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Sustainable Development Options for the Chestnut Supply Chain in South Tyrol, Italy

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Sustainable Development Options for the Chestnut Supply Chain in South Tyrol, Italy Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect Agriculture and Agricultural Science Procedia 5 ( 2015 ) 96 – 106 1st International Conference on Asian Highland Natural Resources Management, AsiaHiLand 2015 Sustainable development options for the chestnut supply chain in South Tyrol, Italy Valérie Bossi Fedrigottia*, Christian Fischera aFree University of Bozen-Bolzano, Faculty of Science and Technolog, PiazzaUniversità5, 39100 Bolzano, Italy Abstract Italy is the largest producer of table chestnuts in Europe. This study focuses on the chestnut supply chain in South Tyrol (Alto Adige/Südtirol), a northern Italian province where chestnuts are currently of minor importance in relation to other crops such as apples and grapes. Nevertheless, a small number of chestnut farmers keep a historically rooted tradition alive. A detailed survey of the chestnut supply chain, involving interviews of 138 producers, 49 distributors and 272 consumers revealed the strengths and weaknesses of the local niche market. Moreover, it appeared that a significant production and marketing heterogeneity exists when analysing four sub-regions separately. Three different characteristics, regarding orchard management as well as purchasing and consumption habits, could be identified: (i) commercial chestnut production and direct sales around Merano; (ii) chestnut wood production around Bressanone; and (iii) the use of chestnut trails as spare time activities around Chiusa. New regional development strategies will therefore have to take into account the geographical disparities when trying to innovate a traditional agricultural activity. © 2015 ThePublished Authors. by PublishedElsevier B.V by. ElsevierThis is anB.V. open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (Peer-reviewhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ under responsibility of the Faculty of Agricu). lture, Chiang Mai University. Peer-review under responsibility of the Faculty of Agriculture, Chiang Mai University Keywords: chestnuts; market; supply chain; South Tyrol * Corresponding author. Tel.: +39 348 5110773; fax: +39 0471 017009. E-mail address: [email protected] 2210-7843 © 2015 Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer-review under responsibility of the Faculty of Agriculture, Chiang Mai University doi: 10.1016/j.aaspro.2015.08.014 Valérie Bossi Fedrigotti and Christian Fischer / Agriculture and Agricultural Science Procedia 5 ( 2015 ) 96 – 106 97 1. Introduction Despite the leading position of Italy in the European ranking of chestnut producers, sweet chestnuts (Castanea sativa, Mill.) in South Tyrol (Alto Adige/Südtirol), a northern Italian province, are a marginal crop compared to more important fruit and vegetable species such as apples and grapes in the production of which more than 8,000 farmers are involved and almost 18,000 hectares (ha) of land are used (ASTAT, 2012). Thus, in the area, the presence of chestnuts in the last decades have constantly decreased. According to ASTAT (2012), the number of chestnut-growing farms has almost halved from 461 in 2000 to 262 in 2010. However, the growing area has only decreased by about a quarter from 160 ha to 123 ha during the mentioned period. This resulted in an increase in the average size of a chestnut-growing farm from 0.35 ha to 0.47 ha. Chestnut production quantities for South Tyrol are not officially recorded but one estimate puts its potential production at about 400 tons per year (Bender, 2002; Scartezzini, 2002), or a little less than 1kg per inhabitant. On the other hand, in Italy overall, the total orchard area has increased slightly from 23,500 ha to 24,000 ha during 2000 to 2006 while production has increased from 50,000 to 52,000 tons during this period (Pierrettori and Venzi, 2009; Castellini et al., 2010). However, like in many mountain regions of the Southern Alps, chestnut cultivation is historically rooted (De Rachewiltz, 1981). The reasons of its long lasting decline are not univocal and not specifically ascribable to South Tyrol. It can, nevertheless, be assumed that what happened in most of the chestnut-growing regions of Europe also applies here:, an improvement and modernization of production techniques of other competitive crops, the change of consumption habits (Adua, 1999a), the spread of diseases such as chestnut blight, gall wasp and ink disease (Hennion and Vermin, 2000) and climate change (Conedera et al., 2010; Conedera et al., 2011). Finally, one may add, a lack of competitiveness in comparison to other more advanced and well-organized Italian regions, such as Tuscany, Campania, Calabria and