LIBRI DI FRANCESCO CARACCIOLO

Food quality is made up of a set of both intrinsic and extrinsic characteristics, including how these characteristics are guaranteed and communicated to end consumers. As a result, purchase choices are affected not only by elements such as taste and price, but also by the level of food safety, production process characteristics, nutritional aspects, origin and organic certification. In this paper we present the results of an analysis of consumer preferences for "Tergeste" dop extra virgin olive oil produced in the province of Trieste. The conjoint analysis method was used to assess the importance attached by consumers to the different attributes of the extra virgin oil olive. A cluster analysis was carried out on the utility scores estimated in the conjoint analysis to classify consumers into homogeneous groups (or segments) for whom different attributes were more important. A proposal for consumer segmentation and the definition of "ideal product" is therefore, presented in the study. The paper concludes with some reflections and suggestions for the valorization of "Tergeste" dop in which it is shown that the characteristics of demand are such as to make the policy of high prices, related to the quality policy of the product, practicable. Finally, through analysis of identified consumer segments, the possibility for producers to implement new strategies to improve sales development are reported.

China is one of the most dynamic economies of the planet. The dramatic economic development in recent decades has greatly influenced the structure and habits of Chinese society. This although still characterized by strong disparities between the poorer classes and the wealthy, shows a growing middle class and an increasingly high-income segment. These segments of society are, as expected, evolving from a cultural point of view beginning to incorporate into the ancient Chinese tradition elements of other cultures, most notably the Western one. As was the case for other new economies, especially the rich part of the population is showing an increasing inclination towards all aspects of Western culture. This opening is also affecting the food consumption habits, transforming the dynamic and vibrant Chinese market into a major destination for European food products. The following research by submitting a questionnaire to 500 Chinese consumers residents in metropolitan areas had a dual objective. The first involved the analysis of the propensity of consumers to enter into the ancient Chinese culinary culture food products from other countries. The second was represented by the attempt to segment consumers, depending on the degree of cultural openness towards non- Chinese food, using both socio-demographic and psychographic variables.

Food chain sustainability concept has significantly escaleted the scientific debate of agricultural economists. This paper attempts to evaluate the problem of governance looking at sustainability in a specific case study about San Marzano Tomato, through the procedure of assessments known as triangulation. The theoretical basis of our work is the priority and responsibility matrix: the study describes phases of the empirical reasearch conducted to assess the sustainability of a typical food supply chain. San Marzano Tomato is endowed with an origin certification label (pdo), meeting demand within high-value market niches. It is a product symbol of Campania region (Italy), benefiting of several interventions of the public regional operator (genetic resources research, support for the establishment of origin certification, etc.). The proposed methodology provides simple rules to follow the time evolution of a food supply chain, judging feasible solutions to satisfy inter-dimensional requisites of durable development. In the proposed case, the driving role of the government appears as a necessary prerequisite to achieving goals of sustainability.

The focus on sustainability issues in recent years has revived interest in the complex relations between economic development and environmental impact. New characteristics are being attributed to the rural landscape, while agriculture is taking on ever-increasing roles in public intervention policies in land management. This paper lends a further contribution to the wide-ranging discussion on the complex relations between agriculture and conservation of the rural landscape, revisiting the subject in the light of the new context of the multifunctional landscape and heterodox environmental economics. Analysis of both cultural and economic changes suggests the formulation of a new paradigm of sustainable development whose theoretical basis is laid by a multi-objective optimal allocation model. Farming must be remunerated directly by the market with the right combination of intrinsic product quality and attraction capacity thanks to positive externalities and the supply of public goods. This may lead to a reappraisal of whole areas in terms of efficiency and sustainability.