=Paper=
{{Paper
|id=Vol-1498/HAICTA_2015_paper107
|storemode=property
|title=Enhancement of Territorial Products and e-Commerce
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-1498/HAICTA_2015_paper107.pdf
|volume=Vol-1498
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==Enhancement of Territorial Products and e-Commerce==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-1498/HAICTA_2015_paper107.pdf
Enhancement of Territorial Products and e-Commerce
Immacolata Viola1
1
Fondazione Simone Cesaretti, via Casaraia, 12, 80049 Somma Vesuviana. Italy,
e-mail: immacolata.viola@gmail.com.
Abstract. The Millennium Goal, namely to halve, between 1990 and 2015, the
percentage of population living in extreme poverty and those who suffer from
hunger, and the renewed international attention on the effects of the food crisis,
have restored centrality to the theme of agriculture and agribusiness in general.
It records, today, excessive attention to food production, without a focus on
social, economic and environmental impacts of agricultural production and
consumption of agricultural products in the face of human pressure1 (Cesaretti
G.P. et al, 2015). Who today can, and should, play a key role in achieving a
production that is sustainable socially and environmentally are small farmers2
and new forms of marketing of products such as short supply chain. The tool
that can make a considerable contribution about the spread of information,
such as the origin, the organoleptic quality and safety of food products, to the
widest possible audience, is the ICT.
Keyword: short supply chain; information and comunication technology; e-
commerce; security; traceability; made in Campania.
1 Introduction
The agrifood system is highly developed and widespread and is, by tradition and
importance, a distinctive element of the economic system of the Campania. The
strength of this sector is due in large part to the wide variety and high quality of its
typical products, as well as the importance of the sectors that make it up and holding
a post of prime importance in the national economy. The agricultural cultivations,
herds of cattle and pigs, the production of canned vegetables, fruit juices, milk,
cheeses, meats and sausages, and also the technologies used in the food industry to
create products recognized worldwide. While quality, safety and tradition are the
characteristics of the sector.
The exceptional potential of agrifood system is finally enhanced by other positive
factors, such as the differentiation of the finished products, the competitive prices on
1
www.fondazionesimonecesaretti.it
2
Small producers should receive support through investments in infrastructure, capacity
building, knowledge transfer, social protection policies, organization and stabilization of
demand.
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the market, the good technological level of companies, the wide availability of
workers increasingly trained and qualified.
In the agri-food system in general, and in particular that of Campania, one of the
main problems is that concerning the potential changes that may result in the creation
of a product. The European Union in recent years, in order to make a greater
contribution to the protection of the consumer, including in response to major crises
of food security, has enacted a body of law very complex and stringent.
In support of this, it is to consider the commitment of the information society and
new technologies to ensure and communicate to a wider audience as possible the
source, the organoleptic quality and safety of food products and should be lived and
used as a means to link the "producer" and "consumer". Today, thanks to ICT can
computerize all this.
It is therefore necessary to reflect deeply on how it will change the agricultural
world and more generally the agrifood in the passage from an economy of production
in an economy mainly determined by the technology.
2 Made in…Campania
The Campania agrifood boasts several firsts internationally.
The agricultural model field has, in fact, won the top positions not only in the
quality and uniqueness of the production, but also in value added per hectare of land
(Viola, 2014). Productions bells have also acquired also the primacy of food security,
with a record 99% of regular samples of fruits, vegetables, wine and oil, with
chemical residues below legal limits.
As for the leadership in the typical products, the food system of Campania is one
of the most important components of the regional economy, boasting a broad basket
of products, many of which are protected by national and international brand.
Campania, in fact, is distinct from other regions of the South for the presence of
about 28 products including DOC, DOCG and DOP, to which must be added another
300 traditional products of different territories. The number of food businesses
registered with the Chamber of Commerce is very high. Firms in the sector, in the
area, offer the best Italian, possessing, in their organization, notable features such as:
experience, mastery, authenticity, traditions, ancient crafts, culture of doing, can
create products high quality and tradition. Not surprisingly, many of the several
quality products closely linked to the traditions and the specificity of the territories of
origin have gained recognition of a community trade mark. The agrifood is
characterized above all by highly specialized production both fresh and transformed:
the mild climate enjoyed by the region generally, is, in fact, can get high quality
products, competitive compared to national and foreign, with a calendar of very large
offer made by the possibility of so many crops in open field and in protected
environment. Most of the food Campania products are the stars of the culinary
tradition typical of the countries of the Mediterranean basin and southern Italy in
particular, universally known as the "Mediterranean diet". Linked to the sun, the sea
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and the land, this type of power is based on the consumption of simple products:
bread, pasta, olive oil, wine, vegetables, fruit and vegetables, supplemented by small
quantities of products of animal origin, such as milk, cheese, eggs, meat and
especially fish, but rich in beneficial health properties, which for centuries have
marked the kitchen of the rural populations in the South.
Campania has surely a wealth of food only for variety and quality, rightly
recognized since ancient times: the Greeks and Romans recognized the superiority of
the wines and the purity of olive oil from Campania Felix.
