Beef from Calves Finished with a Diet Based on Concentrate Rich in Agro-Industrial By-Products: Acceptability and Quality Label Preferences in Spanish Meat Consumers

Abstract

Conjoint analysis was used to estimate the relative importance of some of the main extrinsic attributes and quality labels of beef in three Spanish cities (Córdoba, Marbella, and Santa Pola) in a study performed with 300 individuals. Consumers were segmented according to their frequency of consumption. Willingness to pay for different meats was also calculated from the conjoint analysis results. Consumer liking of beef that had been finished with an alternative concentrate rich in agro-industrial by-products and aged for three different durations as compared to conventionally finished beef was also evaluated using the same consumers. The most important attribute for Spanish consumers was the price (28%), followed by origin (25%), animal welfare certification (19%), protected geographical indication (14%), and organic agriculture certification (14%). Most consumers preferred beef from Spain at the lowest possible price and with the highest number of quality labels. Consumers were willing to pay a premium of 1.49, 3.61, and 5.53 EUR over 14 EUR/kg for organic certification, protected geographical indication, and animal welfare certification, respectively. Sensory analysis revealed that, for regular consumers, beef finished with an alternative concentrate rich in agro-industrial by-products offered several hedonic advantages (color, flavor, and tenderness) when compared to beef finished using a conventional diet, while occasional consumers did not find any difference between the two kinds of meat.

In search of a sustainable alternative for meat production: understanding the purchase intention of meat from transhumance origin

“…Regarding the habits , in both models, being a purchaser of meat with a designation of origin has a significant influence on the purchase intention through these habits, which is why a quality certificate could help insert these products in the market. Although the importance of designations of origin in the purchase of meat has been highlighted in several studies (Gracia et al ., 2011; Bernabéu et al ., 2018; Cubero Dudinskaya et al ., 2021), in others this importance was more limited (Angón et al ., 2022). Meanwhile, in our results, being a purchaser of organic meat was not significant.…”

Sustainable Healthy Diets and Demand for the Front-of-Package Labeling: Evidence from Consumption of Fresh Pork

“…The demand for food labels is essentially the requirement for the information of food safety, sustainability and nutrition [24][25][26]. Generally, food consists of prepackaged food and edible agricultural products, with demands for the shelf-life date, ingredient list and nutrition labels on the food [27,28]; more is included on the labels of organic food [25].…”

“…The demand for food labels is essentially the requirement for the information of food safety, sustainability and nutrition [24][25][26]. Generally, food consists of prepackaged food and edible agricultural products, with demands for the shelf-life date, ingredient list and nutrition labels on the food [27,28]; more is included on the labels of organic food [25]. If foods are divided into prepackaged food and edible agricultural products, the shelf-life date of prepackaged food, ingredient list, nutrition labels, green labels and organic label of edible agricultural products receive the most attention.…”

“…Currently, there are more studies on the consumers' demand for non-nutrition labels than that of nutrition labels. The former labels involved carbon labels on dairy products [24], genetically modified food labeling on soybean oil [27] and organic certification of beef [25], while the latter labels include nutrition claims [29]. However, little attention has been paid on the unimplemented labels [24].…”

Competitiveness of Spanish Local Breeds

“…The results suggest the exchange of sires between herds and the monitoring of genetic contributions before carrying out any selective action to promote the conservation of genetic variability in both breeds. “ Beef from Calves Finished with a Diet Based on Concentrate Rich in Agro-Industrial By-Products: Acceptability and Quality Label Preferences in Spanish Meat Consumers ” [ 8 ] shows that fattening calves with a diet rich in non-edible fibrous local agro-industrial by-products for humans from southern Spain improves the color, flavor and tenderness of meat, increasing its acceptance by regular meat consumers. This paper also analyzes the importance of quality labels in building the preferences of Spanish consumers, finding that certification of origin, price and animal welfare are the most important attributes.…”