High value niches being pushed by “armchair exporters” as the way to raise farmgate returns could prove to be a dead loss, says Federated Farmers.


Commenting on Otago University research published in the journal Food Policy, Feds president Don Nicolson warns such markets are “a potential cul-de-sac that sounds great in print but doesn’t register where it really counts – the supermarket tills”.


The research was conducted in the UK with 251 consumers in four supermarket chains. It found only 5.6% nominated country of origin as the reason for their fresh food purchases and only 3.6% chose British products because they are perceived to be less harmful to the environment.


“This is not ‘buying intentions’, but what consumers actually bought and there’s a huge difference,” says Nicolson.


Otago University associate professor John Knight says this research and previous work shows what consumers purchase in practice can be very different to what they say they buy and why.


“We’ve done a lot of work with GM food in the same regard. What people say in a questionnaire is quite different to the way they behave when they are actually making purchases.”


However, overall “the message is that product quality and reputation are incredibly important” he told Rural News.