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Demand for safety and regional certification of food: Results from Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland

Edel Doherty (J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland)
Danny Campbell (Economics Division, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK)

British Food Journal

ISSN: 0007-070X

Article publication date: 1 April 2014

770

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the relationship between consumer demand for enhanced food safety features and regional identification of food amongst consumers across Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses the choice experiment method to determine preferences for food testing standards, traceability standards, health and welfare standards, region of origin and price.

Findings

The results show that substantial differences exist in preferences for the features between consumers in both countries. In addition, while stark differences are apparent between the two countries, in their preferences for food originating from their local region, the results suggest that consumers perceive significant substitutability between the enhanced safety features and the local regional label in both countries.

Originality/value

This paper provides a unique insight into preferences for a wide range of enhanced food safety features amongst consumers in these two countries. This is the first study to undertake a comparison of these countries using the choice experiment method. In addition, the paper provides a thorough overview of how consumers perceive the relationship between enhanced safety features and region of origin of food.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by funding from the Department for Employment and Learning (Northern Ireland) under the ASsured, SafE and Traceable (ASSET) food research project. The work was completed while the authors were employed at the Gibson Institute for Land, Food and Environment, Institute of Agri-Food and Land Use, Queen's University Belfast. The authors would like to thank Dr Jose Grisolia for very helpful feedback on earlier versions of this work.

Citation

Doherty, E. and Campbell, D. (2014), "Demand for safety and regional certification of food: Results from Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland", British Food Journal, Vol. 116 No. 4, pp. 676-689. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-10-2011-0266

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2014, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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