9 pages., Via online journal., Surgical piglet castration without pain relief has been banned in organic farming in the EU since the beginning of 2012. Alternative methods therefore need to be implemented that improve animal welfare and solve the underlying problem of boar taint. This paper explores German organic consumers' preferences for piglet castration without pain relief and three alternative methods. In an innovative approach using a multi-criteria decision making procedure, qualitative data from focus group discussions were compared with quantitative results from Vickrey auctions. Overall, participants preferred all alternatives to castration without pain relief. Different aspects influenced willingness-to-pay for the methods. Animal welfare was important for the evaluation of castration without pain relief and castration with anesthesia. Food safety played a major role for willingness-to-pay for immunocastration, while taste and, to some extent, animal welfare were dominant factors for fattening of boars. These differences should be considered when communicating the alternatives.
9 pages., Article # 1RIB4, Via online journal., Food hubs represent a business model through which farmers can collectively market product to access new supply chains and buyers can efficiently access locally sourced foods. Many farmer marketing cooperatives fit within the food hub definition and have existed for decades. Accordingly, much can be learned from them to support food hub business planning efforts. We developed and synthesized case studies of three successful cooperatives in order to match key food hub operational challenges with recommended best management practices. Such information is useful for Extension education efforts supporting the development of economically viable food hub businesses.
16 pages., via online journal, The sustainable intensification of animal production systems is increasing as a consequence of increased demand for foods originating from animals. Production diseases are particularly endemic in intensive production systems, and can negatively impact upon farm animal welfare. There is an increasing need to develop policies regarding animal production diseases, sustainable intensification, and animal welfare which incorporate consumer priorities as well as technical assessments of farm animal welfare. Consumers and/or citizens may have concerns about intensive production systems, and whether animal production disease represent a barrier to consumer acceptance of their increased use. There is a considerable body of research focused on consumer willingness-to-pay (WTP) for improved animal welfare. It is not clear how this relates specifically to a preference for reduced animal production disease incidence in animal production systems. A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to establish the publics’ WTP for farm animal welfare, with a focus on production diseases which arise in intensive systems. Systematic review methodology combined with data synthesis was applied to integrate existing knowledge regarding consumer WTP for animal welfare, and reduced incidence of animal production diseases. Multiple databases were searched to identify relevant studies. A screening process, using a set of pre-determined inclusion criteria, identified 54 studies, with the strength of evidence and uncertainty for each study being assessed. A random effects meta-analysis was used to explore heterogeneity in relation to a number of factors, with a cumulative meta-analysis conducted to establish changes in WTP over time. The results indicated a small, positive WTP (0.63 standard deviations) for farm animal welfare varying in relation to a number of factors including animal type and region. Socio-demographic characteristics explained the most variation in the data. An evidence gap was highlighted in relation to reduced WTP for specific production diseases associated with the intensification of production, with only 4 of the 54 studies identified being related to this. A combination of market and government based policy solutions appears to be the best solution for improving farm animal welfare standards in the future, enabling the diverse public preferences to be taken into consideration.
Clark, Beth (author), Panzone, Luca A. (author), Stewart, Gavin B. (author), Kyriazakis, Ilias (author), Niemi, Jarkko K. (author), Latvala, Terhi (author), Tranter, Richard (author), Jones, Philip (author), and Frewer, Lynn J. (author)
Format:
Online journal article
Publication Date:
2019-01-10
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 7 Document Number: D10240
Many members of the public and important stakeholders operating at the upper end of the food chain, may be unfamiliar with how food is produced, including within modern animal production systems. The intensification of production is becoming increasingly common in modern farming. However, intensive systems are particularly susceptible to production diseases, with potentially negative consequences for farm animal welfare (FAW). Previous research has demonstrated that the public are concerned about FAW, yet there has been little research into attitudes towards production diseases, and their approval of interventions to reduce these. This research explores the public’s attitudes towards, and preferences for, FAW interventions in five European countries (Finland, Germany, Poland, Spain and the UK). An online survey was conducted for broilers (n = 789), layers (n = 790) and pigs (n = 751). Data were analysed by means of Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA, exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modelling. The results suggest that the public have concerns regarding intensive production systems, in relation to FAW, naturalness and the use of antibiotics. The most preferred interventions were the most “proactive” interventions, namely improved housing and hygiene measures. The least preferred interventions were medicine-based, which raised humane animal care and food safety concerns amongst respondents. The results highlighted the influence of the identified concerns, perceived risks and benefits on attitudes and subsequent behavioural intention, and the importance of supply chain stakeholders addressing these concerns in the subsequent communications with the public.
