Vietnamese consumers' willingness to pay for improved food safety for vegetables and pork

Abstract

Food safety is an issue of growing concern in many developing countries. Threats to food safety in Vietnam include contamination with toxic chemicals, microbiological hazards and adulterated food. To determine Vietnamese consumers' willingness to pay for food safety of pork and vegetables, a discrete choice experiment was employed in the cities of Hanoi and Haiphong. Principal factor analysis and mixed logit models reveal that urban consumers are, on average, willing to pay considerable price premiums for food safety attributes. On average, consumers are willing to pay a price premium of 244% for vegetables produced with the safe application of pesticides, 70% premium for pork processed in certified abattoirs that assure pork safety and 67% price premium for pork if the convenience attribute is satisfied. Regarding vegetables, there is considerable heterogeneity in the extent to which consumers are willing to pay for growth-hormone-free vegetables, depending on their education, and in perceptions towards food safety risks resulting from chemical hazards and foodborne illness in Vietnam. For pork, if consumers believe that contaminated food could cause life-threatening risks for people, they are willing to pay up to 102% more than the current market price for hormone-free and drug-free pork. The factor representing consumers' trust in food safety influences their WTP for traceability and clean water attributes. Moreover, consumer's self-health evaluation influenced their WTP for pork traceability. Almost all consumers prefer the convenience of being able to purchase vegetables and pork nearby.