Sea urchin: From plague to market opportunity

The coast line of the Canary Islands (Spain) has suffered from a plague of Diadema antillarum (sea urchin) over the last decades. This has attracted the attention of local authorities since it is becoming a serious environmental problem. We set out to analyse the potential market for sea urchin meat in this region, where this species is not subject to commercial exploitation and it is relatively unknown. The paper uses data from a sample of volunteers who were interviewed before and after tasting different dishes cooked with sea urchin. We applied discrete choice models considering that answers before and after experiencing this food belonged to different types of data; this is a mixed data approach in the state of practice. Our main conclusion is that there is indeed a market niche for having specialised restaurants serving sea urchin as a delicacy food.

► We explore the potential market for sea urchin roes using discrete choice models.
► Individual’s utility increases after tasting sea urchin dish.
► We find a willingness to pay of 29 € for a sea urchin dish in a restaurant.
► Key attributes are recommendations, presentation and health claims.