Territorial disparities in organic food markets: Evidence from scanner data in Italy
Author(s)
Date Issued
June 3, 2026
Type
article
Volume
106
Start Page
1
End Page
14
ISSN
0038-0121
Journal
Abstract
Ensuring equitable access to sustainable diets remains a critical challenge for food systems. This study examines territorial inequalities in the Italian organic food market by leveraging nationally representative retail scanner data covering 103 provinces. Focusing on a set of key staple product categories (eggs, rice, flour, and yogurt) within the modern retail sector, we develop novel indicators of organic product availability and market diffusion and, applying hedonic price models, we estimate provincial-level rganic–conventional price gaps, highlighting their implications for affordability. Results reveal marked North–South disparities: organic products are consistently more available and sold at lower price gaps in central and northern Italy than in southern regions, even after controlling for packaging and product characteristics. These findings suggest that territorial inequalities in organic food access are not only demand-driven but also structurally linked to retail market organisation. Beyond the Italian case, the proposed framework demonstrates the potential of scanner data for monitoring spatial disparities in sustainable food access and supporting evidence-based policies to promote a more inclusive transition toward sustainable consumption.
Additional information
Acknowledgements
This research was funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR) under the PRIN 2022 Programme (Projects of Relevant National Interest), Project Title: “Digital Innovation in Price Statistics: Open and Fast Insights from Online Scraped Data” , Prot. 2022HTZY2N, CUP J53D23004670006.
Data availability
The retail scanner data used in this study are third-party data licensed to ISTAT; due to contractual restrictions they are not publicly available. Aggregated outputs and code used to produce the tables and figures will be shared upon request.
This research was funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR) under the PRIN 2022 Programme (Projects of Relevant National Interest), Project Title: “Digital Innovation in Price Statistics: Open and Fast Insights from Online Scraped Data” , Prot. 2022HTZY2N, CUP J53D23004670006.
Data availability
The retail scanner data used in this study are third-party data licensed to ISTAT; due to contractual restrictions they are not publicly available. Aggregated outputs and code used to produce the tables and figures will be shared upon request.
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1-s2.0-S0038012126001126-main-2.pdf
Size
6.43 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
b8e40236c134a3e83a0663cb7109ac26
Project(s)
J53D23004670006