Beverages

This review presents the scientific and technical aspects of mead production, focusing on honey characterization, medieval and modern mead production and sensory profiles. It highlights the challenges and potential opportunities for optimization of mead production, emphasizing the need for further research into honey’s chemical properties and their influence on mead’s sensory attributes. However, the bioactive profile, aroma composition (flavor), taste, health-promoting properties and overall quality of alcoholic mead composition have been scarcely studied. Moreover, this review also covers the characterization of the production process for low-alcohol mead and studies related to the sensory evaluation of mead. The study concludes that understanding these constituents and technological steps is crucial for enhancing mead quality and consumer appeal.

Franchise coffee shops now offer an increasingly diverse beverage portfolio with substantial variation in nutritional composition. However, cross-brand comparisons remain difficult because products are commonly organized according to proprietary menu names and marketing concepts rather than standardized nutritional attributes. This study developed and applied a standardized beverage classification framework based primarily on beverage ingredients and preparation characteristics to examine nutritional variation both within and across beverage categories. Nutritional information for 3586 beverages from 31 major franchise coffee brands was obtained from official websites. Beverages were systematically assigned to 10 standardized categories according to their ingredients and preparation methods. Serving size and per-serving contents of energy, total sugar, protein, saturated fat, sodium, and caffeine were analyzed and compared across beverage categories and between matched hot and iced products. All nutritional variables differed significantly among beverage categories (all p < 0.001). However, substantial within-category variability was also observed. For example, total sugar content among coffee beverages ranged from 13.0 g/serving at the 25th percentile to 48.0 g/serving at the 90th percentile. The findings demonstrate substantial nutritional variation both between and within standardized beverage categories, indicating that beverages sharing similar ingredient and preparation characteristics do not necessarily have similar nutritional profiles. The proposed framework provides a transparent and reproducible taxonomy for organizing heterogeneous beverage products across brands and may facilitate nutritional surveillance and comparative research.

Protected Designations of Origin (PDOs) are a cornerstone of the European wine sector, supporting quality, identity, and reputation. However, declining consumption and global competition threaten these systems, especially in mature markets. This pilot study explores how institutional design, production capacity, and strategic positioning influence regional wine competitiveness. Using a qualitative System Dynamics (SD) approach based on Causal Loop Diagram (CLD) analysis of literature and secondary data, it examines the hypothetical integration of the Franciacorta DOCG and the Oltrepò Pavese Metodo Classico DOC, two prominent Italian wine appellations in northern Lombardy, into a unified system named here “Grande Franciacorta”. The resulting CLD is hypothesis-generating and identifies hypothesized feedback mechanisms: reinforcing loops of branding, production capacity, and organizational capability, constrained by balancing loops of land availability, perceived exclusivity, and institutional resistance. It suggests that regulatory coordination alone may be insufficient and that early, coordinated investment in branding may be necessary to stimulate self-reinforcing growth, provided that governance aligns stakeholders, manages expansion, and preserves premium exclusivity. We did not run a stock-and-flow simulation or empirical test; the results are propositions for future quantitative assessment. The contribution shows how the timing of reputation-building and capacity expansion interacts with territorial and institutional constraints, with implications for geographical-indication policy and regional governance. The paper advances the policy debate on geographical indications by proposing a dynamic framework for adapting PDO systems to market shifts, with implications for regional governance and wine-sector development.