The enhancement of local products is an effective strategy for achieving multiple
objectives of both economic (revitalization of traditional crops, diversification of
production, acquisition of new markets, etc.) and socio-cultural (recovery of
traditions and culture local, strengthening local, etc.). It is based on specific potential
of an area know-how, traditions and cultures that give the products their specific
image (typical) and an economic activity that requires precise identification of
potential market outlets, the definition and 'implementation of business strategies and
compliance with a requirement: quality.
3 The Short Supply Chain and Enhancement of Territorial
Production
The Campania agrifood has an unquestioned commitment to quality. This is true
not only for the considerable reputation of the gastronomic traditions, but also thanks
to agricultural commodities and their great variety, due to a mix particularly happy
and diverse environmental conditions and historical and cultural sedimentation
(Carbone A., 2006). In particular, the richness and variety of gastronomic traditions
bells represent undoubtedly the strengths on which to leverage, in a growing
appreciation of the traditional products, diversified and with a strong content of
typicality. It is commonly accepted that, for the agri-food system in Campania, to
focus on quality - from time to time in an agreement or in some of its multiple
meanings - is an obvious choice to regain a competitive edge in terms of productivity
(Carbone A., 2006).
The establishment of quality and typical food products by consumers is largely
conducted at the time of consumption. Of course, consumers prefer to make their
own choices in the presence of as much information as possible in order to restrict
the margin of uncertainty about the quality of the goods purchased and the sourcing
of raw materials. This implies that for the promotion and enhancement of the quality
agro-food enterprises bells must activate specific forms of communication and
promotion (Verbeke, 2005).
An alternative route for the exploitation of certain food products is that they are
marketed on so-called short chains. Short supply chains, in the various forms in
which it declines, are expressions of the will of the actors involved to build different
forms of sales compared to conventional circuits of production-consumption,
aggregating and involving different subjects around values, principles, goals and
meanings which environmental, cultural and ethical (Whatmore e Thorne, 1997;
985
Marsden et al., 2000; Hinrichs, 2000; Holloway e Kneafsey, 2000; Goodman e
DuPuis, 2002; Sage, 2003a,b; Renting et al., 2003; Ilbery e Maye, 2005; Kirwan,
2004 e 2006; Brunori, 2007). A common feature of these circuits is the willingness /
ability to give the food a significance that goes far beyond that of simple consumer
goods. Examples of short supply chain are: the direct sales company, shops
collectives of farmers, farmers' markets, the various forms of buying groups, e-
commerce. By examining these configurations we realize that it is not easy to define
it unique. In fact, the concept of short supply chain incorporates at least three
dimensions of proximity: geographic proximity, social and economic (Galli, Brunori,
2013).
Short supply chains were identified originally as examples of farmers' resistance
to modernization and then globalization of the food system (Van der Ploeg et al.,
2000). Through greater proximity with consumers, farmers can develop autonomous
strategies of marketing based on differentiation, which allow to keep it this way a
larger share of added value within the company or the local economy. These
strategies are often based not only on proximity, but also on the transmission of
values 'alternative' incorporated into the product, such as sustainability
(environmental, but not only), biodiversity, cultural tradition, solidarity. In recent
years, these initiatives are proving more and more interest on the part of individual
producers and producer groups but also by consumers for a number of reasons, such
as the fact that the short channels have the merit to have suffered a minor number of
passes through intermediaries that lengthen the time between the completion of the
production process and consumption. The long supply chains, in fact, make it
necessary to make storage and keeps reducing the freshness of the product and may
adversely affect the organoleptic and nutritional properties and, in extreme cases, the
healthiness.
A result not least, the long and complex route taken by the products along the
traditional industries, is also the least clarity on the origin of products, and sometimes
it is less certainty of raw materials (Lamine, 2005). The opportunity to know directly
the producers and the geographical origin of the product is seen by some segments of
the question, as a form of indication to quality assurance of the goods. In addition,
some consumers appreciate the opportunity to support, in this way, local small
businesses.
Finally, the limitation of transport and the number of steps can have a restraining
effect on prices, which grow progressively as we approach the final ring of sectors,
namely the distribution which, in virtue of the power marketIt owns, manages to
capture a substantial portion of the added value created in the chain.
As for manufacturers, product placement on short chains, therefore, has the
advantage of allowing the acquisition of a larger share of added value. Next to this,
there is also the possibility that a more direct contact, and in a sense more
personalized, with consumers is a prerequisite for a relationship of trust and long-
lasting that helps to increase the stability of commercial outlets.
Evidently, next to some advantages, these modes of commercialization also meet
some significant difficulties, especially for the purpose of the adaptation of the
requirements of demand - both as regards the definition of the quality profile of the
product with regard to the temporal synchronization between supply and demand and
986
for all services to be incorporated in the product - but also for the organization of the
functions of sale and / or delivery of goods.
