A recent study of Chinese consumer buying preferences shows a majority of seafood buyers in the country are willing to pay extra for products certified by authoritative third-party auditors.
The report, titled “‘Consumption Patterns and Willingness to Pay for Sustainable Aquatic Food in China,” offers encouragement to certification schemes that have faced difficulties in the country
Written in collaboration with the Global Seafood Alliance, which operates the Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certification, and based on consumer surveys conducted by academic teams from Shanghai Ocean University, the University of Stirling in Scotland, and the University of Copenhagen in Denmark; the report found that over 90 percent of the 3,400 Chinese participants surveyed said they were willing to pay a premium for sustainably certified aquatic food, “presenting opportunities for product differentiation based on safety and environmental sustainability credentials.”
Only around 8 percent of those surveyed were completely unwilling to pay any premium for certified eco-labeled aquatic foods.
Further, the presence of certification labels positively influences the purchasing intentions for 57 percent of Chinese consumers; 36 percent viewed certification favorably but reported no impact on their purchasing decisions, and only a few participants expressed aversion to certification labels.
Though the results paint a rosy picture for certifications attempting to make inroads into China, the presence of eco-labels remains relatively rare …
