A recent study in Ontario dispels the notion that consumers are only interested in cheap food. In fact, the survey by Strategic Research Associates (SRA) of Guelph found that consumers are not only willing to pay more for safer food; they will also pay a premium for beef raised in Ontario.
John Vieira, director of client services for SRA, shared the results of the study at the Beef Industry Convention in London.
He said the first objective of the research is to determine the value of an E. Coli 0157 risk reduction program on the Ontario Corn Fed Beef (OCFB) brand.
“But in order to do that, we ended up doing a lot of consumer research that has more of an application to branding, marketing and pricing, and that’s probably some of the things that would be of more interest to you,” he explained.
The three-year project started with focus groups of urban and rural consumers discussing their perceptions of different attributes of beef and food safety.
This was followed by interviews with more than 1,000 people in what Vieira believes is the most extensive survey ever conducted about consumer opinions of beef in Ontario.
On the issue of knowing where the food comes from, consumers were asked to rate the importance of product of origin. Vieira said “grown in Canada” is the most important factor for consumers. ‘Grown in Ontario’ is a close second. He said consumers rated the safety of meat products as more important than any other products.
When consumers say they want to know where their food comes from, Vieira suggests what they really want is healthy food that is produced in a safe manner. “What will assure (them) of that is to know that you, a farmer in Ontario, is producing the food,” he said. “They really don’t need to visit you; they need to know you’re doing the right thing and that’s where all the health, safety and branding aspects come in.”
According to the survey, beef that is free from E. Coli contamination is far more important than beef that is free from hormones or antibiotics. He said the consumers surveyed are signaling the importance of that by their willingness to pay more for beef that has a good safety program they can trust.
On buying an Ontario brand, the researchers asked people how much more they would pay for regular ground beef produced in Ontario. More than 30 per cent said they would pay 50 cents more and 20 per cent said they would pay 25 cents more. “So right there, half of consumers said they would be willing to pay a slight premium for beef that is branded in Ontario,” said Vieira, adding that two-thirds would also be willing to pay more for beef that has enhanced safety from E. coli.
Vieira said those numbers would indicate that the idea of consumers only wanting cheap food is a myth. “You could argue some consumers want healthy food all of the time, but most consumers will pay a premium for something that is important to them,” he added. “And we know if it’s grown in Ontario and if it’s safe, they’re willing to pay a little more.”
Another interesting stat from the survey revealed that 81 per cent of consumers had never heard about the Ontario Corn Fed Beef program until it was mentioned in the study. Fourteen per cent said they had heard about it but haven’t purchased it yet. Another five per cent heard of the program and bought it.
Vieira said the next steps for the study include more in-depth research on food safety aspects related to beef and conducting actual surveys in the stores to study the beef purchasing decisions of consumers.
The research is supported by OCFB and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s CanAdapt program.