Cheese liking and consumer willingness to pay as affected by information about organic production.

Discipline: organic production; Keywords: organic cheese, demand, taste panel, willingness to pay, market.

Organic dairy products are coming more and more to the fore as the concept of organically produced vs conventionally produced is debated and propagated in the media. The question is whether the organic version of a particular brand or type is recognisable by the consumer and whether the consumer is prepared to buy it by choice in order to develop a market from a small base that have to compete with the large established market of the counterpart conventional product. This question was addressed for Pecorino cheese in Italy by Fabio Napolitano and co-workers in a study published in 2010 in the Journal of Dairy Research, Volume 77, pages 280 to 286. The title of the paper is: Cheese liking and consumer willingness to pay as affected by information about organic production.

In some parts of the globe organic products are more successful than in other parts. In Europe there initially was a sharp increase in demand for organic products as the debate got momentum, but the demand apparently reached a plateau of around 7% of the market overall. Thus, it would appear as if the niche of organic products is confined to a particular consumer with specific principles, ideas and preferences, which may offer opportunity to small scale and traditional producers. However, because the market is small the viability depends on whether these consumers are prepared to pay a premium.

The objective of the present study was to assess the effect of background information provided about why organic and the way the organic cheese was produced on the liking or preference of the consumer and the willingness to pay for the product. Tests with consumer taste panels were done on conventional and organic samples of Pecorino cheese. Mean scores of perceived liking were similar for organic and conventional cheese. Expected liking scores were higher for organic than for conventional cheese. Within organic cheese the expected liking was higher than the perceived liking expressed in blind conditions (negative disconfirmation), whereas for conventional cheese the expected liking was considerably lower than the perceived liking also expressed in blind conditions (positive disconfirmation). Taste panel members assimilated their liking for the organic cheese in the direction of expectations, as the difference actual vs perceived liking was significant. They, furthermore, expressed a willingness to pay up to double the retail price of conventional cheese for organic cheese, leading to the conclusion that the information and perceptions about organic farming can be a major determinant of cheese liking and preference and the willingness to pay. Being the case, such information can be a valuable tool for product differentiation and thus the viability of the smaller scale and traditional cheese manufacturer. Whether and to what extent these findings are repeatable in South Africa are not known, but the perceptions of the organic-sensitive consumer can certainly be exploited by entrepreneurs.