of a wider framework of services that this sector can provide to the community, integrating the concept of multifunctionality already attribut - ed to it. Whilst agricultural activity is an excellent means for protecting and enhancing the appearance of the territory, the production of agro-energy could become an opportunity for farmers to find new out - lets, not only for their crops, but also for by-products and agro-livestock waste/slurry. In fact, energy pro - duction can be an important opportunity for farmers to diversify their business, broadening the prospects and scenarios for agricultural and livestock farms. The energy potential of a rural area through the use of biomass produced by agriculture will now be investigated in depth: the authors describe agro-en - ergy production chains that specifically use biomass, ignoring other technologies (primarily photovoltaic and solar thermal) that can be developed, with prof - it, by the farmer, but which are not directly related to the traditional activity of a farm. Given a proven technology, the main problems for this energy chain are to be found in the procurement of biomass, costs of transport and management of biomass and diges - tate, and in the regulatory framework which is often difficult to interpret at the local level. The biogas chain will be examined in detail, espe - cially in relation to the significant growth in the number of plants constructed. Through the study of the main features characterising the chain - proce - dure for authorization of plants, taxation of energy production, by-products of organic and agro-live - stock origin and incentives and tariffs for energy production, - the economic sustainability of biogas production plants will be evaluated. Finally the authors present a comparison between rates of incentive before and after 2012 in order to analyse the risks for the profitability of the chain.

The diffusion of community supported agriculture (CSA) in Italy is a very recent phenomenon. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the current status and the evolution of this reality, understanding the social, environmental, and economic benefits for CSA members and the local context. Based on access to CSA data and participant observation during a CSA meeting, a thematic network analysis was adopted to analyse a large piece of information spanning from social, economic, and environmental topics as well as existing relationships between different CSA. Later, we interviewed CSA representatives about CSA production structure and several issues concerning their sustainability, including the role played by CSA members; the economic self-sufficiency; the environmental impact associated with food production. Findings highlighted that in general, the CSA phenomenon in Italy meets sustainability goals, even with different levels of members' involvement, working conditions, economic viability, and environmental impact from a community to one another, with desirable further improvements along all dimensions for most of them. Social transformations in which consumers take the role of producers and consumers at the same time with increased responsibility have been observed. In this context, the members' degree of responsibility contributes to distinguishing CSA in its full sense from CSA initiatives somehow started as ethical purchasing groups, with lower levels of commitment by members, then trying to trigger a higher involvement. The lack of policy support is containing further CSA diffusion and consolidation: new mechanisms are necessary at least to figure out, recognise, and reward the mitigation of environmental impacts characterising local food production and distribution.