Purpose The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the market potential of food obtained from olive by-products. The marketing of such by-products (e.g. olive leaves and pulp) is a challenging opportunity for the sustainable development of the sector. Yet, consumer demand is still poorly understood. The paper contributes to filling the knowledge gap with an empirical survey of a sample of Italian consumers. Design/methodology/approach The authors provide an assessment of consumers’ willingness to accept (WTA) food from olive by-products. The authors collected structured questionnaire from a sample of 289 Italian consumers. The authors asked to consumers their willingness to try a variety of food products containing olive by-products, as a proxy for their WTA the products. In order to investigate the drivers of the average WTA, the authors used the information in the questionnaire to build four constructs of interest: technophobia, neophobia, perception of benefits and awareness about sustainable consumption. The choice of the constructs and the variables was driven by the existing literature. Findings The paper shows how the WTA food with olive by-products is a general attitude of the consumer, rather than product-specific choice. The results suggest that consumers perceive the use of olive by-products as a new technology for preparing well-known food products. The authors did not find statistical evidence of the wariness of olive by-products as new food products. Technophobia is the most important factor hampering the marketing of olive by-products. Originality/value The paper is a first attempt of exploring the topic of WTA food with olive by-products.

PurposeThe paper explores whether consumers' environmentally sustainable attitudes and behaviors (e.g. saving water, energy, etc.) are associated with high frequency of local food purchases. The study uses a large sample of individual data collected across all Italian regions as well as accounts for the respondents' socioeconomic characteristics.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis uses a large sample of individual-level data (n = 21,081) collected by the Italian National Bureau of Statistics in the annual Italian Multipurpose Households Survey (MHS). Data contain individual information on the frequency of local food purchases as well as socioeconomic characteristics and environmentally friendly attitudes and behaviors. Data were analyzed using a multivariate ordered logit regression.FindingsResults indicate that individuals sensitive to environmental issues and adopting sustainable behaviors are more likely to purchase local food products than others. Also, age, education and occupational status positively are associated with a high frequency of local food purchases. Reading food nutrition labels, living in small communities as well as buying organic products are strong predictors of a higher frequency of local food choices.Originality/valueThe role of individual sustainable attitudes and behaviors in local food purchases has been marginally investigated in the literature. We addressed the issue by jointly accounting for several individual-related characteristics potentially shaping such relation. To the best of authors’ knowledge, the authors use the largest sample ever used to explore the individual's local food purchases in Italy.

Purpose – Geographical Indications (GI) are complex and multi-purpose institutions. Their objectives include encouraging diversification of agricultural production, improving farmers’ income, countering depopulation of rural areas, satisfying consumer demand for high-quality good, and protecting consumers from food fraud. The authors argue that such objectives are not necessarily aligned as divergence may arise among stakeholders (such as farmers, consumers or rural communities) about the optimal design of the GI. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – The authors developed a simple, static game-theory model describing the basic choices that a planner faces in designing a GI. Findings – The authors conclude that the optimal organization requires finding trade-offs among conflicting but equally desirable objectives. Perfect monitoring is not a sufficient condition to resolve such conflicts. Sub-consortia and flexible production agreements may increase the efficiency of a GI. Research limitations/implications – The authors described basic trade-offs in GI design using the simplest possible model. To this purpose the authors introduced limiting assumptions that may be relaxed in future research. The representation of the GI agreement focussed on the quality level only, abstracting from all other consideration. Using a static model prevented us from explicit modeling of (loss of) reputation effects. The simplifying assumptions about consumer behavior and cost functions have reduced the generality of the results. Extensions of the model may consider introducing additional elements in the GI agreement such as production areas or governance models, dynamic games and general functional forms. Practical implications – The authors found that in designing a GI: first, promotion approaches revolving around small groups of local leaders (i.e. efficient, high-quality producers) might overshoot quality, resulting in unsustainable production agreements; second, introducing degrees of flexibility in the production agreement may help achieving a sustainable GI; and finally, sub-consortia/optional labels may help dealing with producers’ heterogeneity. Social implications – The authors found that setting a high standard in the production agreement is not sufficient condition for delivering quality food to consumers, as producers might have incentive to commit frauds. A simple command and control approach to quality in GI’s is not always the most efficient strategy, because it may reduce participation. In designing the GI, the goals of identity preservation and food quality must be balanced with consideration of producers’ incentives. The involvement of producers in the design of the GI is a critical success driver. Yet, this practice can be problematic because of producers’ heterogeneity. Originality/value – The paper provides theoretical foundation for best practices in forming a GI, including: multi-stakeholder involvement, management of farmer heterogeneity and monitoring.

More than 25 years after the 1991 reform of the Union for the Protection of New Plant Varieties (UPOV) treaty, the regulation of Plant Variety Protection (PVP) is still controversial. While the incentives to private innovations are unquestionable, concerns have been raised about farmers’ access to resources, the weakening of their bargaining power, their entrepreneurial freedom, and ultimately their welfare. Our paper investigates the effect of PVP regulation on the governance of agri-food value chains (AFVC) with a small-scale survey of kiwi producers in Italy. We found that AFVC trading-protected (club) plant varieties are more likely to exhibit captive governance forms than those trading the free varieties. Nevertheless, the producers of club kiwis achieve higher returns from their investments and bear less risk than others. Because of the high demand for the club fruits, the breeders must give farmers highly profitable contract terms in order to elicit the production and to promote the adoption of the new cultivar. As a consequence, farmers are capturing a share of the value of innovation, even if the breeders have a strong protection. The long-run sustainability of this win-win agreement between breeders and farmers might be jeopardized should the demand for the new varieties fall.

Some major future global challenges are linked to more efficient use of water for irrigation to respond to the growing water scarcity coupled with the increasing food demand. Although irrigation advisory services (IASs) are considered effective instruments to increase water use efficiency in agriculture, their diffusion remains limited. This is due to several constraints mainly linked to their low accessibility and high costs. To overcome the bottlenecks associated with IASs’ adoption, this paper proposes a business model (BM) as a tool for scaling up IASs within a business perspective, with the aim of encouraging the diffusion of this technology while enhancing the associated environmental and social benefits. Drawn from the experience of the OPERA project, we structured the business model taking advantage of the opinion of relevant stakeholders and IASs’ potential users to identify specific limitations and understand their needs. It turned out that farmers are willing to adopt IASs but require that the service is easily accessible, with high-quality information that are delivered at an affordable cost. Indeed, here a BM with an innovative way to produce and deliver value is proposed. The value proposition is built upon key features namely, integration, customization, accessibility, and sustainability that reflect users’ needs and preferences. Our BM also provides a detailed revenues strategy that guarantees the financial sustainability of IASs. To design and represent our BM, the “Business Model Canvas ©” has been adopted. We concluded that an innovative and well-structured BM has the potential to leave the IASs profitable and capable to ensure environmental and social sustainability.