Trust and perceptions of fairness in markets have been shown to be important in consumer behavior in different contexts. However, there have not been many studies relating the concept of fairness is supply chains to food purchasing behavior. In this study, we explore the relationships between trust, fairness and perception of quality of food produced from three food technologies. The technologies are as follows: (i) bread fortified with omega-3 fatty acids using nanotechnology (ii) pork chops from pigs selectively bred for disease resistance using genomic selection (iii) baby spinach treated with essential oils to reduce concentrations of E. coli O157:H7. Data are from a small exploratory project conducted in 2015 at the University of Alberta, Canada, where 31 non-academic staff participated in stated preference experiments and completed a survey questionnaire. Stated preference data are analysed using conditional logit regressions. Different potential explanatory fairness variables are created using questions from previous studies. From the results, both the constructs associated with trust and with fairness in supply chains have explanatory power. Although there are some variations in results (depending on the type of questions used to measure fairness), fairness positively influences trust in the food supply chain. Future studies might need to consider including perceptions of fairness in supply chains in the analysis of consumer acceptance of novel technologies.
In this study, the objective is to identify consumers’ willingness to consume different foods and the factors that could drive their food preferences. One hundred non-academic staff and students at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada participated in the study. Data were collected using focus group discussions, a survey questionnaire and a contingent valuation exercise. In the focus groups, participants discussed their preferences for traits in livestock and their products, their interest in natural foods and their perceptions regarding naturalness of food in relation to the different types of farming and technologies. In the survey questionnaire, participants were asked about their food consumption habits, perceptions, attitudes and preferences for different foods and technologies, generalized trust in people and trust in groups or institutions responsible for food in Canada among other issues. In the contingent valuation exercise, participants chose the price they were willing to pay for pork with different information about carnosine and omega-3 fatty acids. We find that there is heterogeneity in terms of consumers’ perceptions, attitudes and behaviour regarding natural foods. In summary, the cost of food, concerns about human and environmental impacts and trustworthiness of information on labels are some of the factors that influence participants’ decisions to buy pork labeled as coming from disease resilient or feed efficient pigs or pigs that are higher in a human or animal health component. Although some people accept genetic modification, other participants were concerned about its use in improving disease resilience, feed efficiency and human or animal health component in pigs. Although there are some variations in the results, generalized trust in people, food technology neophobia and concerns about product leanness, country of origin of the product, nutrition content, use of hormones and antibiotics in livestock production and environmental foot print of livestock production are associated with attitudes, perceptions and behaviour regarding natural foods. Participants are willing to pay more for pork chops with more information about carnosine and omega-3 fatty acids as compared to pork chops with less information. In comparison to carnosine, participants are willing to pay more for pork chops with information about omega-3 fatty acids. Generalized trust in people, trust in advocacy groups, natural product interest, frequency of purchasing products with a health claim and knowledge of sodium content in pork that have a health claim are associated with willingness to pay for enhanced carnosine and omega-3 fatty acids in pork.
This national survey explores public perspectives on energy issues in Canada with a focus on preferences for energy sources, perceived and actual knowledge of energy systems, trust in energy-related organizations and sources of knowledge about energy issues. The survey also explores willingness to engage in energy related issues and general values and beliefs about energy systems. Conducted in the Fall of 2014, 3,000 respondents were randomly selected from an internet-based panel with quotas for gender, age, region, education, income, language and urban/rural differences. Survey results show that support for renewable energy sources is strong and awareness of energy saving options is also high. Regarding energy citizenship, although awareness of opportunities to participate in energy-related discussions is moderate, levels of participation are very low. Canadians express strong values toward environmental protection compared to explicit utilitarian uses of the environment and they worry that human interference with nature can produce disastrous consequences. Finally, policy considerations are provided to advance literacy and civic engagement on energy issues.
