“Value portfolio”, value creation and multifunctionality: the case study of an Italian wine agritourism farm

Abstract

Recent developments in the food market show a reemergence of short supply chain (SFSC) mechanisms that allow producers to directly sell to final consumers. Multifunctional farms are able to internalize some public value and transfer this value in their food produced as to increase income. As such, agritourism can be considered a pure form of SFSC in creating this added value. Using a case study of an Italian farm that produces both typical and fine wines, we aimed to analyze how agritourism creates added value. The SFSC and other opportunities were compared. From a multifunctional perspective, our other purpose was to identify the main drivers able to generate the “value portfolio” for the agritourist farmer. The results suggest that wide margins for creating value exist for on-farm distribution and that many aspects contribute to building the farmer’s “value portfolio”.