Obesity Epidemics: The Potential Role of Retailing Sector in Promoting Fruit and Vegetable Consumption

After a deep review of the main economic studies and applications about the emerging problem of obesity, this paper focuses on a particular aspect of the issue: the improvement of FRUIT AND VEGETABLE purchasing in retailing sector. First of all it has been analyzed the actual presence of strategies aimed at improving FRUIT AND VEGETABLE consumption in the main retailing companies operating in Italy. Then the study investigates the role of price in consumers’ purchasing choices. High price elasticity of fruit and vegetable products could suggest the implementation of lower prices to consumers instead of implementing other policy interventions. The methodology is based on qualitative and quantitative research methods. In particular, in depth interviews to retailing sector experts have been run to gather useful insights about retailers’ management of FRUIT AND VEGETABLE department. Then quantitative analysis on IRI data about FRUIT AND VEGETABLE consumption in Italy has been conducted to evaluate the influence of price on consumers’ attitude towards FRUIT AND VEGETABLE. The results obtained provide meaningful insights to formulate marketing strategies and policy interventions.