Trust and Consumer Preferences for Pig Production Attributes in Canada

What is it about?

We were interested in interested in a 'tradiitonal' production system for pigs - raised outdoors, no feed additives used, for example. To examine this we used a large, national online survey with a stated preference experiment included. There was value in the traditionally raised production system to many Canadian consumers but only if the claim were verified by an independent third party - the government was a preferred verification agent. People who already eat pork very frequently did not have as much interest in the production system as those who eat it less frequently.

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Why is it important?

The use of the word natural is growing on many food products. We found out that in the case of pork it was essential that it be verified before, in our case, traditionally raised as a descriptor added value to Canadian consumers. We also found that, unexpectedly, people with higher trust in the current food industry were willing to pay more for the verified traditionally raised pork than were people with lower trust.

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