Beyond agropiracy: the case of Italian pasta in the United States retail market

International trade in agricultural products represents an important share of the whole European export market. This is exemplified by Italian food products that have been promoted on international markets through the idea of quality and health linked to the Mediterranean diet. Together with the benefit due to the increasing consumer interest in traditional European products and “food style”, a growing phenomenon of agropiracy has taken place. It is commonly recognized that agropiracy works exclusively by reducing the market shares of the original products, intentionally exploiting consumer confusion by using original-sounding brands. Therefore, production firms' marketing strategies tend to concentrate on product purity such as branding and origin authentication policies. Our hypothesis, supported by the results of a survey on pasta consumption in the US, is that there exists a well-defined system path worth that can be summarized in three phases: first, introduction of a traditional (original) product on international markets; secondly, local firms' imitation of the successful good; lastly, local firms redesigning original products according to local consumption models and preferences. The results presented in this paper seem to amply confirm this scenario: giving more attention to the second phase (Italian-sounding brand) may result in inappropriate marketing strategies. A representative sample of American consumers (608) were interviewed in supermarkets in 12 US cities. Econometric analysis (a Hedonic Pricing Model followed by a Random Utility Model) shows that: 1) price is the most important product attribute affecting choice; 2) original Italian brands get the higher market share but only when price is the driving attribute; 3) product attributes strictly related to quality, as intended by Italian consumers, have no influence in determining the choice; 4) consumer groups show a higher willingness to pay for pasta redesigned according to local preference; 5) such a path worth does not appear to affect the single original product, rather the whole idea of Italian. These results suggest that a strategy aimed at emphasizing the authenticity of the origin of pasta or of any other “real Italian” product may not lead to any improvement in their market share, but it might very likely affect that market as a whole. Products should be offered as part of a sort of “traditional product package” which allows them to promote food habits rather than just commodities.