Demand for Food Attributes during COVID-19: Evidence from a Large Sample of US Carrot Buyers

• Agricultural Economics Workshop

Date and Location

Thursday, February 18, 2021, 4:10 PM - 5:30 PM
Online Meeting, Zoom

Abstract

This paper explores empirically the WTPs for the organic attribute and the baby-cut attribute (a fresh-cut attribute) of carrot products and focuses on how the WTP responded to the massive economic shock and market disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. A series of on-line survey responses were collected from hundreds of thousands of U.S. carrot buyers before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns. We estimate that the median estimate of the WTP for an organic attribute rose from $0.05 before COVID-19 to $0.07 per pound during COVID-19. The median estimate of the WTP for the baby-cut attribute fell from $0.56 before COVID-19 to $0.51 per pound during COVID-19. The estimates of changes in WTP were not statistically significant for either attribute even with quite large national samples.