ABSTRACT
This chapter presents conclusive remarks. It is organized into three sections. The first section discusses in general terms the link between sustainability and agri-food production. The second section summarizes the methodology and reports the main results. Main findings highlight that the high-excellence Italian food and wine Consortia coordinate activities through the definition and application of a set of rules, contained in the “Disciplinare" that define high qualitative standards of production and regulate the achievement of those high qualitative standards. In this perspective, sustainability, as based on the three (economic, environmental, and social) pillars, in the UN definition, is both a goal and an instrument in the case of the production of Italian high excellence food and wine products. The uncertainty, complexity, and asset specificity of the transactions are impacted by the requirement to implement sustainability. At the same time, millenary production practices, traditional knowledge, and innovative methods turn out to be sustainable, as embodied in the quality features that characterize the high-excellency products. Besides, the Consortia can incorporate and efficiently minimize within the hybrid structure organization the sustainability-driven TC. Sustainability is expressed in different ways in the five case studies considered. Sustainability rests mainly on the environmental pillar in the case of Amarone della Valpolicella, Prosecco, and Parmigiano Reggiano. It is based on the social pillar, with a strong ethical connotation in the case of Mozzarella di Bufala Campana and has implications of economic sustainability in the case of Prosciutto of San Daniele.
In the end, the last section provides hints for further research in several directions. It suggests the application of the TCE methodology to other high-excellence products, and it contains a critical discussion in historical perspective that traces back in the past the roots of modern sustainability in high excellence Italian food and wine products.
