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Accelerating demand to reduce the environmental impact of fossil fuels has been driving widespread attention to renewable fuels, such as biogas. In fact, in the last decade numerous policy guidelines and laws regarding energy, the environment and agriculture have been issued to encourage the use of animal sewage as a raw material for the production of biogas. The production of energy from biogas in a dairy farm can provide a good opportunity for sustainable rural development, augmenting the farm's income from traditional sources and helping to reduce the overall environmental impact of the energy sector. This paper investigates the trade-off between the environmental and economic benefits of an agro-energy farm in the Umbria region of Italy that employs livestock sewage and manure, dedicated energy crops (corn and triticale silage) and olive waste. The environmental analysis was performed using the LCA methodology, while the economic investigation was carried out by reconstructing the economic balance of the agro-energetic supply chain based on the budgets of each activity performed. The LCA results show, on the one hand, the predominant weight of producing dedicated crops compared to all other processes in the supply chain and, on the other hand, a significant reduction in environmental impact compared to that caused by energy production from fossil fuels. Economic analysis revealed that the results depend significantly on what rate per kWh the government incentives guarantee to agricultural producers of renewable energy.

The purpose of the research is to evaluate the impact of different kinds of information disclosures of milk labels, investigating the interest among consumers based on their consumption behaviours and characteristics. In this research, all the actions which lead to a healthiness, become expressions of a production process, among which consumers’ food choices, purchase, preparation, and also self-production. Therefore, in the “health creation” production process, information and knowledge about food become “investments”. In this context, label disclosures become a tangible expression of this kind of “investment”. The research question is: what impact do purchase preferences and consumers’ characteristics have on their interest towards the label information provided? Several information disclosures, both mandatory and voluntary, are investigated. Therefore, some choice attributes will be analysed as indicators of the consumer’s behaviour in relation to his investment in food information. The methodology used for the analysis is an Ordered Logit. The analysis of the consumer’s behaviour has been performed by transposing Ménard’s analysis of firm corporate governance (Ménard, Agribus. 34:142–160, 2018) to the consumer as producer of welfare equity. The reduction of information asymmetry is a cost for the producer, and this research may be able to measure how much it would be convenient to invest in this reduction, based on the analysis of the consumer’s behaviour toward his personal investment in food information acquisition.

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Purpose – The purpose of this study is to present an attempt to evaluate Italian olive oil brand competition thought the analysis of consumers’ visual perspective. Design/methodology/approach – Through the implementation of a new information technology system called “Visual Marketing REL”, which furnishes eye-tracking measures, the authors were able to produce important information relative to the layout organization of to the Italian olive oil shelf, a strategic product of the agro-food chain. The research uses the “in situ” testing of the software developed. Findings – The research, following up the thesis of sensorial marketing affecting choices, intends to identify an IT tool to facilitate the design of the shelf by increasing the efficiency of the retail mix. Results highlight that specific positioning could impact the differentiation effect and orientate consumers’ choices, thus increasing the efficiency of the retail mix. Research limitations/implications – To generalize the results would require many repetitions of different product categories. In this case, it would be possible to quantify the levels of correlation between visual information and sales. Practical implications – This work opens important considerations in terms of strategic management of modern distribution, leaders and minor brands competitive relationship, as well as opportunities for producers of high-quality products, which could address their strategies to differentiation and niche market in cooperation with retailers. Social implications – The research aims to encourage the process of consumer choice and reduce information asymmetries. Originality/value – The most important result is the connection among choices, visualization, differentiation strategy and positioning/ordering on the shelf. The layout management, in fact, could be used as a joint strategy of retailers as well as producers to emphasize quality and price differentiation, thereby increasing sales. Moreover, the study provides for the first time the outcomes of a brand new software “Visual Marketing REL”, highlighting its limits and positive elements.