La tutela del produttore agroalimentare fra tentativi di riequilibrio del potere contrattuale e misure di sostegno

The article deals with the issue of agri-food producer protection in the light of the transition from a rural economy to a market economy. One consequence of this change is that bargaining power has moved from landowners to mass-market retailers, who can impose unfair trade practices, especially by a new form of juridical relationship, called vertical integration contract. Therefore, the traditional protection system, based on the idea that the farmer’s problems arise from the fact that he is not the owner of the land, has become unfit. The A. analyses the development of the legal approaches to address this modern version of unequal bargaining power in the food supply chain.