Representative farm analysis; Cropping economics; Net private benefits; Ecosystem services; Beneficial management practice (BMP); Monte Carlo simulation; Buffer strips; Residue management; Field peas; Ecological Goods and Service
The forest economy is in transition across Canada. Faced with high dollar values, increasing competition within the global market, high input costs for energy, labour and fibre, and growing expectations for environmental performance, the forest sector is undergoing significant economic transitions as companies across the country cut costs, close mills and shed jobs. This report contributes to our understanding of community response to mill closure with a detailed description of six case study communities during a period of forest industry mill closures. Three communities are in British Columbia (Mackenzie, Quesnel and Fort St. James) and three communities are in New Brunswick (Dalhousie, Nackawic and Mirimachi). Empirical information is derived from national and local media reports as well as recent data from the Census of Canada. Key thematic areas include resilience, economic diversification, the nature of mill closure, union involvement, government involvement and concerns over government policy changes such as appurtenancy.
The competitive landscape in retailing has changed over the past decade. Moreover, the degree of product differentiation has been increasing: households are able to choose between an increasing number of store brands and national brands of similar products. The value added meat market is no different than any other sector of the grocery market – both national brands and private label brands are being developed to appeal to the consumer‘s desire for convenience, health, production and environmental attributes. Understanding the factors that are influencing consumers‘ value added meat product preferences is important for meat manufacturers who wish to add value to their firm‘s performance and increase market share. This knowledge is required in order to predict changes in demand and develop new products and marketing strategies that respond to changing consumer needs. The objective of the paper is to provide information on value added meat consumption patterns in Canada at the household level using household purchase information from a representative sample of the Canadian population collected through Nielsen Homescan™. Specifically the focus is on how meat consumers make their decision to purchase value-added meat products – the impact of value added meat types, store choices and brands preference on meat demand. The study undertakes an empirical investigation of Canadian household value added meat demand for the period 2002 to 2007. A comparison of consumers‘ preferences is performed with respect to store-switching, brand loyalty and meat expenditure. Multivariate regression analysis is employed to explain consumer preferences for the examined stores, products and brands. We find that meat price, advertising, the number of stores visited, household socio-demographic characteristics and regional segments are strongly related to meat expenditure levels. Value added meat product preferences vary widely across meat types - for example, consumer behaviour towards pork is not a good predictor of behaviour towards poultry, in terms of national brand/store brand choice. The data developed in this analysis can highlight6 marketing opportunities that exist for meat producers and processors to increase the value of total sales for their particular products. The results of this study highlight the impact of number of stores regularly shopped at on purchases of national brand versus private label meat products, the impact of expenditure on meat by product form on national brand versus private label and the impact of demographic and regional variables on all meat purchases, by animal species.
This report was prepared for the purpose of providing background documentation of inputs to be used in mathematical programming models and papers, which are being prepared for our research project: Ecological and economic tradeoff analysis of conservation strategies for woodland caribou. The report presents a simple net present value model of resource and land value for natural gas in northern Alberta. The variables in the model include costs (drilling, seismic, operating and capital); geological variables (stratigraphic intervals, booked reserves, future reserves); drilling variables (well densities, drilling success rates, and drilling depths); production data and prices. Each variable is described in detail and methods of derivation are provided. A map of net present values for natural gas at a spatial resolution of 250ha sections is provided and overlaid on top of caribou ranges to provide a spatial representation of where the most valuable reserves are in relation to caribou ranges.
This report summarizes a series of projects undertaken by staff and students in the Department of Rural Economy which examine various socio-economic aspects of chronic wasting disease and its effect on a range of stakeholders in Alberta. The four projects included exploring impacts on the cervid farming industry, hunters, the general Albertan public, and certain Aboriginal groups. General results from these studies are presented with references that provide a more thorough analysis and discussion.
Livestock industries are significantly affected by changes in consumer behaviour. In order to add value to meat and livestock production, many firms and farms are supporting the development of new products – these products can differ by credence attribute, by degree of processing and by marketing strategies. The literature suggests that one of the most important determinants of success in product innovation is an understanding of the market the product is introduced into. In this report consumer preferences for meat products, by animal species including minor meats, and by type of processing are examined. Responses to economic variables such as price, advertising and income are identified as are responses to food safety and meat related health issues. Interesting results include the fact that income elasticities of demand for meat products purchased at grocery stores are negative in this study and that own and cross price elasticities for certain meats, across processing levels for example, show strong substitutions. Thus introducing new meat products may not result in increased sales by animal species but may only result in substitution of one meat type product for another product of the same meat type. Successful new product introductions or changes in product quality are shown, in this report, to be accompanied by significant marketing/advertising investment and, either by design or by serendipity, to have credence attributes in line with consumer's changing concerns. An example of this is the response in branded chicken sales, at the time of BSE in Canada, for a brand that could advertise itself as being 100% grain fed. Marketing strategies, such as working with the Health Check™ program of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada are shown to have an impact on firm level sales (as well as on sales at the individual product level), a halo effect, that may be of importance in the firm's development of other value-added products. Significant heterogeneity exists in consumer behaviour and it is important to recognize this heterogeneity in the development of value-added meat products. Added to the consumer heterogeneity, in general, is the heterogeneity in responses by meat type. What works for one sector, such as poultry, could be problematic in other sectors given differences in economic interrelationships reported in this study.
