Retail channel and consumer demand for food quality in China

•Consumer willingness to pay for food safety is retail channel invariant.•Demand for production process attributes is product and retail channel specific.•Supermarket managers can capitalize on consumer demand for food quality.•Consumer preferences for animal welfare attributes are emerging in urban China.

In the wake of the supermarket revolution, consumer concerns over food safety in China have resulted in an accelerated change towards the procurement of food products from modern retail channels. We employ discrete choice experiments to assess consumer preferences for food quality attributes across various retail channels using primary data from Beijing, China. Results suggest that consumer willingness to pay for food safety is retail channel invariant, while preferences for organic and Green Food certification are product and retail channel specific. We find evidence of emerging consumer preferences for animal welfare attributes. Implications for food retail managers and agribusinesses are discussed.