In recent decades there has been a tendency towards a``standardization'' in the consumer habits of people living in countries with advanced economic development. This has been caused both by the change in the products available and in lifestyles and by the``power'' acquired by modern distribution channels (large retail distribution). Apart from this development, however, there has been increasing interest, particularly in the last ten years, in dietary, health and hygiene products characterized by high quality production and content, which may or may not be closely connected with the history and/or culture of the territory. In order, therefore, to understand the mechanisms that regulate the consumer market of organic produce better, a survey was carried out to define the use, purchase and sensitivity to the price of these products in relation to the preferences expressed by consumers as regards the benefits associated with the consumption.

Around the world, interest is growing in the circular economy in response to the current unsustainable model of production and consumption based on increased use and depletion of resources. This paper provides a review of the academic literature on the circular economy in agri-food systems, with the aims of understanding its main characteristics and perspectives, and summarizing and discussing the literature in this field. This review provides a deeper understanding of the opportunities provided by the circular economy as a solution to the current need to reduce the environmental impacts of business-as-usual economic systems and the state of the art of the circular economy in the academic debate. The results are discussed based on the chosen topic-core investigated in this review: business model and organization management, food loss and waste along the supply chain, analytical tools for the circular economy, stakeholder acceptance of the circular economy, and mitigation strategies and political approach. The findings show the need for the implementation of cleaner production models and consequent increases in stakeholder responsibilities and awareness, from both producers and consumers, as well as the need for the implementation of suitable policies and tools.

Several studies have been conducted on organic wine consumption, but no specific study has yet fully explored how the set of attributes explored by existing research affects the additional price for organic wine. To fill this gap, the objective of this paper was to examine whether and to what extent consumers are inclined to pay for buying organic wine and what are the attributes that significantly influence the additional price of organic wine compared to conventional one. With this aim, a quantitative study over a representative sample of wine consumers in Sicily (Italy) was carried out. Results allowed to observe that consumers attached greater importance to personal motivations such as environmental protection, distinctness and curiosity as well as to explicit label information such as brand renown and local production. In addition, male gender and income are positively correlated to the willingness to pay an additional price for organic wine. Our results have important implications for the actors involved in the wine sector as the adoption of marketing practices explicitly related to the label and motivations attributes can lead to value augmentation of organic wine that could increase consumers' valuation for it.

This review aims to assess consumer choices of sustainable fish products, considering a number of attributes that have been considered in the academic literature on this topic. In order to examine the effectiveness of sustainable labels, the research question was focused on the relation between sustainable fish labels and consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP). The findings showed how, overall, consumers have positive perceptions regarding sustainable fish products and show a willingness to pay a premium price for the attribute of sustainability. According to the results, the country of origin attribute was found to be the most important attribute in relation to consumer choice. The results indicated a high WTP for local fish products, relative to imported alternatives. Consumers prefer wild-caught fish for its perceived quality, better safety and health aspects, and taste perception than the farm-raised option. As for animal welfare, the results show that consumers are willing to pay a moderate premium price for products that have an improved fish welfare or those that avoid by-catch, such as products with eco-labels like “turtle safe”. With regard to organic labels, the studies identified a positive organic price premium for fish products. However, organic labels do not play a major role in consumer choice, when compared with other attributes.

Recently, to obtain biogas from biomass, an innovative system based on both sustainable intensification of crop rotation and use of by‐products was developed. This system derives from BIOGASDONERIGHT concept, which was put forward with the aim of making more sustainable biogas production. Among the by‐products that could be considered for the anaerobic digestion within this new concept, olive pomace (OP) has been the object of research studies aimed at evaluating its possible reuse for energy purpose in terms of economic sustainability. This possibility is of relevant importance to reduce the environmental burden caused by disposal processes of the residues of olive oil industries. However, to the authors’ knowledge, the amount of processed olives in olive‐producing areas, as well as the correct planning of OP use for energy purposes, has not yet been the object of research activities. Therefore, the aim of this research study was to compute the availability of OP, the main waste from the olive oil industry to be disposed of, by following a methodology which included a geographic information system (GIS) based model that allowed the computation of indicators suitable to describe OP potential production within geographical areas. In the first phase of the study, the spatial distribution of the olive‐producing areas in Sicily, a geographical area of the Mediterranean Basin highly representative of olive oil production, was analyzed. Then, a GIS‐based model, previously defined and applied to evaluate the amount of citrus pulp production, was applied to this case study to estimate OP potential production by the computation of a suitable index. The model required information about olive oil industries, which was gathered by performing specific surveys, and included the computation of indicators regarding olive‐producing areas, the amount of olive oil produced, and the amount of OP obtained. In the second phase of this study, the quantification of OP that can be available for biogas production was carried out at a provincial level in an area described by the highest potential of OP production. The total amount of OP available for biogas production corresponded theoretically to 1.9 million Nm3 biogas. This result proved that OP has a high potential to be converted into a resource for renewable energy production, such as biogas. Therefore, it constituted a potential solution to issues related to the environmental burden of OP disposal. Furthermore, the GIS‐based model applied in this case study, by giving the potential production of OP, could contribute to build an information base aimed at improving the sustainability of biogas sector. In this context, by considering the availability and distribution of other agricultural biomasses, the results of this study could be useful for applications in geographical areas where biogas sector is still developing. In fact, the obtained results could help identifying the best location of new biogas plants in terms of optimization of the logistics of biomasses supply. © 2017...