Internationalization of small family business in the food sector: brand protection of "Pastificio Zaffiri Ltd." in China

Abstract

The internationalization of small and medium family business is acknowledged, by researchers of the field, as a common problem. Reasons are manifold: firstly, the difficulty to define with standard criteria, small enterprises and family business; secondly, the choice of the internationalization strategy suitable for the type of business; thirdly, is a well-known fact that small firms work under resources environment constraints. This thesis examines deeply the problems related with the internationalization of small business family, that have captured the attention of scholars; then, this study focuses on the specific case of the “Pasta factory Zaffiri Ltd.” and its relative problem in exporting pasta in China i.e., the protection of the brand in China. The objective of first chapter is to outline the definition and dilemma of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and family businesses (FBs). Many researchers have claimed that the difficulty of the definition is the absence of common rules. Then the spotlight shift to the internationalization of SMEs and FBs, its state of the art, the barriers and opportunities that SMEs and FBs encounter when developing an internationalization strategy. The third chapter lays out an overview of the Italian food sector in the world, in detail the possibilities and challenges in exporting Italian pasta in the People’s Republic of China. The last chapter introduces the specific case of “Pastificio Zaffiri Ltd.”, its internationalization level and strategies, the adversity in China, i.e., intellectual property and brand’s protection. In conclusion, the latest goal of this thesis is to explain the difficulties that a small food family business faces when exporting in China.