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Consumer Preferences And Willingness To Pay For Maple Syrup And Its Attributes: Evidence From A Conjoint Survey In Vermont
Shore, Amrita J.
Shore, Amrita J.
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Maple syrup is both culturally and economically important to many American communities, especially in the Northeast region. While the industry has grown significantly in the past three decades, it faces several challenges, including rising production costs, decreasing producer price, and a changing climate. Although there is no simple solution to the challenges, the changing consumer preferences towards local and environmentally friendly foods may provide opportunities for maple syrup producers. This study examines consumer preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for specific attributes of maple syrup through a consumer survey conducted in Vermont, which is the largest maple syrup producer in the United States, and provides information and recommendations to maple syrup producers and processors. Primary data were collected through a conjoint survey in Vermont in 2024. The survey captured consumer preferences for six major attributes of pure maple syrup: production origin (Vermont, other U.S. states, or Canada), organic certification status, bird-friendly practices, climate-friendly practices, container material (plastic or glass), and price. The survey also collected information on purchasing patterns, consumer attitudes, and demographic characteristics. The data was analyzed to assess the relative importance of each attribute and the WTP for non-price attribute levels based on the trade-offs between each attribute and price estimated from regression analysis. Major findings from this study include: First, the relative importance scores for the six attributes are 77% for the product origin, 11.60% for price, 4.21% for organic certification, 3.37% for container materials, 2.03% for climate-friendly practices, and 1.76% for bird-friendly practices. Second, consumers are willing to pay a large premium of 403.40% for Vermont-made maple syrup as compared to maple syrup from other regions (relative WTP ratio = 5.034) and relatively small premiums of less than 3% for environmental attributes like organic and bird-friendly practices. Third, in addition to the six attributes, demographic factors such as age, gender, and income affected the preference ratings. Consumers who had higher incomes, were female, and were more educated assigned higher ratings to maple syrup products, suggesting potential market segments with varying price sensitivity and attribute preferences. This research contributes to our understanding of consumer preferences and WTP for the major attributes of pure maple syrup, with specific implications for environmental and climate-friendly sugarbush management. The findings show that producers must highlight the place of product origin, especially if it is produced in Vermont. Although consumers value environmental claims like bird-friendly and climate-friendly practices, their WTP is very limited. Vermont producers would benefit from focusing on direct-to-consumer sales, emphasizing Vermont-made maple syrup with additional attributes like bird-friendly claims as a supporting factor.
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2026
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Shore_uvm_0243N_11977.pdf
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- Embargoed until 2026-12-19