Convergences and divergences between Italian consumers' preferences for mountain food products and the standards of the mountain label

Oliveira Linder Mikael, Sidali Katia Laura, Busch Gesa. 2022. Convergences and divergences between Italian consumers' preferences for mountain food products and the standards of the mountain label. In : Balancing food heritage, healthy diets and planetary resources: Book of Proceedings 9th World Conference on Localized Agri-Food Systems. Baptista Alberto (ed.), Cepêda Catarina (ed.). UTAD, CETRAD. Vila Real : UTAD, 27-32. ISBN 978-989-704-502-8 World Conference on Localized Agri-Food Systems (SYAL). 9, Vila Real, Portugal, 14 Novembre 2022/16 Novembre 2022.

Résumé : As part of the European rural development strategy, the European Union created Regulation (EU) 1151/2012 and its Delegated Act 665/2014, establishing the quality scheme for mountain products. This scheme has a threefold objective: (a) to add value to mountain products; (b) to sustain mountain farming; (c) to increase transparency for consumers regarding the origin of mountain food products. The growing interest of consumers for products from mountain areas could constitute an excellent opportunity to support localized agri-food systems in these areas. However, for this labelling scheme to be most likely to succeed (and for the above objectives to be achieved), the quality standards of the European regulation must meet the expectations of European consumers. Given that the European literature on consumer interest in mountain products is not numerous, this study seeks to fill this gap in the following way. Firstly, we explore the opinion of European consumers about beef and wine produced in mountain areas and their opinion about the new European regulation for mountain products. Secondly, we identify consumers' preferences regarding mountain beef and wine, and contrast the results with the EU regulation on mountain food products. This study uses qualitative (observations, focus group and semi-structured interviews) and quantitative methods (best-worst scaling method, latent class analysis). Data were collected in Italy between December 2018 and February 2020. For the quantitative research, the study used an online consumer panel (n = 1943). In summary, the results indicated that the European regulation does not support the interest of consumers in healthier and environmentally friendly products (including respect for animal welfare). In addition, consumers tend not to agree with the mountain area definition and support the inclusion of wines among the products suitable to use the mountain label. These gaps may negatively influence the acceptance of the mountain labels by consumers and diminish its usefulness.

Mots-clés libres : Mountain food products, Wine, Beef, Italy, Consumer preferences

Auteurs et affiliations

• Oliveira Linder Mikael, CIRAD-ES-UMR INNOVATION (KEN)
• Sidali Katia Laura, Universita di Verona (ITA)
• Busch Gesa, University of Göttingen (DEU)

Source : Cirad-Agritrop (https://agritrop.cirad.fr/614643/)

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