Are health claims a useful tool to segment the category of extra-virgin olive oil? Threats and opportunities for the Italian olive oil supply chain

The Italian olive oil supply chain is experiencing great economic difficulties competing in the world markets. The current market scenario is characterized by increasing levels of competition based on cost reductions. Starting from the insights on the Italian olive oil supply chain, this article discuss the possibility of adopting health claims as an effective tool to segment the broad trade category of extra virgin olive oil. We conclude that including a label with the health claim based on olive oil polyphenols content would be useful to effectively signal both the “highest quality” and the “healthiest” Italian extra virgin olive oils.