7 pages., Via online journal., Are consumers interested in aspects of pig production and do they take these into account in their buyingdecisions when such information is available? Samples of consumers in Germany and Poland selected the two–for them–most important out of a list of ten production characteristics, relating to animal welfare, health and safety, and environmental issues. In a subsequent choice experiment, the relative weight these characteristics had in consumers' choices was estimated. Relative importance of production characteristics varied between consumer segments, with the production interested segment being bigger in Germany than in Poland. With of one animal welfare related criterion in Germany, those production characteristics that consumers perceive as most important relate to health and safety aspects rather than to animal welfare and environmental impact.
20pgs, This study aimed to better understand consumers’ perceptions toward superfoods, to reveal segments of consumers, and to describe their behavioral patterns and sociodemographic characteristics. Data were collected from a mail survey (n = 423). Consumer segmentation revealed six segments. The “superfoodies” (13%) showed a more positive attitude toward superfoods, believing in their health and sustainable benefits. Adventurous consumers (16%) showed less knowledge on superfoods, despite that, they believe in the benefits of those foods after receiving some information during the survey. Involved consumers (13%) presented high nutritional knowledge and believe in the future of superfoods. Indifferent consumers (23%) appear to have a neutral attitude toward superfoods. Skeptical consumers (21%) and rejectors (15%) seem to be more conservative and less interested and unconvinced about the benefits of consuming superfoods. These results help guide those producing, marketing, and selling superfoods, and serve as a basis to develop strategies for different target groups.
9 pages., Via online journal., As a consequence of recent food safety incidents, consumer trust in European food safety management has diminished. A risk governance framework that formally institutes stakeholder (including consumer) consultation and dialogue through a transparent and accountable process has been proposed, with due emphasis on risk communication. This paper delivers actionable policy recommendations based on consumer preferences for different approaches to food risk management. These results suggest that risk communication should be informed by knowledge of consumer risk perceptions and information needs, including individual differences in consumer preferences and requirements, and differences in these relating to socio-historical context associated with regulation. In addition, information about what is being done to identify, prevent and manage food risks needs to be communicated to consumers, together with consistent messages regarding preventative programs, enforcement systems, and scientific uncertainty and variability associated with risk assessments. Cross-cultural differences in consumer perception and information preferences suggest a national or regional strategy for food risk communication may be more effective than one applied at a pan-European level.
16 pages, Branding agricultural products are popular in the online market, but little is known about consumers' preferences for agricultural product brands in an E-commerce environment. This study analyzed consumer preferences for three types of agricultural product brands and the interaction effect among them in an E-commerce environment with a choice experiment. Our results show that regional brand shows remarkable complementary effects on grower brand and store brand, implying regional brand can enhance the value of other brands. Also, we found that there is a substitution effect between grower brand and store brand. Interestingly, we find that consumers prefer cheap or expensive fuji apples rather than middle-price ones, implying significant consumption stratification in the Chinese online food market. This study also confirms the importance of the time window of delivery. This paper can provide critical information to optimize brand strategies of agricultural products in an E-commerce environment. [EconLit citations: D12, Q11, Q13]
18 pages, Consumer preferences for food produced using currently prohibited production methods matter, especially in relation to potential trade deals. We conduct four discrete choice experiments examining UK consumer attitudes for food produced using several agricultural production methods currently prohibited in the UK, including chlorine washed chicken. Our results reveal negative preferences for these forms of agricultural production methods whereas EU food safety standards are highly valued. Willingness-to-pay estimates indicate that the positive values for food safety are frequently greater than the negative values placed on prohibited food production methods. Similarly, UK country of origin was highly valued but organic production was less valued. We discuss the implications of these results and, more generally, the use of stated preference estimates in economic modelling underpinning trade negotiations.
23 pages, Rice is a staple crop in Nigeria. Even with a push to increase domestic production, little is known about the functionality of Nigeria’s open bag markets and the preferences of consumers for specific rice attributes. Our study uses a hedonic price model to identify quality attribute preferences of consumers and potential market failures. Our results indicate that Nigerian consumers prefer rice with homogenous long slender kernels and a low presence of broken rice and are indifferent to chalkiness. The findings are useful as they can inform future strategies for rice breeders, domestic policy makers, and rice exporters.
16pgs, Plant-based milk has provided more options to consumers who are looking for an alternative to dairy milk. Recently, sales of plant-based milk have increased while dairy milk has continued to decline. To gather more insight into what is being discussed in news coverage about plant-based milk, a quantitative content analysis was conducted on 250 articles published from 2011 to 2020. These articles were coded for word count, location of publication, frame, and article type. The seven frames used to describe plant-based milk were Environment, Animal Welfare, Health, Economics, Labeling, Taste, and Trend. There was an increase in articles published each year, with the most articles published in 2019. The Trend frame was the most popular frame followed by Taste and Health. The Trend frame is related to the growing popularity of plant-based milk. Many Taste articles were written in the form of recipes, which gives inspiration to the reader to use plant-based milk while cooking or baking. The use of the Health frame focused on nutritional information and support of using plant-based milk as an alternative for lactose intolerance or milk allergy. Overall, this study indicated that most plant-based milk news coverage focuses on discussing popularity, consumption, and innovation about plant-based milk. Recommendations for future research and practice are provided.
