Abstract
The aim of the paper was to assess how consumers evaluate organic labeled fruits and to what extent they are willing to pay a premium for fresh fruits with organic labels. A double-hurdle model is applied to data obtained by interviewing 407 fresh fruit consumers in nine Chinese cities. Willingness-to-pay a premium was modeled as a function of a series of demographic, socio-economic variables, plus fruit attributes, perceptions of fruit safety, and risk attitudes. Results indicate that the most important factors influencing willingness to pay a premium involved positive attitudes toward organic label, attention to fruit safety, the perception of importance of fruit attributes. Moreover, the more income consumers earn, the more likely they would be willing to pay a premium for organic fresh fruits. The recorded consumer interest in safety and quality of fresh fruits reveals that a promising market for organic fruits could be developed by an adequate knowledge on organic label and an effective market monitoring system.
Highlights
An outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in 2006 prompted the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to issue warnings about the safety of fresh bagged spinach and recommend consumers not to eat it [1]
Assuming that for each individual the decision whether or not to pay a premium price for organic fresh fruits and the decision about the amount paid to organic fruits are made independently, the double-hurdle model introduced by Cragg is applied to identify the factors that influence respondent’s WTP [37]
Previous consumer survey works based on WTP analysis gave inconsistent results on the impact of consumer characteristics on food safety assuming that consumers’ WTP is equal to their actual payment behavior
Summary
An outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in 2006 prompted the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to issue warnings about the safety of fresh bagged spinach and recommend consumers not to eat it [1]. In 1998, the US FDA developed guidelines to reduce microbial food hazards, in the context of fresh fruits and vegetables [2]. In Europe, the “Euro-leaf” certification for organic food was launched in 1 July 2010. The use of the logo is mandatory for pre-packaged foods [3]. Organic fruits and vegetables which are free from chemicals have rapidly emerged as an important food industry in the developed countries [4]. In China, a large number of consumers panicked about all kinds of dairy products, milk powder, after the 2008 melamine milk crisis.
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