Willingness to pay for products from the alternative technologies to PPPs

Consumers happen to be at the end of the agrifood value chain and consequently, they are the ones to use or experience the products from the alternative innovations when adopted by grape and olive farmers. Despite all the efforts being made by researchers and farmers to produce sustainable wine and olive oils from alternative innovations, consumers have a major role in terms of their willingness to pay for these products. For instance, if it found out that consumers are unwilling to pay premiums for the products from the alternative innovations to contentious plant protection products, then producers (farmers) alike may be unwilling to adopt these innovations since their cost of adoption cannot be vertically transmitted to the differentiated products at market place. In this aspect of the project, we seek to analyze the purchase intentions (PI) of consumers and their willingness to pay (WTP) towards products from the alternative innovations under the NOVATERRA project. With this study being carried out at a time when global food prices are on a hike, we plan to adopt steps and methods to reduce potential estimation biases. The result is expected to benefit farmers in terms of the reactions they can expect from consumers when their vineyards and olive groves are managed under the proposed alternative innovations. 

By Noah Larvoe and Zein Kallas

Center for Agro-Food Economics and Development, CREDA

Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya – UPC

Contact: 

noha.larvoe@upc.edu

zein.kallas@upc.edu