LIBRI DI STEFANO MASSAGLIA

The specialty milk market in Italy has shown positive trends in recent years. Companies, from small producers to market leaders, continue to invest in differentiating their product lines, increasingly orienting their production choices towards specialties linked to sustainability and health benefits. This trend not only meets the needs of consumers, who are increasingly attentive to sustainable and healthy foods, but it also has a significant impact on the production and profitability of milk companies. Thus, this research aims to analyse the composition of specialty cow milk assortments in different large-scale retail (LSR) stores in North-West Italy. The objectives were to define the assortment depth of sustainable and health-focused milk categories, as well as the marketing policies currently applied in the LSR market for such products. Differences in the assortment of seven specialty product categories were evaluated with regard to brands, milk origin and packaging material, using the Correspondence Analysis. Price differences between product categories were analysed using ANOVA and comparing the product brands and the different formats of large-scale retailers. The main results highlight the key characteristics and differences of the specialty milk supply, taking into consideration the main sales channel of this type of product.

The main problem concerning the production of grain corn for human food use is on the fumonisins contamination. In the European context, the limits relating to the maximum levels allowed for these metabolites in foodstuffs, necessitate by companies involved in cultivation and in the subsequent stages of storage and processing, to bear costs and investments to get finished products conform to that regulation. The aim of this work has been assessing the economic sustainability of interventions based on particular techniques of grain processing and the use of innovative plants by elevators and processors in order to reduce the level of mycotoxin contamination. The firms examined are a storage center and a mill, located in Northern Italy, which orient their processes in order to achieve production of high food quality and health. The determination of costs and revenues to obtain grain products for human food use, has highlighted that a focused approach on the quality productions permit to obtain broader margin gains and food safety for the consumer.

Il volume, frutto di due attività congiunte di ricerca, affronta il tema degli effetti della direttiva quadro 60/2000 sull’agricoltura. Pone poi l’attenzione sugli effetti che le riforme delle politiche agricole avranno sugli usi dell’acqua da parte del settore agricolo, passando infine ad analizzare il ruolo del settore agricolo nei nuovi scenari di sviluppo e la modellizzazione delle politiche per la produzione di esternalità ambientali da parte dell’agricoltura.