Telling heritage to see the future. A content analysis on the institutional websites of longrunning Italian agrifood brands

In recent years, the theme of brand heritage has gained significant relevance. In an era of globalization and rapid cultural change, companies increasingly recognize that leverag¬ing their history and legacy can convey trust and assurance in the minds of their customers. This is even more true for agrifood companies. The study employs content analysis to ex¬tract the main topics from the heritage information published by long-running Italian agri-food brands on their websites. The companies chosen for the analysis (n = 126) were iden¬tified using the Special Register of “Historical Brands of National Interest”. The research revealed that the primary focus areas for the long-running Italian agrifood companies are Longevity, Roots, Product Offering, Pioneerism, Business Performance, and Core Values.