PDO Olive Oil Products: A Powerful Tool for Farmers and Rural Areas

Abstract

Nowadays, consumers’ quality awareness and health consciousness drive the agri-food market towards a consumer-response food market. As a result, many producers and firms in the Euro-Mediterranean countries have opted for several quality and origin assurance schemes. Among them, a prevalent role is played by the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) certification that constitutes a successful differentiation tool for agricultural products, and it is also widely used by Euro-Mediterranean olive oil producers due to effective contribution in promoting high-quality olive oil. After going through previous studies of PDO olive oil, this review paper investigates the general aspects and prospects of PDO olive oil products and EU relevant regulations, highlighting the socio-economic dimensions and impacts upon producers, consumers, and rural areas, and determining the gap between literature and practice with regards to PDO’s implementation and the expected benefits. Finally, the paper concludes with the main points and recommendations for further research.     

Willingness to Pay for Quality Labeled Meat in a Rural Area

The aim of this study is to identify consumer perceptions and attitudes toward quality labeled pork and beef using cross-sectional consumer data. Given the dramatic changes over the last years in the meat sector as a result of the recent food scares, the study can facilitate better communicating with consumers and gaining insight into their perceptions and behavior toward meat products. A consumer survey was conducted in the rural region of Thessaly in Greece in order to investigate (a) food quality perceptions, (b) attitudes toward pork and beef quality labels, and (c) intentions to purchase higher priced certified pork and beef. The findings suggest that sociodemographic and personal characteristics have an impact on consumer willingness to pay for such products and different market segments can be targeted by marketers and food policymakers.     

Consumer response evaluation of a greek quality wine

This paper reports on the attempt made to identify consumer response on certified quality wine with a destination of origin (PDO) indication. Given that the current consumer interest in quality food has increased, it is important to measure their level of awareness of and overall behaviour towards these products. Emphasis is given on quality wine, produced in the region of Peza, Crete, which is labeled as a cooperative PDO product with high quality standards. A survey that utilized a self-administered questionnaire was designed to obtain the data needed for the study that took place in the Attiki region. Consumers who participated in the survey were asked to indicate (i) their general level of knowledge on PDO products and on Peza cooperative wine in particular, (ii) their attitudes towards several quality attributes, considered when buying and consuming wine, (iii) their intention to purchase a higher priced Peza cooperative wine with a quality certification and PDO indication label. The results seem to be important for all the market bodies that are involved in the supply chain of this product since they may be a guide to developing production and marketing strategies that instil consumer confidence, assure consumer satisfaction and therefore satisfy demand.     

Factors Affecting Cigarette Demand

This paper addresses the impact of smoking restrictions in workplaces and educational establishments, cigarette price measures and various psychosocial indicators on cigarette demand, controlling for demographic and socio-economic factors. The data used for the analysis are collected via questionnaire that was administered in personal-in home interviews. A two-part model of cigarette demand [Cragg, J. G. “Some Statistical Models for Limited Dependent Variables with Application to the Demand for Durable Goods,” Econometrica, 39, 5, 1971, pp. 829–44.] is estimated. According to the estimations, cigarette price measures do not influence cigarette demand. On the contrary, smoking restrictions in workplaces and educational establishments and most of the psychosocial variables are found to affect cigarette demand considerably.     

Environmental attitudes of integrated pest management greenhouse producers in Greece

The main objective of this paper is to examine whether personal traits (age, experience, and education level) influence farmers' attitudes toward the environment and to identify the target audience on which future agri-environmental programs should focus. On the basis of an integrated pest management program implemented in the area of central Macedonia, 86 farmers were selected and interviewed with the help of a questionnaire specially designed to assess farmers' behavior in the greenhouse and to examine their attitudes toward the environment. The survey was carried out from July to November 1997. Findings revealed that younger, more-educated, and less-experienced farmers form a group that expresses friendlier attitudes toward the environment. It is suggested that policy makers should primarily focus their attempt on this particular group for more sustainable practices to be more quickly and easily expanded.     

Valuing Consumer Perceptions of Olive Oil Authenticity

Nowadays, while the authenticity of agri-food products becomes a major concern for consumers, given the increasing rate of food fraud reports across the world, olive oil records the highest adulterations. The high selling price of olive oil is the main reason for conducting adulteration, which is often caused through false indications on the packaging (mislabeling). On the other hand, consumers are well aware of the alteration, and they are looking for authenticity signals during the purchase process. Authenticity, therefore, becomes an evaluation and decision-making criterion that guides consumer choices. The aim of this paper was twofold: to highlight the attributes in which Greek consumers attach great importance during the evaluation of olive oil’s authenticity, and second, through consumers’ demographic segmentation, to gain more detailed knowledge about the attributes that consumers evaluate in olive oil authenticity. CUB (Covariates in a mixture of Uniform and Binomial random variables) models are employed for the interpretation of ordinal data due to the ability of comparing and clustering the rating distributions consumers express about olive oil features, and due to the ability of detecting significant similarities and differences in consumer responses. Moreover, with the introduction of respondents’ social, demographic, and financial characteristics, CUB models allow the measurement of the influence that the consumers’ profile has upon the attributes of olive oil authenticity. The results showed that consumers attached great importance to taste, acidity, country and region of origin, olive variety, color, organic production, and regional certification in the evaluation of olive oil authenticity. In addition, secondary school graduates tend to use taste and olive variety, also indicating confidence in the authenticity of organic olive oil.