An interview based survey of farm landowners in the south east corner of Saskatchewan was undertaken to evaluate the provision of wildlife habitat by agriculture. Producers were asked to provide management information regarding a piece of their land that was managed as a unit. Within the past ten years there has been a reduction in the conversion of remaining native land to crop land, an increase in conversion of annual crop land to perennial cover crops, an increase in the use of minimum disturbance (no-till) farming, and a decrease in the use of fire on stubble fields and sloughs. Many producers in the area often stated economic reasons for their current land use division. Even ecological reasons (productive capacity of the soil, poor cropping soil, light soil etc.) often had an economic basis. If the land was not productive enough, a management scheme with lower input costs would be adopted. This was commonly demonstrated in this survey by the conversion of marginal land to tame forages. Producers within this region seem willing to adopt farming practices that connect economic sustainability with environmental responsibility. This survey is part of an-on going study of the region.
This report summarizes preliminary results from the Farm Behavior component of the South Tobacco Creek Integrated Modeling Project (STC Project) which is being undertaken as part of the Watershed Evaluation of BMPs (WEBs) Program. WEBS is a partnership between Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) and Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) established to evaluate the economic and environmental performance of BMPs for water quality at the watershed scale. Water draining from South Tobacco Creek eventually enters to Lake Winnipeg which is degraded from the cumulative effects of nutrient loading, particularly phosphorous. Many jurisdictions across the world, including Canada, use payments programs to encourage land owners to change land management practices in order to reduce non-point source pollution. BMP incentive programs in Canada, such as Greencover, rely on fixed payment schemes which pay producers a set amount for BMPs, regardless of costs or benefits. In order to improve the performance of payment programs many jurisdictions have instituted auction type mechanisms. The purpose of the Farm Behavior component of the STC project is to examine the performance of various types of payment programs for BMPs relative to reducing phosphorous loads from STC. Theoretical and empirical evidence from conservation auctions suggest that the performance of auctions depends on several factors which affect the bidding behavior of producers during the auction, and therefore the cost-effectiveness of auctions over other types of payment programs. In particular, some producers actually benefit from BMPs, however under certain auction rules these producers would be paid the same amount as high cost producers; alternatively, producers with low costs of adopting BMPs may not always provide the greatest benefits in terms of pollution abatement depending on their location in the watershed, and physical features of their land. We assessed the relative performance of different payment programs by developing producer response functions for adoption of Beneficial Management Practices (BMPs). Producer adoption responses under different incentive schemes were tested using experiments with student subjects and limited trials with producers. We examined four BMPs: construction of holding ponds, riparian management, forage conversion, and conservation till. The results of the adoption response experiments conducted under WEBS were used to draw preliminary observations on BMP policy design and form the basis for recommendations for further research. The farm behavior project focuses on addressing the following two questions: 1. Does BMP adoption at a given farm make the individual farm household better or worse off from an economic perspective? 2. How much will it cost the government to get farms to adopt BMPs under different payment programs? Since producer heterogeneity is key to understanding the performance of conservation auctions, we examined the costs and benefits of BMPs at the individual farm level and developed on-farm costs for each BMP for each producer in the watershed. The basic components of the model are described below, however the details including underlying assumptions regarding baseline farm behavior, are outlined within the body of the report. We used the on-farm cost model to generate aggregate cost functions for BMPs for the watershed and to parameterize the policy experiments related to conservation auctions. Preliminary estimates of environmental benefits of individual BMP adoption were provided by Dr. Wanhong Yang using results from a SWAT model developed under a separate component of the South Tobacco Creek WEBS project. Based on this information, we were able to evaluate the performance of various auction formats in terms of cost effectiveness, distribution of payments amongst producers, and environmental benefit. The results from the Farm behavior component of the South Tobacco Creek project are preliminary, and are currently being refined. Therefore it is difficult to draw generalized conclusions at this point. Further experiments are being conducted to complete the data collection during FY 08-09 through Interim WEBS funding. Nonetheless main findings to date are summarized below: 1. The four BMPs assessed differ in terms of their cost as well as their ability to deliver environmental benefits. Unfortunately, there is no BMP that dominates across farms at all abatement levels. Farms have heterogeneous costs in terms of BMPs, and some farms are cost effective at supplying abatement using one BMP, but not another. 2. This suggests that if water quality benefits (e.g. phosphorous reduction) can be quantified through modeling by BMP and by farm, then water quality should be the contracting unit for the auction rather than the BMP. This would allow producers to select the most cost effective BMP for supplying water quality benefits, and then decision makers could allocate contracts based on ranking the costs of abatement. 