LA FILIERA LATTIERO CASEARIA PIEMONTESE DI FRONTE ALLA CRISI: IMPRESE BEST PERFORMANCE E POLITICA DI SVILUPPO RURALE

The milk chain has a great importance in the economy of Piedmont. It is a complex and diversified sector, well representing the agro food system, both regional and national, which must now respond to challenges arising from globalization, innovation, consumers' everchanging preferences, sustainability requirements, evolving agricultural policies and economic crisis. This paper studies the economic performances of the dairy industry through the analysis of the economic and financial balance sheets, and compares the Piedmont situation with that of Lombardy and Emilia Romagna, the most important regions of the Italian dairy sector, in order to benchmark it for differences and similarities in structure, organization, economic and occupational growth, operative profits and financial solvability. The study, carried out for the 2007-2009 period, underlines critical situations and achievements (on the so-called "best performance" firms), allowing to understand the evolution of the sector and its strength factors against the recent world economic crisis. The role of public subsidies in the framework of the European Rural Development Program has been examined too. The study conclusions contribute to the knowledge in the Piedmont region of the health status of the milk supply chain, as well as of the successful firms, guiding the future policy choices of the regional decision makers on rural development.