2019 ASHS Annual Conference

Vegetable soybean, commonly referred to as edamame, is becoming commonplace in U.S. food systems. Despite its growing popularity, little is known about overall consumer familiarity and demand for edamame. With the majority of U.S. demand currently filled through frozen imports, marketing potential for various edamame end-products and labeling also remains poorly understood. In order to support growth of the domestic edamame industry, consumer demand for edamame must be extensively studied. Here, 222 consumer-intercept surveys were collected from three major shopping locales in Blacksburg, Virginia in order to explore consumer familiarity and willingness-to-pay (WTP) for edamame with fresh, local, and USDA organic labels. WTP is estimated using a contingent valuation method (CVM) following a one-and-one-half bound (OOHB) format at four price points ($3.25, $3.50, $4.00, and $4.50). Survey results confirmed edamame’s popularity in the marketplace, as 66.7% of respondents indicated being moderately to very familiar with edamame. Interestingly, of the 42% of respondents who wished to reduce their meat consumption, 76% of them indicated health as a reason why, suggesting a potential target market for distributors given edamame’s comparable protein quality to meat. WTP results indicate that edamame with fresh and local labeling hold highest marketing potentials with median WTP exceeding $4.50. Median WTP for edamame with USDA organic labeling fell between $3.50-$3.75, suggesting that it may not hold a significant marketing advantage over currently sold non-GMO edamame. WTP for on-the-stalk edamame was also studied, but low median WTP (<$3.25) suggests poor potential in the domestic marketplace.