Positioning and Competitiveness of Producers of Balsamic Vinegar of Modena

The balsamic vinegar of Modena (BVM) is one of the most popular among the emerging Italian food products worldwide. This industry is characterised by a strong heterogeneity of the operators and by a relevant growth of sales and export. The paper first describes the main features of the market environment and the factors allowing all the BVM producers to gain a competitive advantage and their ability to compete. A perceptual competitiveness map of BVM industry describing the competitive environment and highlighting the competitive factors managed by the enterprises is drawn using discriminant analysis and cluster analysis is also applied to group the operators according to their position in the marketplace and competitive features. The study may be useful to identify new opportunities for company differentiation and potential market niches or market segment with a lower level of competition. The analysis highlights that there is a low level of differentiation amongst the competitive arena, and the opportunities for differentiation are linked to the following main drivers: an increased perceived level of quality, the introduction of a new innovative products, the management of price lever and the identification of new attractive markets.