Mariantonietta Fiore

Strengthening regional identities and culture through wine industry cross border collaboration

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the potentialities of cross border projects to develop and promote wine culture, and consequently tourism and hospitality; paying particular attention to the process and actions supporting the development and refinement of cultural attributes, traditional values and regional identity. Design/methodology/approach – Methodologically, it is a deductive reasoning exploratory research, based on the findings of an extensive undergoing project across ten countries, spanning from Italy to Eastern Europe, and theoretically founded on an extensive literature review. Findings – The findings identify the spectrum and nature of opportunities and constraints of cross border collaborations in developing the wine industry and reaping of its wider economic and cultural benefits. Further to the scholarly value of the findings, the paper identifies and presents the descriptive managerial/industrial implications, along with prescriptively explicit directions toward practical ...

Social Media and Societal Marketing: A Path for a Better Wine?

ABSTRACT The social-media marketing tools, such as social networks, wine club and societal marketing strategies, can increase the knowledge of consumers expectations. The aim of the article is to verify whether these tools affect the product improvement. An exploratory survey is carried out in the wine sector in Apulia region (South Italy). Data were collected by online survey using the Survey Monkey software and were administered to a sample of pre-selected wineries; then, responses were processed by means of an ordinary logistic regression. Results are presented. Management implications and conclusions close the article.

Direct selling in the wine sector: lessons from cellars in Italy’s Apulia region

Purpose – Buying process directly from producers is an expanding trend in advanced economies; then direct sales can be considered a crucial driver in wine sector in order to cope with global challenges and achieve a competitive advantage. The purpose of this paper is to investigate if management aspects and marketing innovation propensity could have an important role in choosing direct sale tool. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative analysis in Apulia region (Italy) was carried out. Data have been collected through a face to face and web-based exploratory survey submitted to a sample of 280 cellars participating in an Integrated Projects of Food Chains. A logit regression model was run in the research design. Findings – Findings showed that most of interviewed wineries, mainly characterized by agricultural production and direct approach to customers, are more likely inclined to direct sales choice. Research limitations/implications – The sample size could be expanded (e.g. to include farms from other regions or not belonging to an integrated projects). Practical implications – Managerial implications give insight on the role of direct sales as an opportunity to obtain aggregated value for agri-products and to increase bargaining power of farmers. Social implications – Food direct sales could have the important task of straightening the social proximity between rural and urban stakeholders, increasing trust and connection between producers and consumers. Originality/value – This paper can shed some light on this topic, since direct food sales across regions is less investigated than direct marketing.

The Role of Innovation in the Integration Processes of Integrated Projects of Food Chain: The Case of the Cherry Cultivation Chain in Apulia Region

Innovation is one of the key strategies proposed in the literature and economic policies as a crucial driver of the agro-food sector. Innovation, especially in the agricultural sector, is not manifested only as an adoption of new technologies, but also requires a balance between new practices, techniques and alternative ways to organize and manage markets, labour, land tenure and distribution of benefits. In this context, the Economic Conventions (EC) have found fertile ground for coordination in the agro-food sector. Starting from a recent work by Malafaia et al. (2010) on the EC and the mechanisms of coordination, the paper analyzes the Integrated Projects of Food Chain (IPFs) approved by the Apulia region. The data collection was carried out through interviews and meetings with various actors in the supply chain and via Territory Listening Plane analysis, in order to identify the types of formalized or non formalized coordination, practiced by the agents. Further challenges are the definition and the identification of the forms of coordination set up by agents of the supply chains of IPFs via the implementation of the economic/computer/management model, which leads to the development of new business processes and to the validation of a prototype model of knowledge transfer and check-ups. In the end of the paper, conclusions are drawn.

