Search results for " Rural"
showing 10 items of 1049 documents
Food, health and society: the town meets the countryside
2017
It is not long time that food culture has undertaken a process of renewal started when severe food safety problems did reveal through the “food scandals”: the so called mad cow disease (BSE, Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) or the swine flu and bird flu, and other various contaminations occurred in the late 20th century. The first development in food culture, so long, was due to safety needs but was the beginning of a new consciousness about the importance of food and diet on human health. Quickly, the demand for quality food oriented itself towards qualitative – local, traditional, organic – food features. This was a great challenge and a new opportunity for agriculture: to supply valuabl…
Consumer interest towards tropical fruit: factors affecting avocado fruit consumption in Italy
2017
Abstract The purpose of this paper is to identify the main factors affecting the consumption of avocado fruit among Italian consumers. In order to respond to the aim of the study, an empirical survey was conducted through the submission of an online questionnaire to 327 consumers. An ordered logit econometric model was adopted to examine the relationship among some explanatory variables and the frequency of consumption of avocado fruit. The findings of this study show that the consumption of avocado fruit is affected by different factors, including fruit consumption habit, neophilia attitudes, and various intrinsic and extrinsic quality attributes (credence attributes in particular). The st…
The grain market, short-term credit, and economic inequality in the Kingdom of Valencia. The towns of Cocentaina, and Castellón in the Fifteenth-Cent…
2018
Despite the predominance of small peasant farms in the Valencian countryside in the Late Middle Ages, large sections of the peasantry were forced to turn to the market to obtain cereals for consumption and sowing. Insufficient land and lack of liquidity caused by the seasonal cycle of crops made it necessary to use short-term credit, which was recorded in the court of local justice in the legal form of “obligacions”. The aim of this paper is to analyse the economic role of this credit market, identifying varieties of commercialised cereals, seasonality of purchases and payments, price trends and the socio-professional background of buyers (debtors) and sellers (creditors). Thus, we study ho…
Study of Consumer Preferences in Regard to the Blonde Orange Cv. Washington Navel “Arancia Di Ribera PDO”
2016
Consumers’ attitude and preferences in regard to food ingre- dients, country of origin, social corporate responsibility toward the environment, and work conditions have changed over the last 10 years. Consumers are getting more educated and there- fore more sensitive around cultivation practices in agriculture and food processing, which increases concerns in regard to production practices in agriculture. Several studies have been conducted on consumers’ preferences about quality food, but not with regard to blonde oranges cv. Washington Navel culti- vated in southern Italy. This quality fruit is a niche product that achieved the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) certifica- tion for high…
Label Style and Color Contribution to Explain Market Price Difference in Italian Red Wines Sold in the Chinese Wine Market
2017
This study employs a hedonic price methodology to investigate the implicit price of individual labelling characteristics of Italian red wines sold in the Chinese market. Our results highlight the most important quality attributes (extrinsic and intrinsic) given in the label capable to explain price difference. In particular, reveal significant premium price for wine origin, identified in particular through the DOC/DOCG appellation given in the label, and for clean labels or labels with particular designs. On the contrary, a price discount has been revealed for Italian wines produced with local grape varieties and with a label characterised by warm colors. These results, partly in disagreeme…
Renewable energies, business models and local growth
2018
Abstract Energy is one of the driving factors of the world economy: energy consumption is closely linked to quality of life and environmental impact. Reducing the use of fossil fuels, curtailing greenhouse gas emissions, and cutting energy dependence from traditional energy producing countries are the cornerstones of European policies for safe, competitive, sustainable, and renewable energy. In addition, the pressing need to provide new and diversified opportunities for supplementary income for the agricultural sector has fueled the desire to engage rural areas in this process. Biogas, derived from the anaerobic digestion of biomass, is one of the renewable energy sources that has been very…
‘Green’ Wine through a Responsible and Efficient Production: A Case Study of a Sustainable Sicilian Wine Producer
2016
Abstract Sustainability is progressively gaining importance in the winegrowing sector. Implementing this concept implies environmental soundness, social equity and economic feasibility. A proliferation of initiatives to develop the sustainable production of wine started officially in Italy since the year 2010. The objective of this paper is to illustrate the reshaping of Sicilian winegrowing according to the ‘Triple bottom line’ approach to sustainability. By analyzing the case-study of the Tasca d’Almerita firm, pilot farm of various national projects in wine-sustainability, we found that adopting sustainable operative, organizational and competitive strategies has lead to a well-managed a…
Changes in the international wine market competitiveness
2017
This study offers a contribution to understanding the complexity of the international wine trade analysing the specialisation patterns of 14 among the most important wine world actors in the period 2007â2016, in order to verify if the patterns of comparative advantages for the trade of this countries have experienced significant changes. Using the Lafay index, as a comparative advantage measure, our results reveal deep changes in the global wine market exchange. Our result constitutes a base element for the future development of the competitive scenario and provides some both theoretical and practical implications. In the baseline projection, the maintenance of the competitive position is…
Pasta experience: Eating with the five senses - a pilot study
2018
Dried pasta is the Italian food “par excellence”. Traditional foods have characteristics that can stimulate or evoke in the consumer sensorial stimuli and experiences, especially when these foods are consumed in a typical-traditional restaurant. Traditional restaurants can use sensory marketing as a promotional advantage, creating a unique and original atmosphere that can represent their main way of differentiation. The aims of this paper are to know consumer liking with regard to two high quality types of Sicilian pasta, common dried pasta, and whole-wheat pasta, consumed in three different venues of a typical-traditional Italian franchised restaurant, and to measure the influence of envir…
The Quality Perception of Fresh Berries: An Empirical Survey in the German Market
2016
AbstractThe present work aimed to investigate the main quality attributes that influence the purchase decisions of fresh berries. To this regard, an empirical survey has been conducted by interviewing 200 consumers of fresh berries at the exit of the main centers of the large scale retail trade in the city of Munich (Germany). An econometric model has been adopted to examine the relationship that single attributes has on the purchase frequency of fresh berries. Results showed that nutraceutical properties and health benefits of berries have a strong appeal to the consumers and confirmed that intrinsic attributes are determinants of consumer purchase decision