Bernardo De Gennaro

E-commerce retail of extra virgin olive oil: an hedonic analysis of Italian SMEs supply

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the relationship between the price of extra virgin olive (EVO) oil and its main quality attributes, in the specific case of business-to-consumers electronic commerce (B2C EC) channel. The final objective is to provide useful insights for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) interested in online selling of EVO. Design/methodology/approach – A hedonic price model was estimated considering the following attributes: packaging, cultivar composition, organic certification, oil extraction method, origin certification and localization of selling firms. A survey was performed in 2012 considering 169 virtual stores of SMEs (farms, mills and bottlers) located in all the main Italian olive-growing areas. A data set of 667 references was used to estimate the implicit prices of considered attributes. Findings – The EVOs sold through virtual stores are highly differentiated on the basis of several quality attributes among which the most important is the certificatio...

The Effects of Extrinsic Cues on Olive Oil Price in Brazil

ABSTRACT Over the past two decades, world olive oil consumption registered an impressive growth. Although olive oil consumption remains concentrated in the main producer countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea (“traditional” markets), it is also growing rapidly in many other countries all over the world, where olive oil is still largely perceived as a novelty food (“nontraditional” markets). This study focuses on the Brazilian market of olive oil, which is one of the most important nontraditional markets in terms of both its dimension and growth rates. A hedonic price model has been used to evaluate whether, and to what extent, extrinsic cues impact on the retail price of olive oil. Data were collected via direct observation of several e-shops where Brazilian consumers could purchase olive oil. Results show that the retail price of olive oil is highly influenced by extrinsic cues such as branding, labeling, and packaging.

EU quality labels in the Italian olive oil market: How much overlap is there between geographical indication and organic production?

ABSTRACT In the early 1990s, the European Union established two main quality schemes: geographical indications (GIs) and organic production (OP). Despite the abundant literature on the EU quality schemes applied to many food categories, including extra virgin olive oil, in most studies, GIs and OP are analysed separately, under the assumption that they are independent. This study aims to prove that synergies exist between GIs and OP labels. We analysed EU labelling on GIs and organic attributes simultaneously using bivariate probit models, and also assessed the level of independence from each other. A survey was administered to Italian consumers to elicit their purchasing behaviour of olive oil. The results found a correlation between the two certifications, highlighting the promising use of both certifications for olive oil products.

Influence of the CAP Reform on Livestock Outlook for Selected European Regions by 2020

Livestock producers have been widely affected by past reforms of the European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). This paper analyses the post-2013 CAP influences on farmer decision making in terms of how many livestock units to keep on-farm under the ‘with’ and ‘without’ CAP scenarios. The analysis is based on a survey of 1,301 specialized livestock farms across nine European member states carried out in 2009. The changes in trend in the number of animals reared take into account the different livestock typologies. The results show that the member states that have most recently gained accession are most sensitive to CAP reform, along with organic farming and livestock systems located in hilly and mountainous areas. All are expected to show a decline in their numbers of livestock, while specialist dairy units are expected to increase.

Capitale sociale e performance economica: un’applicazione al sistema di produzione dell’olio extra-vergine di oliva biologico della provincia di Bari

Capitale sociale e performance economica: un’applicazione al sistema di produzione dell’olio extra-vergine di oliva biologico della provincia di Bari - Social capital and economic firm performances: an application to the organic extravirgin olive oil net-chain in the province of Bari The supply chains of niche market goods like organic products are rapidly evolving. Compared to the conventional supply chains, these are more risky andmarket oriented. Therefore, to build stable networks along and among the chains is becoming an increasingly valuable as a competitive factor. The firms use these networks to exchange tangible and intangible assets. Structural social capital embedded in business networks could influence the firms’ competitiveness. In this perspective it can be worthwhile for the possible normative suggestion for policy makers to consider the control over strategic resources spread in the environment out of the firm, as a competitive advantage source, together with the firm’s internal resources. The external environment is characterized by a net of inter-firms relationships, which pertain to trade exchange, information exchange, shared norms and resources’ association. The strategic resources inside the network, especially information, constitute an asset that companies need to improve their competitive advantage. The structure of relationships enabling the access to those resources, constitute the social capital (sc) which is revealed in the modalities with which firms place themselves in the net: higher the sc, the higher the economic performance. This study aims to show the significance of structural sc in influencing the firms’ economic performances in agribusiness. We will try to test this hypothesis by analyzing the organic olive oil production system in the Province of Bari. In this study we refer to the form of sc linked to the firm’s position inside the net-chain and to the idea of structural holes. Specifically, we decided to measure sc in terms of network constraints - a more constrained entrepreneurial activity implies less structural holes and therefore less sc. As for the firm performance measures, there are several indexes that could be appropriate: from the well known roi (Return on Investment) and ros (Return on Sale), to revenue. Actually, we selected the last one (revenue). It in fact the results are easier to find, and the productive structure of the firms involved in the organic olive oil processing can be considered quite homogeneous. To measure the structure of the relational web we adopt the Social Network Analysis (sna), a method based on the analysis of the actors (individuals, firms, and institutions) involved in a particular context and on the relationships between them. The subject of the analysis is the extra-virgin organic olive oil net-chain in the province of Bari. A set of economic institutions and organizations both located in this province and out of this territory but involved in processing and in trading the extravirgin organic olive oil. The results obtained, show that also in agribusiness netchains, as the organic olive oil, firms gain a higher competitive advantage if the are able to be central in the network of relationships, both horizontal and vertical, assuming an intermediary role in the transactional and informational flows. Further studies are still necessary, since the analysis completely disregards some key factors of competitiveness (although recognizing their relevance), which are not directly connected to the structure of relationships of the netchain as the relational social capital (e.g. trust, norms and expectations) and cognitive social capital (e.g. shared view, common language). JEL Code: L14 Key words: social capital, network analysis, netchain, economic performance, organic olive oil

Competitiveness and Vertical Coordination in the Apulian Agro-Food System

Apulia is the third agricultural region in Italy and, by far, the most important southern region, producing more than 40% of the agricultural value-added of this part of the country. The concentration in the region of different agricultural productions, especially those that are typically Mediterranean like olives, grapes, durum wheat, vegetables, representing an easy and reliable source of supply, allowed the birth and the development of several processing industries. In an economy not yet highly industrialized, such as the Apulian one, this aspect assumes a great relevance as some recent studies help to show. It has been estimated that the whole agro-food system produces more than the 16% of the regional income (Ipres, 1991) while it weights for a little more than 10% for northern regions (Galizzi and Boccaletti, 1993).

Competitive strategies of Italian bottled water industry: evidence from a hedonic analysis

Bottled water has become a global business and Italy is one of the most important producer and consumer countries. However, the Italian bottled water market seems to have reached the maturity stage of its lifecycle. Because the competitive pressure is strongly increased, bottled water producers need to revise their marketing strategies. This study aims to analyze the emerging market trends and policy concerns. We built a hedonic price model to evaluate whether, and to what extent, the price of bottled water depends upon its extrinsic (brand, packaging, origin), and intrinsic characteristics (mineral composition). Data were collected via direct observation of the shelves in some modern retail stores. Results show that bottled water is highly differentiated and its retail price is mainly affected by extrinsic characteristics. Conversely, intrinsic characteristics affect the price of bottled water moderately. On the basis of these results, some insights are provided for both practitioners and policy makers. Keywords