An empirical study of consumers' willingness to pay for traceable food in Beijing, Shanghai and Jinan of China

There have been more and more food safety incidents since 1990s in China. Implementation of traceability system is an important way to improve food safety in China. The food traceability system is still in an initial stage and implemented only in limited products and companies in China. Contingent valuation method (CVM) was used to investigate the Chinese consumers’ willingness to pay for traceable vegetables and beef. The research was based on 600 face-to-face survey conducted in Beijing, Shanghai and Jinan in China. It shows that: (1) Price of traceable bean sprouts, leccute and beef (BBS), place of purchase (PLACE), consumer perception of food risk (RISK), gender (GENDER), consumer health (HEALTH) and per capita monthly income (LANINCOME) have significant effects on consumers’ WTP for traceable food. (2) The respondents’ willingness to pay for traceable bean sprouts, leccute and beef are 91.7, 99.2 and 18.4% higher than normal bean sprouts, leccute and beef respectively. (3) Consumers show greater willingness to pay for the traceable food with other quality certification.   Key words: Food traceability system, consumers’ willingness to pay, contingent valuation method.