Italian Wine in Chinese market Digital Commerce of Made in Italy agrifood products in China

Abstract

The main object of this thesis is the study and the analysis of the digital commerce of the Made in Italy agri-food products, since they are one of the most important symbols of the tradition of the Italian style and Made in Italy all over the world. The Italian Wine is well known in almost every part the world, for its long history, quality and taste. Many people come to Italy every year to visit wineries and the “food and wine” tourism is developing very quickly. First of all, the thesis gives a general overview of the Italian agri-food products in the Chinese market, underlining the strengths and weaknesses that the food and beverage industry faces in such a distant country (both in term of geographical and cultural distance). In the second chapter I would like to better analyze one of the most exported Italian product in China, that is to say the wine, with particular attention to the Italian red wine. This part of the thesis is going to be a summary of the main characteristics of the wine. I will try to show the importance and quality of the Italian wine, focusing for example on the denomination of origin and certification, the history and the development of the Italian wine in China. The third chapter explains the differences in the behavior of Italian and Chinese consumers in the approach of the wine and alcohol market. It also takes into consideration the development of the market in the Chinese context presents some difficulties since China can still be defined as a non-acquainted market, that is to say that consumers do not perfectly recognize the quality of the products and this is a reason why small and medium enterprises find difficult to enter the market and they are obliged to follow big multinational companies. In my analysis I would like to concentrate my attention on the tools that both Italy and China offer to SMEs in order to facilitate the penetration of the market. Obviously, in this field, Alibaba Group play a fundamental role but there are also other digital realities that the Italian companies can experience to be successful in China.