Consumer preferences for food labeling: What ranks first?

• Assesses consumer preferences for different food labeling schemes in the food market.
• The direct ranking preference method was used.
• A rank-ordered mixed logit model was estimated with data for Spanish consumers.
• The three most preferred labels were: PDO, nutritional fact panel and EU organic.
• Consumer preferences for food labeling were heterogeneous detecting three segments.

In the EU food market, different food labeling schemes co-exist with the aim of informing customers and providing trust on different quality characteristics of food products. To understand which food labeling schemes are the most and the least important for consumers is very relevant because a labeling strategy will be useful for food companies if consumers, or at least one segment of consumers, value food labeling. The aim of this study was to measure the importance consumers attach to different labeling schemes available in the food market. Seven different food labeling schemes, some regulated by the EU (the EU organic logo, the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) indication and the nutritional fact panel) and some of them not yet regulated at the European level (the food miles indication; the local origin; the carbon footprint information; and an improved animal welfare indication), were assessed by consumers. To do this, the direct ranking preference method was used and a rank-ordered mixed logit model was estimated with the data from a survey conducted with food shoppers in a medium-sized Spanish town. The results indicate that the most preferred labeling scheme was the PDO indication, closely followed by the nutritional fact panel and the EU organic logo. In other words, consumers clearly valued labeling schemes that are regulated by EU law. Moreover, consumer preferences for food labeling were heterogeneous and three segments of consumers based on preferences were found: PDO lovers, organic EU logo lovers and the nutritional information lovers.