Heterogenous Consumer Preferences for Pollinator-friendly Produce: Implications for Specialty Crop Growers in the Upper Midwest, USA, from Choice Experiments

Using a choice experiment with 677 participants, this study examined consumer preferences for products produced by pollinator-friendly farms. We estimated a mixed logit model and found that on average, consumers were willing to pay a premium of about $1.94/pound for cherry tomatoes from pollinator-friendly farms compared with similar tomatoes from farms that were not managed as pollinator friendly. We used a latent class logit model to identify preference heterogeneity for product attributes and further segmented consumers into four groups, each with dis-tinct preferences for the product attributes and price curvatures, as well as attitudes and demographics. Our results have important implications for growers of specialty crops and the educators and policymakers who serve them.