Keep on grazing: factors driving the pasture-raised milk market in Germany
Abstract
Purpose
The percentage of dairy cows managed in grazing systems in Northwest Europe is on the decline, even though pasturing is perceived favourably as enhancing the health and welfare of dairy cows. With consumers turning away from intensively produced food, developing the pasture-raised milk market could encourage farmers to continue keeping their cows on pastures. To provide insights for expanding this specialty milk market, the purpose of this paper is to, therefore, investigate the roles of personal, product-related, economic and social factors in purchasing pasture-raised milk.
Design/methodology/approach
Drivers of pasture-raised milk purchases are identified and the conceptual model is tested using structural equation modelling with data from a cross-sectional study among 917 German milk consumers.
Findings
Perceived price and availability barriers are the main consumption obstacles for pasture-raised milk. Besides increasing availability and reducing price premiums, processors should cater health and dietary conscious consumers by providing pasture-raised milk with unique and favourable product qualities, i.e. focussing on freshness, a rich taste or naturalness. Raising awareness for extensive husbandry systems may enhance pasture-raised milk purchases, while introducing a unified pasturing claim could help consumers to distinguish pasture-raised milk from conventional barn milk.
Originality/value
This study provides dairies and marketers with valuable insight about the factors driving pasture-raised milk purchases. This information is derived from a large sample with extensive regional coverage and will thus be useful in expanding this specialty milk market and in maintaining extensive dairy production.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This research was financially supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG-GRK1666).
Citation
Gassler, B., Xiao, Q., Kühl, S. and Spiller, A. (2018), "Keep on grazing: factors driving the pasture-raised milk market in Germany", British Food Journal, Vol. 120 No. 2, pp. 452-467. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-03-2017-0128
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited