Sustainable Agribusiness and Food Marketing

Dear colleagues,

Improving the sustainability of food production is one of the most challenging targets for the agri-food sector. A sustainable food production system should consider several issues related to the three pillars of sustainability: environment, society, and economics. The environmental pillar requires food production to minimize its impact on climate change, preserve landscape, biodiversity, and water and soil quality. From a social and economic perspective, sustainable food production should ensure safe and healthy foods, good quality at affordable prices, and work inclusion and preservation of jobs in the food industry.

However, despite the demand of public institutions, policymakers, and consumers for environmental-friendly and socially viable production methods, several critical aspects often constrain food production and consumption to perform below the most sustainable options. Challenges for sustainable food production relate to technical inefficiencies in farming activity and food transformation and distribution. At the end of the supply chain, final consumers also play a crucial role in terms of food waste, preferences, and dietarian habits. Given these premises, it is clear that all participants in the agri-food sector must “find new ways to reduce inputs, minimise waste, improve management of resource stocks, change consumption patterns, optimise production processes, management and business methods, and improve logistics” (Europe 2020 strategy—A resource-efficient Europe).

Over recent decades the food system faced what is referred to as ‘chain reversal’ (Linnemann, Benner, Verkerk, and van Boekel, 2006), changing from a predominantly supply-driven model, to a more demand-driven one. Consumer preferences are, therefore, crucial in orienting food production, and modern consumers are paying more attention to the intrinsic characteristics of the food they buy such as the use of pesticides, the absence of child labor in food production, organic and fair-trade regulations, animal welfare, packaging, and innovative food technology characteristics. In this respect, consumer demand could be an important driver in ensuring sustainable food production.

This Special Issue focuses on collecting advances in research that consider the three pillars of sustainability (environmental, social, and economic) along with modern food production and consumption patterns. Among such advances, the Special Issue welcomes research that considers the following topics related to sustainable food production and consumption:

• Organic food production
• Fairtrade
• Social farming
• Food waste
• Water preservation
• Sustainable packaging
• Animal welfare
• CO₂ emissions and climate change mitigation
• Consumer preferences for meat substitutes
• The impact of new diets and consumption trends (omnivorous, vegetarian, vegan) on sustainable food production
• Food security and labeling
• Local production
• Landscape preservation.

We are particularly interested in research that contributes to advancing marketing strategies that ensure sustainability in the agri-food business. Such research usually applies economic valuation methodologies like discrete choice experiments, contingent valuation, conjoint analysis, and experimental auctions to study consumer preferences and their willingness to pay for different food characteristics.

References:

Europe 2020 strategy—A resource-efficient Europe: https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024

Linnemann, A.R.; Benner, M.; Verkerk, R.; van Boekel, M.A.J.S. Consumer-driven food product development. Trends Food Sci. Technol. 2006, 17, 184–190. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2005.11.015

Prof. Daniel Vecchiato
Prof. Eugenio Demartini
Prof. Tiziano Tempesta
Prof. Anna Gaviglio
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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• Food
• Sustainable food demand
• Marketing
• Economic valuation
• Agribusiness
• Consumer behavior