Price is a core component of both wine firms' and consumers' decision-making and so there has been a lot of analysis of the determinants of wine price. Most of the research has used the hedonic price function and assumed that the wine market is homogeneous with respect to both distribution channel and price segments. In this paper, a hedonic price function is estimated using data from a specialist retailer and a large supermarket, i.e., retailers in two different consumer market segments, niche and mass market, respectively. We conclude that the wine market is heterogeneous, and the importance of the various price determinants differs between distribution channels and, in the case of the specialist retailer, throughout the conditional statistical distribution of the price. This result may help the wine companies to place themselves in the market value chain.

Aim of study: This study aims to analyse how psychological factors related to the Covid-19 lockdown affected the frequency of wine consumption among Iberian consumers.Area of study: To achieve this goal, we used data collected from an online survey in Europe comprising 4489 observations from Portuguese and Spanish samples.Material and methods: Using an ordered probit model, we analysed the wine consumption frequency as a function of a set of explanatory variables related to psychological factors, sociodemographic variables, consumption characterisation and channels of trade variables.Main results: The identification of the hedonic nature of wine consumption explains the increase in frequency, while the negative feelings associated with the lockdown and health concerns are not relevant, which implies a different effect on consumption than in the case of other disasters. Consumer loyalty before the lockdown and the role that technology has played in explaining the frequency of consumption in the form of apps, online purchasing and digital drinks opens up a new horizon in the study of consumer behaviour.Research highlights: Although econometrically different, the impact of the Covid-19 crisis tend to be felt similarly among the Iberian countries. The effects of psychological impacts related to feelings of Covid-19 of the lockdown does not show impact in wine consumption behaviour. The consumer background and behavioural attitude towards wine explain most changes in consumption patterns

There is a broad research interest in the search for alternatives to chemical additives for use as natural food preservatives. Although many natural compounds have biological in vitro properties evidenced, in situ studies are still scarce. This study evaluated the effect of oregano essential oil (OEO) and salt (NaCl) concentrations against Escherichia coli (ATCC 8739), in salad dressing, using the response surface methodology. The experiment included a 2 central composite rotatable design (CCRD) in a total of 11 formulations of salad dressings. Oregano essential oil was characterized by gas chromatography and salad dressings by ash, lipids, proteins and moisture. OEO was composed mainly by carvacrol (65.1%) and p-cymene (12.0%). Salad dressings showed similar chemical profiles. A mathematical model for the prediction of the antibacterial activity in salad dressing was obtained. The results revealed that the interaction between OEO and salt showed effect on the bacterial count. However, the effect of salt was negative suggesting that the highest NaCl concentrations decreases the bacterial count. Therefore, within the parameters studied, the use of OEO to control E. coli in salad dressing can be considered promising and allows reduction in the levels of salt to be incorporated in food.

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