3. At the next stage of the research we will test for synergies between farms – ie., whether the joint production function for water quality between farms differs from the sum of individual production functions. This will have implications for how the payment scheme should be designed. 4. Incorporating „fairness‟ types of allocation rules for conservation dollars, such as maximum participation in conservation programs is inefficient in terms of cost and environmental benefits. If fairness, or using conservation payments as a form of extension to learn about on farm costs of BMPs is the goal of the auction, then fixed payment programs which are open to everyone may be more desirable. 5. The performance of the auction depends on the shape of the cost function for BMPs and/or pollution abatement, as well as whether uniform (pay everyone the highest bid) or discriminatory pricing (pay everyone their own bid) rules are applied. In future research we will be investigating to what extent we can generalize results about the performance of uniform versus discriminatory pricing rules in this context. In conclusion, this research has allowed us to investigate individually the performance of incentive payments for individual BMPs. The results of the analysis provide us with a baseline of information by which we can begin to assess more complex conservation program issues, such as how to optimally select multiple BMPs within the watershed, and whether/how to spatially target BMPs.
A statistical overview of agriculture in the region encompassed by the Lower Souris River Watershed committee was undertaken. The region in the south east corner of the province of Saskatchewan has about 8%of the total number of farms in Saskatchewan, and this has remained relatively consistent since the early 1980s. The actual number of has decreased and Statistics Canada reports that the total number of farms in crop district 1A and 1B in the 2006 census is 1,823 and 1,743, respectively. The area of farms in crop district 1 is currently about 7% of the total area of farms in Saskatchewan. Statistics Canada reports that the total area of farms in crop district 1A and 1B in the 2006 census is 2,687,728 and 2,312,446, respectively. The report also provides an overview of crops grown and livestock numbers. This report is part of an ongoing study of this region.
In light of recent food safety crises and international trade concerns associated with food or animal associated diseases, traceability has once again become important in the minds of public policymakers, business decision makers, consumers and special interest groups. This study reviews studies on traceability, government regulation and consumer behaviour, provide case studies of current traceability systems and a rough breakdown of various costs and benefits of traceability. This report aims to identify gaps that may currently exist in the literature on traceability in the domestic beef supply chain, as well as provide possible directions for future research into said issue. Three main conclusions can be drawn from this study. First, there is a lack of a common definition of traceability. Hence identifying similarities and differences across studies becomes difficult if not impossible. To this end, this study adopts CFIA’s definition of traceability. This definition has been adopted by numerous other agencies including the EU’s official definition of traceability however it may or may not be acceptable from the perspective of major Canadian beef and cattle trade partners. Second, the studies reviewed in this report address one or more of five key objectives; the impact of changing consumer behaviour on market participants, suppliers incentive to adopt or participate in traceability, impact of regulatory changes, supplier response to crisis and technical description of traceability systems. Drawing from the insights from the consumer studies, it seems as if consumers do not value traceability per se, traceability is a means for consumers to receive validation of another production or process attribute that they are interested in. Moreover, supply chain improvement, food safety control and accessing foreign market segments are strong incentives for primary producers and processors to participate in programs with traceability features. However the objectives addressed by the studies reviewed in this paper are not necessarily the objectives that are of most immediate relevance to decision makers about appropriate traceability standards to recommend, require, subsidize etc. In many cases the research objectives of previous work have been extremely narrow creating a body of literature that is incomplete in certain key areas. Third, case studies of existing traceability systems in Australia, the UK, Scotland, Brazil and Uruguay indicate that the pattern of development varies widely across sectors and regions. In summary, a traceability system by itself cannot provide value-added for all participants in the industry; it is merely a protocol for documenting and sharing information. Value is added to participants in the marketing chain through traceability in the form of reduced transactions costs in the case of a food safety incident and through the ability to shift liability. To ensure consumer benefit and have premiums returned to primary producers the type of information that consumers value is an important issue for future research. A successful program that peaks consumer interest and can enhance their eating experience can generate economic benefits to all sectors in the beef industry. International market access will increasingly require traceability in the marketing system in order to satisfy trade restrictions in the case of animal diseases and country of origin labelling, to name only a few examples. Designing appropriate traceability protocols industry wide is therefore becoming very important.
