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There is an extensive debate concerning the best approach to analyse the relationships into the "chain", and the problem of the information availability which should provide a clear identification of the object of analysis is not yet solved. This is true in particular with regard to the agri-food system. This study aims to underline that the incompatibility between analytical level of information and the theoretical construct of reference is often problematic for the studies of the agri-food system. Moreover this study highlights that the concept of system borrowed by the General System Theory (von Bertalanffy, 1968) and by Malassis (Malassis, 1973; 1979), is an approach able to design and to analyse the agri-food network. The representation of the system as a net oriented relationships is a tool capable of recognising the subjects involved into the network and also the functional relationships among them.