To the extent that this population was representative
of specialty cheese buyers, producers of raw milk
cheeses would benefit from clearly labeling their cheeses
as being made from raw milk, if other concerns such
as safety are met. Safety concerns of consumers were
significantly reduced after they read a short script explaining
regulations for raw cheese production and aging
practices. Cheese consumers who purchased cheeses
in specialty food stores and farmers’ markets and who
liked sheep’s milk and pungent cheeses were willing
to pay higher prices per pound of cheese. Those who
purchased cheese in conventional supermarkets or had
lower incomes had a higher probability of selecting a
lower WTP for cheese. As consumer age or usual purchase
size increased, consumers had a lower probability
of selecting a high-priced cheese. Although this study
identified an overall preference for RMC for the set of
cheeses sampled, the limited sample size and the use of
only 4 cheese pairs makes the study far from definitive,
and the collection of further preference information
would be of great interest to manufacturers of artisan
cheeses. The increase in the proportion of consumers
preferring the RMC with labeling, although significant
in this study for only one of the cheeses evaluated