The Canadian egg industry has introduced a number of specialty eggs, including Omega-3, organic, free run/range, vitamin enhanced and vegetarian over the past few decades. These eggs are generally sold at prices higher than the ‘normal’ egg and there has been little analysis of the consumer awareness of and interest in purchasing these eggs. All previous econometric analysis of the Canadian egg market has assumed eggs and consumers are homogeneous. This study makes use of Stated preference and Revealed preference data to model the consumer interest in the different egg types. Stated preference surveys were conducted in two separate years: 2005 during which consumers were surveyed on their interest in Omega-3 and Vitamin Enhanced eggs relative to ‘normal’ eggs, white large, Grade A eggs, and 2006 during which consumers were surveyed on their interest in organic, freerun and vegetarian eggs relative to brown Grade-A eggs. Consumers were also assessed on their health behaviour, health consciousness, and in 2006 on their attitudes towards animal welfare, novelty foods, and environmental concerns. Results from this phase of the research suggested that among the sample of Alberta consumers, there is only modest interest in the specialty eggs, eggs, in general, are associated with other healthy behaviours, health conscious consumers are willing to pay more for specialty eggs, of all types, older consumers and consumers with families are significantly more price sensitive and hence, have constraints on their ability to purchase specialty eggs. As well, consumers with concerns about animal welfare will pay more for free run eggs, there is an increased interest in eggs with identified health attributes among older consumers. Revealed preference analysis of actual purchase behaviour was conducted on an A C Nielsen Homescan© panel data set over a three year period. Separate analyses were conducted for Alberta and Ontario frequent egg purchasers, with some significant differences across provinces. In Alberta no one is willing to pay more for specialty eggs than for normal eggs, with either modeling technique applied. In Ontario this assessment is less clear, the frequency model of how often across a three year period households purchased each type of egg, would suggest that consumers are willing to pay more for specialty eggs than for ‘normal’ eggs, with organic the egg that they are willing to pay the most for. At the same time the choice model for Ontario, a model of actual purchases across time with the type of egg as the dependent variable, suggests that consumers are willing to pay the most for ‘normal’ eggs with Free run and Organic close behind. Overall, as we look more closely at the relative ranking of specialty eggs, at the mean of all variables, organic eggs are the ones all households are willing to pay the most for. In the frequency model Alberta consumers’s willingness to pay for organic eggs is closest to the normal egg and Ontario consumers would pay $1.72 relative to normal eggs. The choice model exhibits similar patterns. Free run eggs are also popular in Ontario, but less so than organic. One of the findings of the study is that there may be some misunderstanding of the relative nutritional benefits of the different types of eggs or other human health aspects of agricultural production. Health seems to be an issue in the purchase of organic eggs as much as it does in the purchase of Omega-3 eggs. Further specific research on the reasons why consumers purchase organic would allow the industry to develop better marketing tools.
