Understanding the market potential of products from alternative food networks in a transition economy—a discrete choice experiment

Abstract

PurposeEthical consumption is on the rise amidst concerns about the environmental and health impacts of industrial agriculture. In light of increasingly complex food choices, alternative food networks have emerged. However, their success depends on a deeper understanding of the product attributes that guide (ethical) consumer decisions. This study focuses on the preferences of consumers when choosing and buying fresh vegetables in Romania.Design/methodology/approachThis study employs a discrete choice experiment to determine how consumers make trade-offs across a set of product attributes, such as local origin and production method.FindingsThe study analysis sheds light on the importance of food attributes relevant to ethical consumers. The main barrier to making an ethically driven choice is convenience. While local production remains of lower importance than the production method, the authors show that the Romanian consumers surveyed strongly prefer non-certified “traditional” vegetables over certified organic products.Originality/valueThis study is pioneering with a state-of-the-art discrete choice setting looking at a set of product attributes that reflect the demand of ethical consumers in an understudied transitional context. The authors go beyond the current debate on the trade-off between organic vs local food labels by introducing traditional small-scale production as a separate attribute level. The food attribute preferences of different consumer segments and a market simulation offer relevant insights how to market fresh vegetables to health- and environmentally-conscious urban people.

Research on Consumer Perception Regarding Traditional Food Products of Romania

“…The same criterion-"curiosity"-is preferred by respondents who have completed high school studies (p = 0.002, score 3.83) and those in the 18-19 age group; this result is not necessarily related to the level of training of the respondents, because those with completed university studies also have a fairly high degree of curiosity (grade: 3.41). Additionally, respondents under 30 years old are open to choosing traditional products through the statements "recent experience" (ST2, p = 0.042, score 3.42 for 18-19 year olds) and "friend recommendation" (ST3, p = 0.033, score 3.38 for the 18-19 year old age group and 3.22 for the aged [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29].…”

“…The issue of price and willingness to pay is also widely addressed in this research on preferences for traditional food products. For certified traditional food products, consumers often accept higher prices than industrial ones and are willing to pay more to acquire them [23][24][25][26].…”

CULTIVATING FOOD JUSTICE: Redefining Harvest Sales for Sustainable Urban Agriculture in Low‐Income Cape Town post Covid‐19

“…Therefore, CSOs and urban gardeners should promote agro‐ecological harvests to ignite local interest. This need not involve financial costs (for example, organic certification), since consumers prefer non‐certified ‘traditional’ vegetables over certified organic products (Möllers et al ., 2022). UCGs should grow traditional products, in line with consumer needs, and raise awareness of the benefits of vegetables vis‐à‐vis fast food products and chains that drive poor food choices.…”

On the transformative potential of Hungarian local food-buying clubs

“…In some cases, AFNs are referred to as the production, processing, marketing, and consumption of food based on sustainable practices (e.g., Seyfang, 2006;De Bernardi and Tirabeni, 2018;Savarese et al, 2020). Others challenge the concept by identifying trade-offs between the different dimensions of sustainability (e.g., Nousiainen et al, 2009;Migliore et al, 2015;Möllers et al, 2022), and emphasize territorial considerations (Brunori, 2007;Harris, 2010), relationships (Marsden et al, 2000;Renting et al, 2003;Kneafsey et al, 2013;Chiffoleau et al, 2019), values (Goodman et al, 2012;Pascucci et al, 2016;Fourat et al, 2020), or quality aspects (Brunori, 2007). There is a tendency in the literature to describe AFNs as being in opposition to conventional, globalized and industrialized food systems (Michel-Villarreal et al, 2019).…”