The impact of nutri-score on consumers' preferences for geographical indications. Evidence from a non-hypothetical experiment.

The EU Farm to Fork strategy (F2F) promotes the compulsory adoption of a nutritional front of pack label to improve the diets of the citizens, supporting healthier food choices. In the public debate, Nutri-Score (NS) is the most favored candidate. Although being widely supported, oppositions on the political and producer levels are raised against the NS, due to the economic impact it could have on specific food sector, and specifically on Geographical Indications (GIs). Recent literature has stressed the need to explore it in more detail. The current study contributes to fill this gap by analyzing consumers' monetary preferences for GI products labelled with different NS levels. An incentivized non-hypothetical experiment was conducted on 188 Italian consumers. Different products representing different levels of NS were used. Specifically, a conventional pasta and the Pasta di Gragnano PGI (NS = A), a conventional flatbread (piadina) and the Piadina Romagnola PGI (NSC), and a conventional hard cheese and the Parmigiano Reggiano PDO (NS = D) were considered in the survey. Results reveal that the NS elicits favorable responses and unfavorable reactions in consumers' preferences, aligning with expectations for A and D scores, respectively. The perceived healthiness of the product significantly affects consumers' WTP, increasing it. Results stress the need to have effective communication strategies within the EU to reach the F2F goals. NS diminishes the premium in prices associated with GIs independently from its level, when considering those consumers who value more the GIs. However, the most well-known GIs does not suffer from this negative effect of the NS, as the positive value associated to the GI offset the negative effect of the NS.

A Little Bird Told Me Nutri-Score Panoramas from a Flight over Europe, Connecting Science and Society.

Within the Farm to Fork Strategy, the European Commission ask for a unified Front Of Pack nutritional label for food to be used at the European level. The scientific debate identified the Nutri-Score (NS) as the most promising candidate, but within the political discussion, some Member States brought to attention several issues related to its introduction. This misalignment led to a postponement of the final decision. With the aim to shed some light on the current stances and contribute to the forthcoming debate, the objective of the present work is to understand to what extent scientific research addresses the issues raised by the general public. We applied a structural topic model to tweets from four European countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain) and to abstracts of scientific papers, all dealing with the NS topic. Different aspects of the NS debate are discussed in different countries, but scientific research, while addressing some of them (e.g., the comparison between NS and other labels), disregards others (e.g., relations between NS and traditional products). It is advisable, therefore, to widen the scope of NS research to properly address the concerns of European society and to provide policymakers with robust evidence to support their decisions.

Understanding agricultural land leasing in Ireland: a transaction cost approach.

Formal written land leasing contracts offer an alternative to land purchase for those farmers wishing to expand their land area and provide greater security relative to informal short-term rental agreements and are particularly important for beginning farmers with resources insufficient to purchase land. Formal land leasing contracts vary in terms of their duration, but there is limited understanding about the determinants of contract duration in developed countries. In this research, we use econometric techniques and transaction level data to explore the determinants of duration for agricultural land lease contracts for two regions in Ireland. Under the transaction cost economics approach, the research explores the role of legal status, price and non-price conditions in influencing the contract duration. Results indicate that the legal status of the tenant is a significant factor in influencing the duration. Provisions such as break clauses appear positively related to duration and confirm the theoretical expectation that long-term contracts create a demand for processes that enable adaptation over the course of long-term exchange.

Is it really a piece of cake to label Geographical Indications with the Nutri-Score? Consumers' behaviour and policy implications.

To improve the dietary habits of the population, the EU, within the Farm to Fork strategy (F2F), is strongly supporting the Nutri-Score (NS) Front Of Pack (FOP) label. Under the NS system, Geographical Indications (GIs) are generally scored as "unhealthy" food, given the predominance of products of animal origin among GIs which are, notoriously, high-fat products. This study aims to determine the impact of the NS label on consumers' preferences for two Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) cheeses, in comparison with generic ones. A Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) was conducted on 600 Italian consumers through the estimation of a Random Parameter Logit model. Results highlighted that Italian consumers are generally not familiar with the NS and perceive it as a positive characteristic of the product, even if it is signalling an unhealthy choice (D score). However, consumers aware of the Nutri-Score meaning are willing to pay less to buy a product considered "unhealthy" according to this system. Furthermore, we found that consumers who already knew the NS system have homogeneous behaviours in rejecting the product, independently of the association with a PDO certification. This result has important implications on the agri-food sector. If the Nutri-Score becomes mandatory in the EU, consumers might refuse many GIs due to their negative Nutri-Score values. However, the quality of these products is recognized and protected worldwide. In this vein, the GI policy could be questioned by the F2F strategy: both of them aims to reduce information asymmetry producing, at the same time, contrasting results. Within the Geographical Indication policy, the PDO and PGI goods are protected for their quality attributes, which are strictly linked to their geographical origin of the products and traditional know-how. However, the EU adoption of the Nutri-Score could damage these products, reducing their perceived quality/value.

The Economics of Rabbit Farming: A Pilot Study on the Impact of Different Housing Systems.

This research evaluates the economic sustainability of rabbit farms using different housing systems-bicellular (BI), conventional dual-purpose (DP) and enriched cages designed according to the World Rabbit Science Association guidelines (WRSA)-through a field-based study involving six farms over the course of five years. The cages were compared based on three productivity indices expressed in kg of produced live weight/m2 and on eight cost indices expressed in EUR/kg of produced live weight. The results showed that WRSA significantly reduced the productivity index per walkable cage area in buildings and cages, thanks to the longer platform area included in the cage compared to the other systems. Concerning cost indexes, total variable costs were not different among housing systems, whereas significant differences were observed within costs items. As for the feed costs, DP underperforms compared to BI or WRSA (1.15 vs. 1.02 and 0.99 EUR/kg produced live weight); for drugs costs, BI was less competitive compared to DP and WRSA (0.12 vs. 0.06 and 0.05 EUR /kg). In conclusion, under the conditions of the present study, the economic results of farms that adopted housing systems designed to improve rabbit welfare, such as WRSA enriched systems, were economically sustainable and, comparable to conventional housing systems based on BI or DP cages, also provided a significant reduction in drug use in the tested farms. A comprehensive collection of data from more farms at a European level would be necessary to confirm these results on the economics of farms adopting alternative housing systems for rabbits.