Choice of Fresh Vegetable Retail Outlets by Developing-Country Urban Consumers: The Case of Kale Consumers in Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

Fresh produce retailing in many developing-country urban centers is changing with the recent emergence and rapid growth of supermarkets and specialty stores. These retail outlets are competing with the traditional wet markets in developing-country urban centers for buyers. This article uses information obtained from interviews with 449 kale consumers in Nairobi to assess the factors conditioning their choice between open-air markets, roadside markets, supermarkets and specialty markets when buying fresh vegetables. It uses non-parametric methods to identify these factors and then tests the causal effect of the identified factors on choice of retail outlet by consumers using parametric techniques. Both the non-parametric and parametric methods identify income, level of education, risk perception, living environment, level of willingness to pay for safe kale, and confidence in the consistency of quality of kale as the major conditioners of the choice of retail outlet by consumers. The article discusses the implications of these findings.