12 pages., ISSN 2141-2421, Via online journal., The overarching aim of this paper is to examine empirical findings on the arena of consumers’ behavior and attitude towards intake of street-foods (SFs) and fast foods (FFs) status as well as associated risks of consumption in China. Presently, consuming SFs and FFs have become a popular trend and is counted as the manifestation of modernity in most fast growing countries, for instance, China. The SFs and FFs are believed to be a panacea to the major socio-economic problems for countries having a large population. Over one-quarter of the century FFs and SFs become rapidly expanded in China through the quick service provision of already prepared foods with reasonable prices and source of employment for swarming open country and city inhabitants end to end to its supply. FFs and SFs are the most preferred by consumers because of safety issue, reasonable price, ready-made nature, easily accessible, portability, and so on. Concurrently, the nutritional and health concerns in China revealed that the government is very committed to quarantine and certifies FFs and SFs of food safety and public health, particularly after melamine was detected in milk in the year 2008. This later stimulated the Chinese regime to put into practice food safety law (FSL) in 2009 next to food hygiene law (FHL). FFs and SFs consumers in China are very conscious of food quality and give credit for safety than purchasing prices. Broadly speaking, most examined the papers indulged that FF and SF choice rely on ‘safety first’ by consumers in China. To sustain vendors stock and satisfy consumers’ demand for SF and FF, avoiding health risks, change in the existing perception and trust building is a priority issue.
12 pages., via online journal, Animal welfare and environmental impacts have been emphasized in the sustainable production of livestock. Labels are useful tools for clearly providing such attribute information to consumers. The aim of this study was to evaluate how human values influence consumer segments for beef with information on animal welfare and environmentally friendly production. Using a choice experiment, we examined whether animal welfare and environmentally friendly labels, country of origin and price impact consumer choice. As results, five heterogeneous consumer classes were identified using a latent class model: label conscious, domestic beef preferring, price conscious, animal welfare preferring and not interested in production method. Almost 90% of consumers were interested in and willing to pay for beef with animal welfare or environmentally friendly label. The classes with significant preferences for such labeled beef were affected by “openness to change”, “self-enhancement” and “security”. Improving consumer attitudes and strengthening consumer perception towards labeled beef by marketers and policy makers will be required.
7 pages., Via online journal., Policy makers in the European Union are envisioning the introduction of a community farm animal welfare label which would allow consumers to align their consumption habits with their farm animal welfare preferences. For welfare labeling to be viable the market for livestock products produced to higher welfare standards has to be sufficiently segmented with consumers having sufficiently distinct and behaviourally consistent preferences. The present study investigates consumers’ preferences for meat produced to different welfare standards using a hypothetical welfare score. Data is obtained from a contingent valuation study carried out in Britain. The ordered prohbit model was estimated using Bayesian inference to obtain mean willingness to pay. We find decreasing marginal WTP as animal welfare levels increase and that people’s preferences for different levels of farm animal welfare are sufficiently differentiated making the introduction of a la belling scheme in the form of a certified rating system appear feasible.
33 pages., Via online journal., The legitimacy of the dominant intensive meat production system with
respect to the issue of animal welfare is increasingly being questioned by stakeholders across the meat supply chain. The current meat supply is highly undifferentiated, catering only for the extremes of morality concerns (i.e., conventional vs.
organic meat products). However, a latent need for compromise products has been
identified. That is, consumer differences exist regarding the trade-offs they make
between different aspects associated with meat consumption. The heterogeneity in
consumer demand could function as a starting point for market segmentation, targeting and positioning regarding animal welfare concepts that are differentiated in
terms of animal welfare and price levels. Despite this, stakeholders in the meat
supply chain seem to be trapped in the dominant business model focused on low
cost prices. This paper aims to identify conflicting interests that stakeholders in the
meat supply chain experience in order to increase understanding of why heterogeneous consumer preferences are not met by a more differentiated supply of meat
products produced at different levels of animal welfare standards. In addition,
characteristics of the supply chain that contribute to the existence of high exit
barriers and difficulty to shift to more animal-friendly production systems are
identified. Following the analysis of conflicting interests among stakeholders and
factors that contribute to difficulty to transform the existing dominant regime,
different routes are discussed that may help and motivate stakeholders to overcome
these barriers and stimulate the creation of new markets.
