How Consumers in the UK and Spain Value the Coexistence of the Claims Low Fat, Local, Organic and Low Greenhouse Gas Emissions.

This study investigates the substitution and complementary effects for beef mince attributes drawing on data from large choice experiments conducted in the UK and Spain. In both countries, consumers were found to be willing to pay a price premium for the individual use of the labels "Low Fat" (UK: €3.41, Spain: €1.94), "Moderate Fat" (UK: €2.23, Spain: €1.57), "Local" (UK: €1.54, Spain: €1.61), "National" (UK: €1.33, Spain: €1.37), "Organic" (UK: €1.02, Spain: €1.09) and "Low Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG)" (UK: €2.05, Spain: €0.96). The results showed that consumers in both countries do not treat desirable food attributes as unrelated. In particular, consumers in Spain are willing to pay a price premium for the use of the labels "Local", "Organic" and "Low GHG" on beef mince that is also labelled as having low or moderate fat content. By contrast, consumers in the UK were found to discount the coexistence of the labels "Low Fat" and "Organic", "Low Fat" and "Low GHG" and "Moderate Fat" and "Low GHG". The results, however, suggest that in the UK the demand for beef mince with moderate (low) fat content can be increased if it is also labelled as "Organic" or "Low GHG" ("Local").

Nutritional Implications of Trade-Offs Between Fresh and Processed Potato Products in the United Kingdom (UK).

The UK ranks eleven among world potato producing countries with annual per capita production of about 102 kg. Since 2007, the price of potatoes has increased by 44 per cent and UK households have shown a decreasing trend on their purchases of potatoes. At the same time, retailers and manufacturers have been introducing processed potato products, which also has affected the demand for fresh potatoes. This has shifted demand from fresh potatoes to processed potatoes suggesting that consumers substitute fresh potatoes for processed ones. However, the extent to which this affect individual weekly nutritional composition is unknown. The objective of this study is to estimate the nutritional trade-offs between fresh and processed potatoes consumed in the UK using home scanner panel dataset for Great Britain in 2018. Price and expenditure elasticities were estimated using the linearized version of the Exact Affine Stone Index (EASI) Demand System. Using estimated elasticities, we analyzed the implications of substituting fresh potatoes for processed potatoes on nutrient intake. The results, in terms of the degree of substitution between fresh potatoes and processed potato products, suggest that consumers consider new potatoes baby and baking potatoes as substitutes for mashed potatoes. Maris piper potatoes and new potatoes baby are substitutes for frozen chips and other potatoes whilst white old potatoes and other vegetables and salads are complements to frozen chips and other potatoes. Finally, price reductions in the processed potatoes will increase average weekly caloric intake as well as the intakes of saturated fat and sodium. The latter has implications for public health as they are the major causes of cardiovascular diseases and certain cancers.