Slotting Fees for Organic Retail Products: Evidence From a Survey of U.S. Food Retailers

Based on a survey of U.S. food retailers, our study finds that almost one third of U.S. food retailers charge slotting fees for certified organic food products, a retailing area where slotting fees had not previously been well documented. Econometric results from both ordered response and binary response models suggest that a number of firm-level attributes do influence the presence and/or relative size of organic slotting fees in a manner that is mostly consistent with an economic efficiency rationale and partly consistent with a market power/strategic behavior rationale for slotting fees.     

Consumer Perception of Genetically Modified Food: Empirical Evidence From India

Although the advent of genetically modified (GM) foods changed the agricultural scenario in developed countries, existing research confirms that consumer perception about the consumption of the same is often distorted. GM foods entered the Indian market amid widespread controversies and criticisms. There exists a host of studies that tried to establish the factors that shape favorable consumer perception toward GM foods indeed, but evidence from developing countries like India is still missing. The article undertakes an exploratory investigation of the factors that shape consumer perception about the consumption of GM foods in India and subsequently confirms the same with the aid of a measurement model. The study provides important implications for managers in directing efforts toward influencing consumer perception and instigating positive attitudes toward GM foods so that the benefits of their use can be extended to the masses in relatively nascent markets.     

Linking Consumers’ Food Choice Motives to their Preferences for Insect‐based Food Products: An Application of Integrated Choice and Latent Variable Model in an African Context

Consumers’ attitudes, perceptions, personalities and motives play important roles in shaping their food choices. These factors are not fully observed by analysts, so they should be treated as latent variables. A number of economic studies treat such variables as direct measures of consumers’ food choice behaviour, even though this might introduce measurement error and endogeneity bias. We investigate the latent link between consumers’ preferences and food choice motives (FCMs) in an African context. We use an integrated choice and latent variable (ICLV) model specification for data analysis to recognise the latent nature of the FCMs and address the measurement and bias problems. The data originate from an incentivised discrete choice experiment conducted in Kenya to elicit consumers’ preferences for insect‐based foods. Our findings show that consumers’ preferences and choices are influenced by their latent motivational orientation. The results illustrate the benefit of the ICLV approach in accounting for consumers’ latent preference constructs in food choice and valuation research.     

Buying Motives and Trust of Young Consumers for Functional Fermented Dairy Products: Evidence From Croatian Students

The goal of the present study was to determine consumption of functional fermented dairy products among Croatian students, their buying motives, and trust in functional characteristics of such products. Data were collected by means of an online survey with 300 university students in two major Croatian cities. Even though more than half of the respondents were not familiar with the term “functional food,” after it was explained, it turned out that the majority consumes functional fermented dairy products. The main reason for choosing such products is prevention of diseases, followed by positive impact of low-fat content on body weight. Respondents moderately trust in health effects and in producers’ labels regarding functional properties of functional fermented dairy products. Heavier consumers of fermented dairy products and those placing high importance on health effects of food they consume have more trust in functional properties of these products. Results of the study could be used as a base for better communication with young consumers regarding functional fermented dairy products.     

Heterogeneous Consumer Preferences for Nanotechnology and Genetic‐modification Technology in Food Products

This study investigates heterogeneous consumer preferences for nanofood and genetically‐modified (GM) food and the associated benefits using the results of choice experiments with 1,117 US consumers. We employ a latent class logit model to capture the heterogeneity in consumer preferences by identifying consumer segments. Our results show that nano‐food evokes fewer negative reactions compared with GM food. We identify four consumer groups: ‘Price Oriented/Technology Adopters’, ‘Technology Averse’, ‘Benefit Oriented’, and ‘New Technology Rejecters’. Each consumer group has a distinctive demographic background, which generates deeper insights into the diversified public acceptance of nano‐food and GM food. Our results have policy implications for the adoption of new food technologies.     

