New study shows UK supermarkets secure price premium for MSC-labelled seafood products
The study, published in theJournal of Agricultural Economics is statistically rigorous evidence that consumers value the positive environmental attributes of MSC-labelled products highly enough to pay a premium for them. Previous studies have analysed the factors which made it more likely that consumers might buy ecolabelled seafood products; but this is the first study to use price data to present objective verification of market benefits for suppliers using the MSC ecolabel.
The study, carried out by Professor Cathy Roheim and Ph.D. candidate Julie Santos of the University of Rhode Island, and Professor Frank Asche of the University of Stavanger, examined scanner data for sales of 24 frozen pollock products in a selection of London metropolitan area supermarkets over a period of 65 weeks from 2007 to 2008. Twelve of those products displayed the MSC ecolabel.
After adjusting for differences arising from other product attributes such as branding, product form and size, the study identified a price difference of 14.2 per cent between MSC-labelled and non-labelled pollock products. Sales of MSC-labelled products were also higher, at 3.3 million units, during the period than non-labelled products, at 3.03 million units.
UK is a good test bed for market benefits analysis.
Study author, Professor Roheim, said: “We believe the evidence of market benefits of fisheries’ certification, in the form of price premiums at retail level, that our study presents, is a positive outcome for those engaged in ecolabelling programs.
“Obviously, this is only the first of further needed market analyses to address the existence and size of a premium for other markets, beyond the UK, supplied with Alaska pollock. We need to find out whether the premium makes it from retail level to production level, to directly compensate fishers, and whether the premium is sufficient to cover the costs of a sustainable fishery and certification. And, of course, there are over 100 other MSC certified fisheries and many other markets yet to be investigated. “But this is a good beginning, and does show, for the first time, that a price premium is being obtained at the retail level for labelled, certified sustainable pollock over non-labelled pollock.”
