Americans Will Pay More for Locally Grown Food

8/2/13

The majority of Americans-even those with low incomes-are willing to pay more for locally produced food, according to A.T. Kearney. Almost four in 10 Americans (38%) would pay up to 5% more, another 24% would pay 5% to 10% more, and 8% would pay more than 10% more for locally produced food than for standard groceries. Single adults living in urban areas and young couples without children are most likely to be willing to pay extra for local food.

Three in 10 grocery shoppers (30%) look elsewhere if their primary grocery store does not carry local foods, though 65% say their preferred supermarkets do carry at least some locally produced items. Shoppers are skeptical of major retailers’ local food offerings, however. Only 5% of consumers buy local foods at big-box retailers (5%), and 15% buy them at national supermarket chains. Farmers’ markets and natural foods markets are the most trusted sources for locally produced grocery items.

More than two-thirds of consumers (68%) believe locally sourced food has a positive effect on environmental sustainability, compared with 50% who believe organically produced food has a positive effect.

Local sourcing is the third most important criterion for choosing food products, after freshness and price. Lack of availability is the chief barrier to purchasing locally grown fruits and vegetables (57%), followed by price (37%) and insufficient selection (31%). Four in 10 shoppers (41%) say they’d buy more locally produced foods if retailers did a better job educating them about foods’ origins, and 39% would buy more if the products were displayed more prominently in-store. The majority of consumers (64%) define “local” foods as those produced within 100 miles of the place they’re being sold, while 37% consider foods produced within the same state to be local.

SOURCE: “Buying Into the Local Food Movement,” February 2013, A.T. Kearney, James Rushing, Partner, 7 Times Sq., 36th Fl., New York, NY 10036; 212-751-7040; james.rushing@atkearney.com; www.atkearney.com. Price: Available online at no charge.

© 2013 Business Valuation Resources, LLC (BVR). May not be reproduced without written consent of publisher.

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