This study investigates consumer attitudes toward functional foods in the context of CLA-enhanced beef products. The objectives of this study were to identify the following issues: 1) consumer awareness and attitudes towards nutrition, functional foods, and other emerging factors; 2) consumers´ major health concerns; 3) consumers´ beef consumption patterns; 4) the importance of health information and food labeling in affecting consumer purchasing decisions; 5) consumer attitudes, acceptance, and willingness to pay for CLA-enriched beef products; 6) and consumers´ demographic information. “Choice experiment” survey design methodology was used to collect the data. Choice experiments have become an important and recognized tool in marketing and non-market valuation research, and have several advantages over other research designs. The main advantage of choice experimentation is that it allows the analyst to separately identify the value of an individual attribute of a good. In this study, we utilized several small touch-screen computers that allowed us to bring our computer-based choice experiment study to eight supermarkets in four cities across Canada. 800 self-identified beef consumers participated in the survey. Key results include the following: i) Consumers think that food choices are important for preventing chronic disease and they are least concerned about the use of functional foods for disease prevention or health promotion; ii) The awareness of CLA is relatively low compared to Omega-3 and other nutrients and fats in foods; iii) In relation to meat with regular CLA content, respondents would pay $2.51/kg more and $2.74/kg more for meat with a CLA enhanced label and a CLA enriched label, respectively; iv) In comparison to all other respondents, respondents in Quebec appear to be willing to pay a higher a premium for meat with CLA enhanced or enriched labels; v) The consumer target segment for CLA enriched beef products can be characterized as health conscious consumers who are already familiar with CLA.
The Canadian chicken industry has operated under supply management since the mid-1970s. Canadian consumer preferences for chicken have grown dramatically since then possibly in response to concerns about health and the levels of fat and cholesterol in red meats. However Canadian consumers are also looking for convenience with their food purchases. Canadians are buying their chicken in frozen further processed forms, fresh by cut without skin and bone and in a variety of other different ways reflecting their unique willingness to pay for various attributes. There is also an increasing trend for retailers and processors to brand the fresh chicken product sold through grocery stores (for example, Maple Leaf Prime). The preferences Canadian consumer have for various chicken products, the prices they are comfortable paying and the strategies followed by processors/retailers can directly affect the outcomes of industry wide strategies such as investment in generic advertising and research or the impact of international market changes such as border closures. This research is an initial attempt to quantify Canadian consumer preferences – for fresh product by type – for product by level of processing – for chicken product by cut - for fresh chicken by brand - to examine the impact of substitutability on a variety of market shocks. The various different disaggregations of Canadian chicken consumption are used in a number of simulation models to illustrate how important preferences are to producer returns when there are market shocks. If Canadians found all chicken products available in the grocery store to be perfectly substitutable then previous policy analysis assuming chicken is one homogeneous product would be sufficient for industry policy analysis purposes. If Canadians view all the different chicken products as imperfectly substitutable and given that various chicken products are produced in relatively fixed proportions (white and dark meat, for example) further understanding of how consumers make their purchase decisions could enhance the industries ability to predict outcomes. For example, border closing to Canadian exports ( as a result of an Avian influenza outbreak, for example) would result in a significant increase in the dark meat products available for sale through Canadian grocery stores. The results presented in this research could provide a clue as to how much dark meat prices might decline while white meat prices might remain unaffected. The results reported suggest that at the consumer level, chicken fresh and frozen products are not perceived to be perfect substitutes, within a narrow category such as fresh chicken breasts, they are not perceived as even close substitutes, within the fresh category branded products such as those developed by Lilydale and Maple Leaf are not perceived as perfect substitutes. As well, an initial look at the demand for individual chicken products by household suggests that there is far from a common buying pattern across Canadian households, even within a single province. The results also suggest that health and convenience attributes are driving Canadian consumer preferences. Simulation results highlight the fact that pricing strategies followed by major processors/retailers within Canada can influence the returns to generic advertising and research. Further research could provide additional robust estimates of the chicken product substitutability existing in the Canadian market and an increased understanding of the market characteristics currently operating. The results presented here suggest that further work in this area is important for the chicken industry to pursue.
