March 14, 2022

Research finds UK consumers may pay more for fresh pork labelled "animal friendly"

Research from Scotland's Rural College. (SRUC) published in Agribusiness has found that more than a third of UK consumers (39% of pork consumers) are likely to pay premium prices for fresh pork products labelled with "animal friendly" priced at GBP 3.92 (~US$5.11; GBP 1 = 1.30) for 300g, SRUC reported.

UK consumers are also willing to pay 60% higher premium prices for pork labelled "local" and 39% higher if it was labelled "low-fat", but only 2% higher if it was labelled "organic".

Welfare-reluctant UK customers (41% of pork consumers) favoured conventional pork, with the use of the labels ineffective in increasing their demand for animal-friendly pork.

The remaining 20% of pork consumers were indifferent to the labels but would pay a premium of GBP 1.14 (~US$1.49) per 300g if the labels "animal friendly" and "organic" were combined.

The research aimed to find out if UK consumers will respond to marketing information on fresh pork to determine the best ways to promote animal-friendly meat products.

The assessment looked at the consumers preference and willingness to buy fresh pork products with labels such as "animal friendly", "local", "low-fat", and "organic". The research also looked at if there were any trade-offs between the labels or if they complemented each other, to find out if there was a benefit to combining animal welfare with other desirable food attributes.

Faical Akaichi, lead researcher and Research Economist at SRUC said these findings provides animal-friendly pork marketers with insights for label design and pricing strategies to target animal welfare-minded consumers, as well as for policymakers interested in proposing the use of food labelling to push for healthier and environmentally sustainable choices.

-      Scotland's Rural College