Piedmont (Pierrettori and Venzi, 2009). In spite of this local negative trend, many experts believe that a revival of the chestnut culture is taking place at a national level, assuming that although the weaknesses in technological development and in marketing strategies, a new interest towards sweet chestnut and new promising market opportunities are arising (Adua, 1999b). As a matter of fact, the general demand for “natural” products has substantially increased in Italy and other chestnut countries, in the last few years (Bounous, 2006; Bounous, 2009; Pettenella, 2001). The chestnut fruits’ main value today is not so much nutritional as cultural. Given its historical significance as a major food source in many countries (Bender, 2002), and the ecological importance of the trees (Bonilla Gurzeler, 2010), there is wide social appreciation to preserve this crop and its trees as a cultural asset. Chestnut orchards are, as a matter of fact, one of the few “traditional” surviving crops in South Tyrol that represent a unique combination of grassland and forest elements. As a consequence, there have been initiatives in many countries to conserve chestnut growing or even to increase it (e.g., Gold et al., 2006; Pierrettori and Venzi, 2009; Pirazzoli and Castellini, 2000; Caramalli and Caramalli, 2009). Traditional forms of chestnut growing are extensive, labour intensive and costly. Moreover, chestnuts are ripe at the same time as apples and grapes: therefore their harvest is often neglected in favour of the latter crops. The reduced size of chestnut farms and the fragmented production in South Tyrol limit farmer bargaining power, compromise the stability of supply and increase production costs (Castellotti and Grassi, 2011). Market prices for this crop are therefore relatively high and exceed many consumers’ willingness to pay for a food product that in addition to being perceived as expensive is inconvenient to prepare and consume, and relatively perishable. For these reasons, chestnuts are, and will remain, a niche-market product. Moreover, unlike many other Italian regions, South Tyrol currently does not take advantage of any European Union chestnut quality label which might have revitalized its marketing. The challenge is finding ways to make the production and distribution of the crop sufficiently financially viable (i.e., profitable) for all involved organizations and individuals while covering existing market demand for the fruit and thus keeping chestnut orchards in use to preserve their ecological benefits. According to Shani and Chaslani (1992), Campbell-Hunt (1999) and Cuthbert (2008), one should expect the local chestnut market to have sufficient bargaining power and size to be profitable. The local chestnut market should also have growth potential and be identifiable as a clear strategy a farm may select and not be the result of existing circumstances (Cuthbert, 2008). Moreover, chestnuts should be distinguishable by originality, quality and scarcity (Segrè and Politano, 2010). Their local identity, mutual interdependence between seller and consumer as well as a strong chestnut-customer orientation should also represent the main ingredients for a winning niche-marketing 98 Valérie Bossi Fedrigotti and Christian Fischer / Agriculture and Agricultural Science Procedia 5 ( 2015 ) 96 – 106 strategy (Dalgic, 2006). Nevertheless, reasons for choosing a niche-market strategy can be diverse and may include avoiding competition or exploiting an existing market opportunity (Gaudes, 2004). This paper aims at investigating how and why the market of chestnuts in South Tyrol keeps alive and demonstrating whether this can be considered a performing niche market or not, through the analysis of the local chestnut supply chain, from the farmer to the final consumer, identifying weaknesses and strengths and highlighting perspectives and opportunities for the future. By doing so, the study takes into consideration potential heterogeneity in the regional chestnut market. 2. Context and previous work Supply chain management emphasises active collaboration between independent actors of different economic activities such as production, processing/manufacturing, distribution and consumption in order to increase value creation and efficiency (Fawcett et al., 2007). Supply chains can vary in complexity ranging from international supply networks (e.g., in the car industry) to very short food supply chains (e.g., direct marketing of farm products). The creation and continued operation of short food supply chains (SFSCs) have been identified to be a potentially highly effective tool in rural development initiatives (Renting et al., 2003). Due to different approaches to SFSCs and to the extensive literature, a common definition is difficult to find. Several authors identify three different positions,
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