Predicting consumer healthy choices regarding type 1 wheat flour

Purpose Healthy and safety food issues are more and more becoming the purchasing process core of conscious consumer. “Type 1” wheat flour means higher protein and ash content. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the attributes usually referred to the characteristics of wheat flour known to consumers and at implementing a predictive model of purchasing that allows to make correct decisions without the necessary experience of a real human expert. Design/methodology/approach In order to investigate the research aims of the paper, an online survey was carried out and conducted by means of the Google Forms in the detection time January-April 2016. The online survey collected responses from 467 Italian respondents asked to give feedback about their buying habits of various types of flour. The responses were analyzed through a data mining approach. This paper implements predictive analytics to create a statistical model of future behavior by means of a machine learning algorithms. Findings In line with recent healthy and dynamic trends in the food industry, conscious consumer seems to be willing to pay a price for “type 1” wheat flour that is four times higher than the price related to the basic types of wheat flour. Social implications Consumer seems not to know well the “type 1” wheat flour and its healthy characteristics; then, it should be crucial to implement promotional strategies and marketing hand in hand. Promotion can be a key element in putting across the health benefits of special kinds of wheat flour. Originality/value Highlighting health issues about the “type 1” wheat flour gives insights and sheds some light on the crucial need of changing eating and purchasing behavior. Then, originality of this paper can be found in the used predictive algorithm of the artificial intelligence.

Reducing Food Losses: A (Dis)-Opportunity Cost Model

A huge amount of resources used in food production is lost or wasted globally and the same for the greenhouse gas emissions caused by the production of food. A plethora of methodologies to assess economic, environmental and social impacts stands out. The aim of this paper is to analyze the social impacts of food losses along the food chain: the methodology is based on the elaboration of a disopportunity cost taking into account food waste and losses Kcals and Kcals/required per day (to cope with the energy expenditure), U.A.A. (Utilized Agricultural Area) cost. Findings are aimed at highlighting how the food looses reduction is crucial for an intra-generational equity.

Understanding limits to data informative power for sustainable food policies in transition and post-transition countries

The aim of this paper is to investigate the agri-environmental sustainability whereas statistical improvements provide a considerable backbone for understanding the three Es balance rule, environment, equity, economy. Then, access data to key resources such as food and water are still not fully available and comparable between countries. This opens several questions in terms of what kind of policy measures we effectively need and where to support climate smart agriculture and build resilience to climate change. By analysing food data, we identify gaps and bottlenecks which may affect the understanding of the magnitude of the food security challenge. We study a post-transition country, Serbia, chosen for the relevance of the agricultural sector on the living conditions of rural population, and the opportunities for the transition to sustainable farming and food production. Finally, we give insights for optimisation of the use of statistical info by highlighting informative power and limits of available statistical sources.

Fiscalità e agricoltura: nuovi strumenti per la competitività dei sistemi agroalimentari. Un modello di intervento in Basilicata

The crisis in the agricultural sector in the last two years has highlighted the need to help business operators through actions that improve system efficiency and reduce costs, including through tax, financial and administrative concessions. Especially in more specialized areas, can be representative in this sense the experience of industrial districts, business networks and supply chains, in relation to which the national legislation provides tax, administrative, financial and support for research & development benefits. Specifically, it is crucial to define, in the light of the federal reform in place, the best practices that allow the definition of a model district, as a form of territorial organization of local development, such as to maximize the economic and fiscal benefits provided by Financial Laws for 2006 and 2008/09, the Law 133 of 2008 and so-colled anticrisis Law and the possible opportunities arising from the implementation of federal reforms and their impact locally. The research takes as the territorial area Lucania of Metapontino, which were promoted with great ability concertation, several partnerships in the food industry: the Agrifood District of Quality, Integrated Food Chain Projects, Programs for Local Development of the Local Action Groups. The results show, firstly, the importance of the district and food chains for the value of the area by improving the organization of business functions and governance. On the other hand, show how, through the implementation of an empirical model built on data of the regional economy, some political relief, through reduction of the interventions of social charges on the firm and the worker, may, in a perspective of local government federal, cause a positive impact on the local component of the value added and, therefore, income from capital and labor. Therefore, cooperation between the food sector stakeholders see that the variable tax tables included in the bargaining at the local level could certainly be successful for the level of welfare of economic agents.