The Challenges of Organic Production and Marketing in Europe and Spain: Innovative Marketing for the Future With Quality and Safe Food Products

In this work the actual situation of organic production and marketing in Spain is explained, studying and analyzing their evolution in the last decade of previous the century and in the first years of the new millennium. In Spain, organic production began in the 1970s with pioneers in Catalonia, Murcia Region, and other zones. It was in the 1990s when was observed a great increase in organic surfaces. A very interesting and critical date is that at the moment, more than 80% of organic products are being exported to other European countries, United States, and other foreign markets, and it is necessary to find new marketing strategies and innovations to structure the organic market, give new information to consumers, improve investments in the relation between retailers and consumers, and improve the perception of the utilities of these products. In some countries, as is the case of Spain, the consumers don't have enough information about the characteristics of organic products, organic food, and organic production methodologies. They must have all the information about the benefits of organic production methodologies and their implications in environmental conservation, biodiversity protection, food quality and safety, and this task must be provided by the new marketing strategies and actions.     

Consumer Preferences for Organic Food and for the Shares of Meat and Vegetables in an Everyday Meal

Abstract

It is well established that consumers with positive preferences for organic products generally also tend to have healthy eating habits involving many fruits and vegetables but less meat. While most studies are based on single product comparisons, this study investigates consumer preferences for organic ingredients and content of meat and vegetables in the context of an everyday evening meal. Moreover, we address heterogeneity in preferences. The study is based on an online survey including a choice experiment with 506 consumers. Using principal component and latent class analyses, we identify three segments of consumers that differ with respect to preferences for organic production and content of meat and vegetables in their meals. Our findings may be valuable for authorities promoting healthy food consumption just as they provide valuable input to the catering industry and other suppliers of dinner dishes in the development and marketing of both organic and non-organic ready meals.     

Food Grain Policies in India and their Implications for Stocks and Fiscal Costs: A Dynamic Partial Equilibrium Analysis

We analyse current and possible future reforms of the Indian food policies for the most important staple grains, wheat and rice, within a two‐commodity dynamic partial equilibrium model with stochastic shocks. The model is empirically grounded and reproduces past values well. It uses a new reduced‐form approach to capture private storage dynamics. We evaluate the implementation of the National Food Security Act (NFSA) under several policy measures with the current regime as well as two scenarios with a regime change – implementation of cash transfers and deficiency payments. Implications for market fundamentals and fiscal costs are simulated in the medium term – until 2020/21. The NFSA puts a high pressure on fiscal costs and public stocks. Relying on imports with low support prices results in low fiscal costs and stable, but higher domestic and international prices, and a high risk of zero stocks. A policy strategy to manipulate procurement prices in order to maintain public stocks close to the norms leads to slightly higher fiscal costs with lower, but more volatile prices. The highest domestic price volatility occurs under a strategy which uses export bans in order to maintain sufficient public stocks. A cash‐based regime can bring considerable savings and curb fiscal costs, particularly if targeted to the poor, and would leave sufficient stocks due to higher private stocks.     

Combining Stated and Revealed Preferences on Typical Food Products: The Case of Dry‐Cured Ham in Spain

An extensive body of research concerns the valuation of EU certification schemes of quality based on the origin of food products. This literature focuses mainly on stated preferences (SPs) and reported behaviours by the consumers. We combine consumers’ SPs, obtained through a conjoint ranking experiment, with revealed preferences (RP), obtained through a retail scanner database. We evaluate SPs as predictors of RP, and investigate whether SPs and RPs are consistent. Dry‐cured ham in Spain is chosen as the anchor product, mainly because of its broad customer base and long history of origin certification. A ‘trick’ nested logit model with non‐identical and identical samples of consumers is estimated to answer each of the objectives. Results show that, irrespective of the analysed samples, SP can predict general market trends and choices but not accurately predict market shares, and that consumers’ actual behaviour is partly consistent with their SPs. We find that consumers prefer ham produced in Teruel, compared with unspecified Spanish origin. Quality Certification and a Distributor’s Brand are preferred over the alternatives of no quality label or identified with a brand owned by the producer. Interestingly, SPs for the Quality Certification and the distributor’s brand lead to an over‐ and under‐estimation, respectively, of the market share.     

