Mario Amato

Dr. Mario Amato

University of Naples 'Federico II', Department of Political Science
orcid

Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

11Years (2016-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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27 March 2019 in Animals
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
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Giovanni SogariGiovanni Sogari
Giovanni Sogari
Mario AmatoMario Amato
Mario Amato
IBIlaria Biasato
Ilaria Biasato
SCSilvana Chiesa
Silvana Chiesa
Laura GascoLaura Gasco
Laura Gasco
Recently, insects have received increased attention as an important source of sustainable raw materials for animal feed, especially in fish, poultry, and swine. In particular, the most promising species are represented by the black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens, HI), the yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor, TM), and the common house fly (Musca domestica, MD). Although rapid development is expected, insects remain underutilized in the animal feed industry mainly due to technical, financial, and regulatory barriers. In addition, few works have analyzed consumer and stakeholder points of view towards the use of insects as animal feed. In this article, we summarize the main findings of this body of research and provide a discussion of consumer studies regarding the consumption of animals fed with insects. Our review suggests that consumer acceptance will not be a barrier towards the development of this novel protein industry. Furthermore, we conclude that it will be of interest to understand whether the use of this more sustainable feed source might increase consumer willingness to pay for animal products fed with insects and whether the overall acceptability, from a sensory point of view, will be perceived better than conventional products. Finally, the main challenges of the feed farming industry are addressed.

1 March 2018 in Food Quality and Preference
Verified
Journal Article
Closed access
FBFrancesco La Barbera
Francesco La Barbera
FVFabio Verneau
Fabio Verneau
Mario AmatoMario Amato
Mario Amato
KGKlaus Grunert
Klaus Grunert

1 November 2016 in Appetite
Verified
Journal Article
Closed access
FVFabio Verneau
Fabio Verneau
FBFrancesco La Barbera
Francesco La Barbera
SKSusanne Kolle
Susanne Kolle
Mario AmatoMario Amato
Mario Amato
TGTeresa Del Giudice
Teresa Del Giudice
KGKlaus G Grunert
Klaus G Grunert

1 December 2017 in Wine Economics and Policy
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Journal Article
Open access
Mario AmatoMario Amato
Mario Amato
PBPetjon Ballco
Petjon Ballco
BLBelinda López
Belinda López
TMTiziana De Magistris
Tiziana De Magistris
FVFabio Verneau
Fabio Verneau
Although scientific literature is still uncertain towards the real causes that can link headache episodes with moderate wine consumption, a growing proportion of consumers seems to address sulphites as possible culprits. Hence, the objective of this study is to assess consumers` willingness to pay for wine bearing a sulphites-free label in two traditional wine producing countries, Italy and Spain. The methodological framework is based on the specification of the Becker-DeGroot-Marschak (BDM) type of auction applied to consumers purchasing wine in the supermarket stores of both countries. A left censored Tobit model is used to analyse the bidding behaviour for conventional and 'Non-Added Sulphite' (NAS) wine. Results in both countries show that consumers who link the headaches with the consumption of sulphite are willing to exchange the habitually consumed bottle of wine with a NAS wine and pay extra premium prices. Keywords: Experimental auctions, Non-added sulphite wines, Consumer behavio

12 April 2023 in Current Research in Food Science
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Journal Article
Open access
GSGiovanni Sogari
Giovanni Sogari
Mario AmatoMario Amato
Mario Amato
RPRossella Palmieri
Rossella Palmieri
JSJasmine Hadj Saadoun
Jasmine Hadj Saadoun
GFGiulia Formici
Giulia Formici
SMSimone Mancini
Simone Mancini
Current estimations showed that the number of people affected by hunger doubled in the last two years, reaching 9.8% of the global population. According to FAO, in order to satisfy the demand for food in the next few years, it will be necessary to double food production. Moreover, the call for a change in dietary patterns has been raised, showing how the food sector is responsible of 1/3 of climate change where meat-based diets or overconsumption of meat play an important role in the negative environmental impact. Consequently, there is a growing concern in how to achieve the goal of increasing food productions without exploiting environmental resources and to explore the production and use of alternative resources, such as insects. Insects are gaining interests both as food and feed not only to reduce the environmental costs in feed production for common livestock, but also to reduce farmers' dependence on traditional protein sources. In this work we aimed to provide an overview of the state-of-the-art upon insect studies, highlighting the most important results obtained from both an industrial and market perspective. The legislative framework concerning edible insects as food and feed is also analyzed, with the final purpose to highlight recent reforms, relevant case-law as well as unsolved regulatory challenges. From a normative perspective, regulatory efforts are still required to fully take advantage of the potentialities of insects-industry. From a consumer point of view, consumers' willingness to pay a premium is going to be a key issue for economic sustainability of the insect farming chain. To meet the food and feed security challenges, insects will have to be considered all-around, including applications in the food, feed, and other sectors. We believe that this review is an important contribution to the field of food science and will be of interest to researchers, food industry professionals, and policymakers in order to prioritize research questions and help communicate scientific knowledge to a broader audience.

16 June 2020 in Sustainability
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Journal Article
Open access
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ACAdele Coppola
Adele Coppola
ASAlfonso Scardera
Alfonso Scardera
Mario AmatoMario Amato
Mario Amato
FVFabio Verneau
Fabio Verneau
In the European Union legislative proposals for the next Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) the income support remains an essential part of the CAP. This paper analyses agricultural income levels, the role of EU aids in ensuring fair levels of income and how different socio-economic and structural characteristics affect farms’ economic viability. Italian Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) data have been processed and economic viability has been assessed by comparing Farm Net Income to a reference income and by estimating a profitability index to check whether the agricultural activities remunerate factors owned by the farmer and his/her family. After an explorative analysis, two multinomial logit models have been estimated to evaluate how structural and socio-economic characteristics affect the likelihood of a farm to be viable with and without EU aids. Both structural farm characteristics and farmer’s production strategies explain the likelihood of a farm to be viable in the short and in the medium-long term. Farms are more likely to be viable as the size increases and the higher the capital intensity, while viability likelihood decreases with the farmer’s age, when the holder is a woman, and the farm is localized in Southern Italy. CAP payments do not modify the factors that affect farm viability but can change their weight.