Environmental Performance of Small‐Scale Apple Cider Vinegar Production Under a Territorial Quality Mark: A Life Cycle Assessment Case Study

ABSTRACT While Life Cycle Assessment has been extensively applied to agri‐food products, primary environmental inventories for fruit vinegar manufactured by small‐scale producers under regional quality certification have not yet been established. This study presents a cradle‐to‐retail gate life cycle assessment of apple cider vinegar produced under the Trentino Quality Mark (MQT) by a local SME in Northern Italy. The Environmental Footprint 3.1 method was applied to assess the environmental impacts per 750 mL bottle of apple cider vinegar at retail gate. The total environmental single score was 95.26 µPt per bottle, with a carbon footprint of 0.695 kg CO 2 eq per bottle. The contribution analysis identified single‐use primary packaging (glass bottle and aluminum cap) and apple cultivation as the primary environmental hotspots, followed by processing (11.20%) and regional distribution (4.37%). Among the mitigation strategies explored, glass lightweighting provided the most effective individual improvement (10.43% reduction), while a combined strategy, integrating glass lightweighting, expanded on‐site solar electricity, and pomace valorization, resulted in a theoretical cumulative reduction of 15.60%. On the distribution side, expanding from a local to an extra‐regional route increased the carbon footprint by 13.0%, highlighting delivery distance as an operational sensitivity. Although this analysis is based on a single producer and one production season, this case study provides preliminary baseline data for this small‐scale apple cider vinegar production system in a mountain region and contributes to the growing literature on territorial quality schemes.