Eliciting Consumer WTP for Food Characteristics in a Developing Context: Application of Four Valuation Methods in an African Market

We elicit willingness to pay for conventional, organic and/or food‐safety‐inspected tomatoes in a traditional African food market. We identify four elicitation methods that can be conducted with one respondent at a time, and use them in a field setting: the Becker–DeGroot–Marschak mechanism, multiple price lists, multiple price lists with stated quantities, and real‐choice experiments. All four methods give similar results; showing that consumers are willing to pay a premium for organic and food‐safety‐inspected tomatoes. However, the size of the premium is significantly larger when consumers choose between alternatives than when they indicate their reservation price. The new multiple price lists with stated quantities were easy to explain in the busy market setting, gave the respondents the opportunity to determine the amount they wanted to buy, and had valuations in line with the other non‐comparative valuation methods.     

Policies Supporting Organic Food and Farming in the EU: Assessment and Development by Stakeholders in 11 European Countries

There is no single ‘best way’ of policy development. Bottom-up approaches to policy design and a broad debate among stakeholders facilitate policy learning and innovation. A novel approach of a bottom-up policy design process involving stakeholders is introduced. The first results obtained by implementing this methodology are presented. The outcomes of a large international effort for a development of policies for organic food and farming, which took place in Maj 2004 in Europe, are analyzed: the synthesized results from 11 European countries (AT, CH, CZ, DE, DK, EE, GB, HU, IT, PL, SI) on the current situation of policies related to the organic food market in Europe are highlighted and policy recommendations for the development of the organic food and farming sector are formulated. Specifically, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of policies related to the organic food market are identified and policy instruments used to address these aspects are developed.     

Comparative Advantage in Demand: Experimental Evidence of Preferences for Genetically Modified Food in the United States and European Union

The United States (US) exports more than US$6 billion in agricultural commodities to the European Union(EU) each year, but one issue carries the potential to diminish this trade: use of biotechnology in food production. The EU has adopted more stringent policies towards biotechnology than the US. Understanding differences in European and American policies towards genetically modified (GM) foods requires a greater understanding of consumers’ attitudes and preferences. This paper reports results from the first large‐scale, cross‐Atlantic study to analyse consumer demand for genetically modified food in a non‐hypothetical market environment. We strongly reject the frequent if convenient assumption in trade theory that consumer preferences are identical across countries: the median level of compensation demanded by English and French consumers to consume a GM food is found to be more than twice that in any of the US locations. Results have important implications for trade theory, which typically focuses on differences in specialization, comparative advantage and factor endowments across countries, and for on‐going trade disputes at the World Trade Organization.     

Information,Certification and Demand for Food Safety: Evidence from an In‐store Experiment in Mumbai

Is demand for safe food in developing countries low because of limited ability to pay, or because of lack of consumer awareness and absence of credible certification? To answer this question we conducted a controlled market experiment in Mumbai, India, selling grapes with credible certification labels alongside unlabeled grapes while providing randomly selected consumers with information on salient features of food safety certification. We confirm that informed consumers are more likely to purchase labeled grapes, controlling for prior information and attitudes, and using two (intensive versus extensive) information treatments. Policies related to information/certification could be an important component of improving public health by mobilising latent demand for food safety and hence supply of safer food for the public.     

