Combining Geographical Indication Labels With Nutri-Scores: Preferences of German and Dutch Consumers

Abstract

The introduction of a harmonised front-of-pack nutrition label remains a timely and contentious issue within EU policy debates. However, the effects of colour-coded candidates such as the Nutri-Score in combination with other prominent EU food labels such as Geographical Indications (GIs) remain underexplored – particularly, in northern European contexts and in a scenario of mandatory Nutri-Scores. To address this gap, we conduct a discrete choice experiment with over 800 German and Dutch respondents to quantify the willingness to pay for these labels. We find that consumers are willing to pay a premium of 72 cents for GI-labelled Parma ham and 48 cents for a Nutri-Score D rather than E. Consumers also prefer the combination of GI hams with a comparatively better Nutri-Score D but the interaction between the two labels is not significant, indicating no strong interplay between them in our experiment.