IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i19p8545-d1756509.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Italian Consumer Interest in Sustainability, Certifications, and Traceability in Honey

Author

Listed:
  • Marta Cianciabella

    (Institute for Bioeconomy (IBE), Italian National Research Council, Via P. Gobetti 101, 40129 Bologna, Italy)

  • Giulia Mastromonaco

    (Department of Agricultural, Forest, and Food Sciences, University of Turin, Largo Paolo Braccini 2, Grugliasco, 10095 Turin, Italy)

  • Antonina Sparacino

    (Department of Agricultural, Forest, and Food Sciences, University of Turin, Largo Paolo Braccini 2, Grugliasco, 10095 Turin, Italy)

  • Valentina Maria Merlino

    (Department of Agricultural, Forest, and Food Sciences, University of Turin, Largo Paolo Braccini 2, Grugliasco, 10095 Turin, Italy)

  • Stefano Massaglia

    (Department of Agricultural, Forest, and Food Sciences, University of Turin, Largo Paolo Braccini 2, Grugliasco, 10095 Turin, Italy)

  • Giuseppe Versari

    (Institute for Bioeconomy (IBE), Italian National Research Council, Via P. Gobetti 101, 40129 Bologna, Italy)

  • Chiara Medoro

    (Institute for Bioeconomy (IBE), Italian National Research Council, Via P. Gobetti 101, 40129 Bologna, Italy)

  • Stefano Predieri

    (Institute for Bioeconomy (IBE), Italian National Research Council, Via P. Gobetti 101, 40129 Bologna, Italy)

  • Simone Blanc

    (Department of Agricultural, Forest, and Food Sciences, University of Turin, Largo Paolo Braccini 2, Grugliasco, 10095 Turin, Italy)

Abstract

Honey has a long cultural tradition in Italy, valued for its sensory properties and health benefits. However, in recent years, the beekeeping sector has faced various challenges due to climate change, biodiversity loss, and economic pressures. Therefore, growing consumer awareness of sustainability, traceability, and ethical aspects is influencing food choices and putting niche-market products, such as honey, in the spotlight. This research analysed data from an online survey of Italian consumers to examine their attitudes toward honey. The analysis focused on the primary drivers of consumer behaviour, the state of sustainability efforts, and the importance of certifications and traceability in influencing preferences. The results showed that, beyond taste and health considerations, Italian consumers expressed a strong sensitivity and awareness of the beekeeping sector’s needs and their high engagement in ethical issues, food quality, safety and certification standards, and environmental protection. These findings provide useful insights for producers and policymakers to promote sustainable beekeeping and enhance consumer trust by implementing targeted communication strategies and certification schemes.

Suggested Citation

  • Marta Cianciabella & Giulia Mastromonaco & Antonina Sparacino & Valentina Maria Merlino & Stefano Massaglia & Giuseppe Versari & Chiara Medoro & Stefano Predieri & Simone Blanc, 2025. "Italian Consumer Interest in Sustainability, Certifications, and Traceability in Honey," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-16, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:19:p:8545-:d:1756509
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/19/8545/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/19/8545/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stefano Predieri & Marta Cianciabella & Giulia Maria Daniele & Edoardo Gatti & Nico Lippi & Massimiliano Magli & Chiara Medoro & Federica Rossi & Camilla Chieco, 2023. "Italian Consumers’ Awareness of Climate Change and Willingness to Pay for Climate-Smart Food Products," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-14, March.
    2. Ioannis Papachristos & Foivos Anastasiadis & Maria Kontopanou & Giannis T. Tsoulfas, 2024. "A Consumer-Centric Approach for a Sustainable Honey Supply Chain: The Case of Strawberry Tree Honey," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-16, August.
    3. Giulia Mascarello & Anna Pinto & Stefania Crovato & Barbara Tiozzo Pezzoli & Marco Pietropaoli & Michela Bertola & Franco Mutinelli & Giovanni Formato, 2024. "Consumers’ Perceptions and Behaviors Regarding Honey Purchases and Expectations on Traceability and Sustainability in Italy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(20), pages 1-17, October.
    4. Nadia Palmieri & Walter Stefanoni & Francesco Latterini & Luigi Pari, 2022. "Italian Consumer Preferences for Eucalyptus Honey: An Exploratory Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-11, June.
    5. Zoi C. Kalyva & Ioanna S. Kosma & Dimitris Skalkos, 2024. "Young Consumers’ Price Perceptions in Purchasing Foods: Evidence from Greece," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-12, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Francesco Bimbo & Kristi Nico & Emilio De Meo, 2025. "Assessing the Quality and Floral Variety Market Value: A Hedonic Price Model for Honey," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(9), pages 1-16, April.
    2. Ana Čehić Marić & Ana Težak Damijanić & Tajana Čop & Mario Njavro & Milan Oplanić, 2025. "Factors Influencing Consumers’ Direct Sale Purchase Intention in the Context of Climate Change," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-14, August.
    3. Pilar Uldemolins & M. Teresa Maza & Tiziana de-Magistris, 2025. "Landscape presentation formats influence consumer’s preferences for origin and botanical variety of Spanish honey," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 13(1), pages 1-24, December.
    4. Peter Sedík & Marian Cvirik & Cristina Bianca Pocol & Titanilla Oravecz, 2025. "Factors Influencing Honey Choice in Slovakia and Hungary: A Comparative Study," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 27(69), pages 431-431, April.
    5. Xiaofang Jin & Azizah Omar & Kai Fu, 2024. "Factors Influencing Purchase Intention toward Recycled Apparel: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-26, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:19:p:8545-:d:1756509. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.