The role of health, nutrition, and origin claims in shaping consumers' choice for fresh produce: A choice experiment on white Asparagus

Nutrition and health claims and origin declarations on fresh produce can support consumers in making conscious and healthier choices while helping producers position their products. Consumers' intention to buy increases when products depict health and nutrition claims; however, most research has mainly focused on processed foods. This study explores the impact of nutrition and health claims, as well as origin declarations, on Dutch consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for fresh white asparagus. It also looks into the consumers' characteristics associated with a perceived added value of food claims on fresh produce, and, finally, it identifies the individual predictors of food claims use. Multinomial logit models estimated the effect of attributes on WTP, while latent class analysis identified distinct consumer segments. Findings revealed a strong preference for health claims over nutrition claims, with vitamin C claims yielding the highest WTP. Three consumer segments emerged: "Price-sensitive" (63.3 %), who prioritised cost but are open to paying more for claims; "Health-oriented" (20.5 %), who valued health claims; and "Origin-selective" (16.2 %), who preferred origin declarations. Key predictors of segment membership included attention to price and labels, ability to process claims, and need for information. Insights from the discrete choice experiment suggest that local fresh produce with claims can be marketed at a premium of up to 25 % (+ <euro> 0.70 for produce like white asparagus), and emphasise the importance of enhancing nutrition literacy to aid consumers in making informed choices.