Analyzing price premiums for foods in Japan: Measuring consumers' willingness to pay for quality-related attributes

This study attempts to elucidate the characteristics of price premiums for food products from the consumers' viewpoint. After conducting a survey, consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for 13 important food elements is analyzed for 10 food categories. The main findings were first, the categories that can easiest achieve a price premium are fruit and vegetables and meat and fish with the hardest being snacks and sweets and frozen foods. Second, the food element most related to price premiums is safety while the least related is convenience. Finally, an appropriate level for price premiums for food products is generally about 20%.