Quality productions, protection and recovery of the internal areas of Aspromonte: the role of truffles

The purpose of this article is to examine the potential of the truffle production and market in the Aspromonte area. Through interviews with leading opinions, operators, collectors, transformers, retailers and restaurateurs, the strengths and weaknesses of the sector, the risks of the external environment and the opportunities offered by the economic system, as well as the needs raised by the operators who in various ways deal with truffles in the Calabria Region. The results show that truffles are natural biological products and play an important role in the management of woodlands: if they are present they are a formidable indicator of environmental health. The results showed that the truffle supply chain can contribute to the promotion of growth strategies for Calabria as indicated among the objectives of the Agenda 2030 Strategy in the Goal 11.a Session 1, point 1 which aims at the conservation, redevelopment and promotion of poor areas or fragile with qualitatively significant cultural and environmental heritage. The truffle sector's ability to attract new economic flows generated by production activities, from territorial marketing, from fresh or processed product marketing and from services capable of guaranteeing additional additional income for farmers and supply chain operators was also highlighted. The results finally showed that the use of SWOT analysis in niche food products provides useful indications for regional development planning actions, for marketing activities, for the promotion of sustainable tourism, for the recovery and enhancement of rural buildings and for the food and wine routes that revolve around the production of truffles and the gastronomy based on fresh and / or processed truffles.