Eco-innovation as a driver in the agri-food value chain: an empirical study on durum wheat in Italy

Abstract

This research is a first attempt to assess the economic, social and environmental impacts related to the diffusion of an eco-innovation in the durum wheat sourcing and supply chain. Barilla Sustainable Farming is taken as a case study to describe the process of the introduction and diffusion of an innovative practice whose benefits could be transferred to all sourcing and supply chain actors. The eco-innovation is described and analysed, from its origin through its development into ‘theoretical’ and ‘in-field experimentations’, to get to the final empirical analysis (via focus groups), aimed at assessing the possible impact of the initiative in economic and environmental terms, as well as at understanding the main drivers of success of the eco-innovation in terms of increase in value across the sourcing and supply chain.