Introduction, project objectives and project background: This initiative to this project, including the original project proposal, goes back to Professor Kevin Chen (he is no longer with the Department of Rural Economy). The project was initially scheduled to begin on 2004/05/01. When I took over this project and started to work as Principal Investigator on January 1, 2005, the following objectives were to be fulfilled (taken from Professor Kevin Chen's initial proposal): 1) Documentation of consumer awareness, attitude, and choice regarding alternative meats At what level and to what extent are consumers aware of alternative is consumer interest level in alternative meats and their willingness to change consumption behavior (i.e. how much are they willing to pay for alternative meats)? What kinds of alternative meats are consumers eating? kinds of alternative meats are consumers most likely to try in the future? Where are consumers buying and eating alternative meats (meat specialty store, direct market, supermarket, restaurant, and attributes do consumers find desirable in alternative meats (leanness, nutrition, adventure, taste, and are the main barriers affecting purchase of alternative meats (price, awareness of availability, exotic nature, cooking instructions, nutrition labeling, and others)? 2) Compilation of a consumer profile related to purchase of alternative meats do various socioeconomic and demographic factors affect consumer awareness, attitude, and acceptance of alternative are the distinct consumer market segments that Alberta's alternative livestock and meat producers might target? 3) Development of marketing strategies and implications for the Alberta alternative livestock industry What are the implications of the findings in 1) and 2) for developing effective advertising and promotion strategies to support the further development of Alberta's alternative livestock industry?What are the implications of the finding in 1) and 2) for producing alternative meat products that are consumer friendly? What are the implications of the findings in 1) and 2) for selecting the main marketing and distribution channels for alternative meat products? 1 A decision was made together with the DLFOA to focus our research efforts on three species: bison, elk and lamb. The overall purpose of our research was to improve the understanding of consumer perceptions towards the consumption of alternative meats, notably the above three species. More specifically, the objectives were to: 1) Document the attitude and purchasing choices for three alternative meats which are strategically important to Alberta's alternative livestock industry. 2) Analyze the effects of socio-economic factors of Alberta consumers in purchasing the above alternative meats. 3) Explore possibilities for market segmentation and marketing implications, also for other alternative meats (other than bison, elk and lamb). In order to achieve these objectives, this study has taken the following steps: 1) A preliminary survey was developed and received feedback from Professor Robert Hudson, University of Alberta. 2) This preliminary survey was revised by using four focus groups with Alberta consumers. 3) Three separate web-based surveys were constructed for bison, elk and lamb. In each of these surveys, a switching model was developed that employs revealed preference data in stated preference experiments. As consumers indicate their (un)willingness to switch away from beef, towards alternative meats, we addressed many issues; among them were: How important are which information sources in the purchasing decisions of alternative meats? 2 role does farm origin traceability play in consumers' choice? To what extent do consumers care about Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) in producing those meats?
Vertical coordination throughout Canada's beef supply chain is imperfect on several accounts. We observe failures in the established pricing system, the established grading system, a lack of appropriate incentives for investments to promote adding value, and misalignments due to the increasing industry concentration at the processor level. Since all of these issues are inherently linked, the proposed project has aimed to address them in an integrated manner. At the heart of this study is a firm-level analysis of alignment and risk-management problems at the cow-calf sector. A survey of cow-calf producers in Western Canada evaluated their willingness to participate in beef alliances. The initial part of the survey suggested that cow-calf producers view auction markets as price competitive but perhaps these markets are less successful at rewarding cattle quality. Very few of the surveyed participants had used contracts such as forward contracts or futures contracts in their cow-calf business. Slightly over 22 percent of the participants indicated they would not participate in any beef alliance. The remaining survey group that did indicate a willingness to participate in a beef alliance showed a clear preference for the following: • Alliance purchase calves from producer and producer have the opportunity to participate in profit sharing. • Producers prefer to receive information on individual live animal performance versus individual carcass performance. • Producers prefer minimal restrictions on production protocols and numbers of animals that must be committed to participate in the alliance. • A small per head alliance fee paid by the producer was not a major issue in determining willingness to participate in the alliance. iii These survey results above suggest the key issues that need to be addressed in alliance contracts. However it may be difficult to appropriately include price risk in these contracts if the alliance is also trying to share risk along the value chain. Analysis of secondary price data and other researcher conclusions indicate that contracts for Alberta cow-calf producers that include pricing based upon fed cattle or meat cut out values will expose producers to more variability in cow-calf returns. This risk cannot be effectively managed with existing market based risk tools. The choice of cow-calf producer alliance participants would be a pricing scheme that eliminated most if not all of the downside risk associated with fed cattle or meat cut out values. Cow-calf producers risk perception versus actual level of risk may not always be aligned. This may create increased difficulties in designing alliance contracts that appropriately share risk along the value-chain. Successful alliance schemes that include cow-calf producers require more work on the compensation scheme. Specific risk-based compensations schemes need to be explored in more depth and in the broader context of the key value chain members to develop more appropriate alliance contracts. The divergence between perceived and actual risks deserves particular attention. Results from our analysis on price spreads and competition at the packer, wholesale and retail level suggest that the industry has become somewhat more competitive since May 2003. While there were no noticeable differences between western and eastern regions of Canada, large disparities in price spreads were found between Canada and the US. Competition issues were not too dissimilar in the two countries with some evidence of imperfect competition pre-BSE (1980- May, 2003) in Canada and US, but much less evidence after May 2003 in both countries.