The pooling of some of these functions with other manufacturers may be an
opportunity to overcome the difficulties that arise, as well as to increase the visibility
of individual firms, it is a necessary condition for the enhancement of quality by
consumers. Increasingly in recent years, groups of farmers manage in common the
relationship with customers along the short supply chain thus increasing the range of
the offer and offering a joint service of delivery, or in the workplace, which
simplifies the management of purchases from customers.
4 Strategy Digital Business: e-Commerce
Among the most advanced types of short supply chain, there is no doubt e-
commerce.
The term e-commerce refers to the exchange of goods and services through the use
of Internet. Understood in the strict sense, e-commerce is expected that the
transaction is that the payment should be sent electronically; understood in a broad
sense however, there even if the order is done online but the payment is offline (A.
Foglio, 2010).
According to the European Commission: Electronic commerce covers many
different activities, such as the sale of goods and services electronically, the online
distribution of digital content, electronic transfer of funds, (...) the online selection of
suppliers, marketing direct services for the consumer, as well as the after-sales
service. In e-commerce includes both products and services that new activities”.
Depending on whether the operators of the interaction are commercial company, a
private or public entity, defining different types of e-commerce. In particular:
• Business-to-business (B2B): includes commercial transactions between
companies in the network involving services and industrial goods. Transactions of
this type are implemented via extranet, a private network that allows you to extend
the boundaries to other selected companies, thanks to connections via the Internet
protected and for the exchange of information and cooperation;
• Consumer-to-consumer (C2C): it consists of the transactions between consumers
through the network.
The set up of an e-commerce is the activation of a new sales channel that has two
additional advantages compared to the traditional ones: a head, as the site is active 24
hours a day, seven days a week and a advantage of geographical, as a site allows you
to sell to consumers in any part of the world. The customer also has the option to
access a wide and diverse choice both in terms of product characteristics for both the
price: you can find unusual products, specialist, amateur, niche simply by using
search engines. As we have said, with e-commerce buying process is changed,
switching from a linear, one-way to a multi-channel, characterized by a network of
interdependent activities. Another success factor for e-commerce are the tools of
CRM (Customer Relationship Manager), which help in the collection and analysis of
quantitative and qualitative data, allowing the user profile to include consumer
987
choices, buying preferences and behaviors. The data collected allow the mapping of
the purchasing behavior of our customers and better identify their needs, enabling the
company to take advantage of this information to target supply and after sales service.
4.1 e-Commerce and Traditional Products of Campania
According to P. Cuccino, 2007, compared to the products, e-commerce reveals a
double reality: on the one hand, products must be flexible enough to allow some
adaptation to the tastes of different consumers; on the other, as it allows to operate
globally via the Internet, e-commerce is a strong stimulus to the expansion of
currently reduced percentage of products sold anywhere without adaptations.
In this dual context, various types of local products in category Made in ...
Campania, are particularly suited to e-commerce, such as consumer goods brand
easily identifiable. Made in ... Campania must therefore express their excellence to
exploit the opportunities arising from e-commerce and acquire leadership positions
undoubtedly within his reach in an international context characterized by a still
incomplete exploitation of the potential of electronic commerce.
Build an interactive platform, e-commerce, it has many advantages including:
promoting and spreading towards the Italian and foreign consumers the great food
tradition territorial bell; promote the internationalization of the operators from
Campania; encouraging networking initiatives between local agri-food businesses in
order to give support to the creation of the critical mass required to successfully
compete in the international markets.
An example of e-commerce for the enhancement and promotion of the typical
products of a territory, such as that of Campania, is the portal "Agribusiness of the
Campania Region." The portal space is managed by the industry in order to tell their
own reality, their own productions and events that organize the territory. A meeting
place, then, to know the products, their history, those who produce them and where
they can find and the quality of the productions themselves, the raw materials, the
culture, the organoleptic qualities and finally security. Among the products promoted
and valued on the portal there are cheeses, spirits and liqueurs, fresh pastries and
bakery products, vegetable products, etc., which are the result of a complex
evolutionary process of contraction and interaction between local producers, and
between they and the local population and with consumers and local citizens when
the system opens to distant markets (Belletti et al, 2006).
5 Conclusions
Focus on quality and the close link with the territory, it is increasingly the first
choice for businesses agribusiness Campania, which implies the adoption of
strategies aimed at enhancing and promoting. This involves a number of difficulties
are not trivial, especially when those involved are numerous and heterogeneous
between them, in terms of structural and production specialization.
988
In other words, the different strategies of commercial promotion of food quality,
not always turn out optimal in providing adequate safeguards for consumers, or in
ensuring a better market position and better economic performance for operators.
Hence a possible solution is to take in the short chain, is e-commerce. The e-
commerce is that particular form of exploitation and promotion of local products
aimed at consumers "sensitive" to the product that counts among its features a strong
bond with the territory of origin.
Acknowledgments. The work was carried out within the project "New Ortho
Chain", coordinated by Prof. Cesaretti and developed in partnership between research
institutions, Di.SEG - Parthenope University and Simone Cesaretti Foundation, and
businesses OP Earth Gardens, F.lli Esposito and Azienda Agricola Morella. The
project has received funding of measure 124 of the RDP 2007-2013 of the Campania
Region.
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