4. Conclusions and recommendations
Due to consumers’ increasing interest in local foods, certain foods are nowadays increasingly
marketed as “locally grown”. The question is how much consumers really
seek local foods and why they prefer these products and are willing to pay extra for these
products. Our study shows that consumers are willing to pay 82 percent more than
conventional ones when the product is Ayvalık Olive oil. In Ezine cheese, consumers
are willing to pay 355% (3,55 times) of conventional ones. Market analysis for these
two products show that, COOL Ezine Cheese price is almost 4 times higher than conventional
white cheese and for Ayvalık Olive Oil the price is 1.5 times higher compared
to conventional olive oil. This result indicates that the extra price consumers are ready
to pay is relevant with the market price for these two products. Labeling is important
not only in the local but also in the international arena to protect these products. Besides
protection of the product itself, producers of these products should also be supported
and protected via the price premiums.
Even though food labels reading habit is high for this study (almost 88 percent), at the time for decision, the local emphasis on the label do not create significant effect on
purchasing decision. So policy makers should work on it and increase the awareness of
the product and its label.