This paper contributes to the existing literature on geographical indications and, in particular, on the economic analysis of vegetables bearing a Protected Geographical Indication label. This study deals with the niche topic of methodologies that may be used to select ideal foreign markets for the Radicchio Rosso di Treviso. The aim is to suggest an adequate investigative methodology for identifying the foreign countries that are most suitable targets for promotional strategies. The specific analysis considers many variables, chosen with a view to selecting eligible markets, and ultimately draws up a consistent ranking of the five best nations. To determine the most promising country, the Overall Market Opportunity Index (OMOI) method has been used. This focuses on the most relevant indicators for each of the seven categories used to assess their appeal. The findings show that Denmark can be the best market for focusing the segmentation strategies of the Treviso Radicchio. After this, policy and business implications are addressed and opportunities for future research into emerging related issues are suggested. Strengthening the ranking analysis methodologies used for selecting target markets for the companies that produce Made in Italy luxury foods can also help improve such companies’ competitive profile on international markets.

The Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistic composite index composed of life expectancy, education, and per capita income indicators. Currently, wine consumption is increasingly becoming significant both for reducing several diseases and for improving well-being and quality of life. The aim of this paper is to investigate spatial and temporal characteristics of wine consumption in 45 countries belonging to the World Health Organization (WHO) European Region and its relationship with the HDI. We use a balanced panel data by WHO database (2005-2015). Random effects panel data model was selected over the fixed effects model based on the Hausman test in order to assess the effect of HDI, European Union (EU) membership and geographical areas on wine consumption. Results highlight that wine consumption decreases as HDI increases. We noted higher values of wine consumption in EU countries and a positive gradient from West to East in the area considered. These findings highlight the presence of a new consumer profile seeking quality and healthy consumption and whose awareness increases coinciding with a rise in the degree of country development. National and international policies can address issues of consumption style and persuade consumers to have a new eating cultural approach towards buying...

Consumers have great power in the marketing process and social media represents an opportunity for farmers/producers to promote and strengthen ties with consumers by building short supply chains. Current business trends involving the application of social media for communication with costumers can also be observed among farmers/producers. The paper studies the use of social media by farmers/companies – here, the EU SKIN project partners registered within the SKIN Good Practice Repository. A first step included investigation of company webpages (native language version), which usually provided a general background to the company’s activities and information about its products. A Facebook page was identified as the primary social media channel (used by 81% of the investigated group) as farmers/producers who did not have it also did not refer to any other social media. Research results indicate a relatively wide audience for the Facebook pages of farmers/producers (numbers of likes and followers) but interactions with consumers are limited (a low number of comments and sharings). The conclusion is implied that a number of farmers/producers use social media for providing information but they mostly interact with their costumers offline.

We investigated the extent to which the Local Development Strategy (LDS) activities planned at the beginning of the European Union’s Leader programme implementation period, and the associated budget allocation in response to the defined local needs, were confirmed at the end of the period. We used as examples the implementation of two LDSs, one by a Local Action Group (LAG) in Poland and one in Italy. We applied some simple indicators to assess how much the budget assumptions at the planning level were reflected in the successful implementation of projects, and conducted interviews with representatives of the two LAGs. We showed that the two LAGs were generally working effectively but that excessive institutionalisation could be the major constraint to the proper design of the LDS and thus the implementation of the Leader programme. For the Polish LAG, it was because of the transfer of the evaluating role outside of the LAG: assessment of applications was undertaken by the regional institution, the Agency for Restructuring and Modernisation of Agriculture. In the case of the Italian LAG, the reason was an excessive formalisation of the rules concerning project applications.