2018 ASHS Annual Conference

Broccoli is a major fresh vegetable crops with supply concentrated in California. There is a benefit to diversifying the sources of supply to meet a stated increase in demand for local produce, as well as improving resource use efficiency and shelf life. The “Developing an Eastern Broccoli Industry” project is underway to support the production and marketing of East Coast grown broccoli as an alternative to West Coast supplies.

Plant breeders have recently released several new varieties adapted to eastern growing conditions. We selected two varieties adapted to, and grown in New York State and benchmarked them with the California variety. An auction experiment measured the consumer perception of the different varieties and the price premium they are willing to pay for local broccoli. This study also measured the effect of information about product origin on consumer quality perception and willingness-to-pay (WTP).

We conducted a series of broccoli auction experiments in Ithaca and Geneva, NY in September 2017. Over 150 subjects revealed their willingness to pay for one pound of broccoli crowns of the three varieties based on their appearance and taste. We used a reduced-form econometric model to estimate the effect of the information treatment on consumers’ product perception and willingness to pay.

We found that the appearance of eastern-adapted varieties was not as well-received as the California variety, but the taste was equally accepted. Consumers who were given product-origin information rated the appearance of the eastern varieties higher than those who were not given the information, showing that consumers became more forgiving after knowing the products are “local”. Consumer willingness-to-pay for the local varieties were not significant different from the California variety despite the lower ratings on appearance. Overall, the two eastern-adapted varieties showed a potential to compete with the California variety at a similar price level. Further improvement on the product appearance is likely to create a competitive advantage that could lead to a price premium.