The fourth industrial revolution,agricultural and rural innovation,and implications for public policy and investments: a case of India

The Indian Government and public–private partnerships are developing and disseminating a dizzying number of innovative, networked solutions, broadly known as the Digital India initiative, to increase the efficiency of safety nets and worker productivity and to improve life. Yet, challenges to turn the power of information and other technologies into a farmer‐friendly technological revolution for India's 156 million rural households are considerable, including: (1) reliable, up‐to‐date, location‐specific message content for a diverse agriculture to help stratified households shift to productive, knowledge‐intensive agriculture as a business—government, private sector, and civil society have big roles to play; (2) digital literacy, i.e., teaching farmers how to choose and use apps, even where the digital divide is absent; apps are, or soon to be, in regional languages; and (3) monitoring actual use and impacts on users’ lives by understanding the adoption and adaptation processes. These challenges call for bottom‐up, complementary investments in physical, human, and institutional capital, and farmer‐friendly e‐platforms, while forging ahead with many top‐down policy and institutional reforms currently underway, in which progress is real and constraints holding back greater success are better understood.     

The Lived Experience of Food Sovereignty: Gender,Indigenous Crops and Small‐Scale Farming in Mtubatuba,South Africa

Food sovereignty has become a powerful concept to critique the dominant global food regime. Although it has not taken root in South Africa as fiercely as elsewhere, we use this concept to explore how one small‐scale farmer seeks to wean herself from the dominant food system in the small town of Mtubatuba, KwaZulu‐Natal. Using ethnographic methods and in‐depth interviews about this single intense and extreme case, we explore this farmer's commitment and argue that it constitutes what we call the ‘lived experience of food sovereignty’. If food sovereignty is concerned with small‐farmer control over decisions about food cultivation, distribution and consumption, we examine this farmer's praxis and explore the obstacles she faces. These include gendered and racialized agrarian questions, land struggles, social reproduction and perceptions of her indigenous crops. We also examine the networks, knowledge, systems and methods that have allowed her to cultivate her self‐reliance.     

Price transmission,asymmetric adjustment and threshold effects in the cotton supply chain: a case study for Vidarbha,India

This study examines price transmission asymmetries in Vidarbha's (India) cotton supply chain from 2002 to 2012. The analysis takes account of thresholds in price adjustments toward their long‐run equilibrium. The first stage considers the price dynamics between international and Indian domestic cotton prices. The second stage considers price transmission from domestic to farm gate cotton prices in Vidarbha. Results from the first stage indicate that Indian and international cotton markets are well‐integrated. In contrast, the second stage reveals significant threshold‐type nonlinearities as well as asymmetries in price transmission between domestic and farm gate prices. The short‐run dynamics suggest that the pass‐through from domestic to farm gate prices is larger when domestic prices decrease than when they increase. Moreover, back of the envelope calculations suggest that the loss in revenue for a typical farmer from a decrease in domestic price is larger than the gains from an increase in domestic price of the same magnitude. The implication is that traders benefit from price fluctuations at the expense of farmers. Evidence from fieldwork in Vidarbha suggest that asymmetries revealed in this analysis may be linked to trader's market power and inadequate market information among farmers.     

Drought‐tolerant rice,weather index insurance,and comprehensive risk management for smallholders: evidence from a multi‐year field experiment in India

In rainfed production systems throughout India, agricultural activities are dependent upon the summer monsoon, and any aberration in monsoon rainfall patterns can have severe consequences for rice production. There is considerable policy interest in designing programs to lower small‐scale farmers’ exposure to these types of risk given the regularity with which adverse monsoon events occur. This paper introduces a field experiment conducted with two risk management options in the state of Odisha: a drought‐tolerant rice cultivar; and a weather index insurance product designed to complement the performance of the cultivar. Uptake rates for the cultivar itself and for the joint product are compared across two years alongside an analysis of factors that predict uptake. Results indicate high levels of demand for both the products, albeit with a significant degree of price sensitivity. But this sensitivity is agnostic to the nature of price reductions, suggesting that public investments that lower the costs of risk management may be sufficient to encourage broad uptake, without necessarily relying upon distortionary subsidies as is so often done. Sustained demand between years one and two is primarily explained where individuals were indemnified in year one and had a large number of peers also purchasing the product.