PR - THE DEVELOPMENT AND PROMOTION OF ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE FOOD PRODUCTS IN SOUTH AFRICA

Abstract

The purpose of this paper was to estimate consumers’ preferences for environmentally sustainable beef products, with the aim of developing and promoting environmentally sustainable products in South Africa. The findings reveal that there is profound preference heterogeneity at segment level for environmentally sustainable beef products. We identified three distinct consumer segments. We demonstrate that socioeconomic factors, public awareness creation and campaigns on threats posed by climate changes, subjective and objective knowledge on environmental sustainability significantly explain consumers’ choice of environmentally sustainable beef products. Furthermore, it is concluded that there are relevant segmental equity issues that need to be addressed when designing environmental sustainability policies to promote ecologically sustainable products. Finally, we demonstrate that there is a potential market for environmentally sustainable products in South Africa.

Keywords: Carbon footprint; compensating surplus; sustainable products; water footprint; welfare implications