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Paying to see a bug on my food: How regulations and information can hamper radical innovations in the European Union

Tiziana de-Magistris (Centro de Investigación y Tecnología Agroalimentaria de Aragón (CITA), Unidad de Economía Agraria. Zaragoza, Spain.)
Stefano Pascucci (Management Studies Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, Netherlands.)
Dimitrios Mitsopoulos (Wageningen University, Wageningen, Netherlands.)

British Food Journal

ISSN: 0007-070X

Article publication date: 8 June 2015

1247

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of the European Novel Food Regulation (ENFR) on consumers’ acceptance of and willingness to pay (WTP) for radical food innovations. The research question is focussed on determining whether the ENFR is hampering the market potential of insect-based food products in the European Union (EU). The authors position this question within the domain of regulatory barriers related to food innovations.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a choice experiment, the authors assess the presence and relevance of these failures through the analysis of consumers’ acceptance and WTP for insect-based food products with different product attributes directly imposed by the ENFR. Namely, the authors assess the effect of the visualization of insects in the product, the use of logo, and nutritional information.

Findings

The results show that consumers prefer and are willing to pay a premium price for insect-based products with a nutritional health claim and logo, but they are not willing to pay for a product with a visualized insect.

Originality/value

This paper highlights the risk of regulatory failures for novel foods in the EU, such as insect-based food products due to the ENFR.

Keywords

Citation

de-Magistris, T., Pascucci, S. and Mitsopoulos, D. (2015), "Paying to see a bug on my food: How regulations and information can hamper radical innovations in the European Union", British Food Journal, Vol. 117 No. 6, pp. 1777-1792. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-06-2014-0222

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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