We assess Canadian’s risk perceptions for genetically modified (GM) food and probe influences of socio-economic, demographic and other factors impinging on these perceptions. An internet-administered questionnaire with two stated choice split-sample experiments that approximate market choices of individual grocery shoppers is applied to elicit purchase behavior from 882 respondents across Canada. Data are collected to assess the influence on respondents’ choices for a specific food product (bread) of 1) product information which varies in content and by source and 2) information provided through labeling. These data also enable: a) analysis of trade-offs made by consumers between possible risks associated with GM ingredients and potential health or environment benefits in food and b) assessment of influences on respondents’ search for/access of product information. We rigorously document the extent and type of variation in Canadian consumers’ attitudes and risk perceptions for a selected GM food. This is pursued in analysis of experiment 1) data using a latent class model to analyze 445 consumers’ choices for bread products. We identify four distinct groups of Canadian consumers: 51% (value seekers) valued additional health or environmental benefits and were indifferent to GM content; traditional consumers (14 %) preferred their normally-purchased food; fringe consumers (4%) valued the health attribute and could defer consumption. Another 32 % (anti-GM) strongly opposed GM ingredients in food irrespective of introduced attributes. Thus there is a dichotomy in Canadian attitudes to GM content in food: a small majority of the sample (55 per cent) perceive little or no risk from GM food, but this is strongly opposed by 46% of respondents. Differences in gender, number of children in the household, education, and age are associated with the likelihood of segment membership. We also report on the search for information on characteristics of the GM food by a sample of 445 respondents with opportunity for voluntary access to related information through hyperlinks in the survey. Slightly less than half actually sought such information. Gender, employment status, rural or urban residency and the number of children in the household all affected the probability that respondents would access information. A further research component examines product choices made in the context of two common GM labeling policies: mandatory and voluntary labeling. We find these two types of strategies to have distinctive impacts on consumers and on measures of social welfare. Knowledge of these may help policy makers to make more informed analyses of the alternative labeling policies. Specific findings also provide base-line measures of Canadians’ attitudes to risks of GM technology in the context of food and environmental risks, as well as documenting the importance of context influences and reference points on consumers’ preferences for GM food. We also develop methodological improvements for accurately estimating the value of information on a negative attribute. The project built upon initial findings from a previous AARI project (#AARI Project #2000D037) and is complemented by research supported through a Genome Prairie GE3LS (Genetics, Ethics, Environment, Economics, Law and Society) project: “Commercialization and society: its policy and strategic implications.”
Over the past few years, there has been growing global interest in the link between food and health. This paper provides a review of some of the recent literature describing these linkages. The first section provides an overview of findings that link the consumption of fruits and vegetables, meat, eggs, whole-grains, alcohol, sugar, dairy, fish, pulses, soy, and nuts to coronary heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes. The authors then summarize various international and domestic non-government organizations' views about these issues. The third section centres on the food industry and its responses to growing health concerns. The fourth section is an overview of public policy relating to food and health, including the use of food policy to change consumption behaviour and address obesity. This section also includes a discussion of the relevance of policies designed to discourage smoking to the current debate on obesity. The Conclusion highlights ways in which Canadian food policy can be adapted in order to better promote health and wellness.
