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Consumers’ Willingness to Pay for Honey Products

Kent Messer, Shang Wu, Jacob Fooks, and Deborah Delaney

Summary

This study helps honey producers better manage their pricing and marketing risks and generate higher profit by increasing consumer demand and niche marketing. US honey production has been declining over the past 25 years and honey producers feel that they need to have better strategies when facing market uncertainties. This project organized a Honey Producers Working Group (HPWG) that consists of 40 local or regional honey producers from Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Viriginia. From the HPWG a list of important honey attributes was generated and incorporated into our study. We then conducted economic experiments with nearly 100 adult consumers. This research investigated consumers’ willingness to pay for honey produced in different geographic locations and in different packaging and how these amounts differed based on participants’ socio-economic background and the geographic origin of the honey. Then, we will report our results to the honey producers, providing them with ideas for incorporating our findings into their marketing strategies. This includes short courses for the HPWG that will provide strategies to better implement marketing and pricing practices. Education efforts of the economic viability of honey marketing and pricing strategies will be supplied to the honey producing industry in the Northeast using web-based educational material posted on the eXtension Honey Bee Health CoP and the regional Mid-Atlantic Apiculture and Research Extension Consortium (MAAREC) site. As well, seminars will be prepared for local and state-level beekeeping Associations.

Details

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