The enhancement of the typical products value: from commodity to experience. The case of Esperya.com

The profound transformations taking place in the world economy pose the need for all businesses, of whatever size and sector, to review their production processes and reorganise their value chain. Recently, competition has become much more intense and all-encompassing, particularly regarding commodities or other poorly differentiated goods, not only of an agricultural or agro-industrial nature. For such products, cost is a critical factor in their success, encouraging decentralisation to areas where production, and especially labour conditions, allow the realisation of particularly strong economies. In particular, market globalisation is applying pressure to standardise the tastes of consumers, who are no longer used to the flavours of typical products, and to reduce biodiversity at a productive level. This globalisation is, thus, often experienced as a threat, which forces European agro-food producers and consumers to defend and protect those products and brands, which express the identity of their traditions. However, this process of market homogenisation may actually represent a factor of development for businesses producing typical products. In fact, the progressive unification of consumption models and the possibility of having typical products available on a global level will enable such products to rid themselves of the “provincial” image which often characterises them. In this context, also the businesses producing typical products should thus develop and implement strategies to improve their offer, which hinge not only on their products’ intrinsic features but, above all, on their extrinsic aspects.