Local or Ecological? An Agri-Food Choice Experiment for Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Agricultural production systems and certificates of origin determine consumers’ preferences for agri-food products, attributes which have mainly been investigated separately. In this study, we examined the joint effect of these two quality criteria and how they influence agri-food choices. To this end, a choice experiment exercise was applied for extra virgin olive oil agri-food in a protected geographical area of south-eastern Spain where non-conventional production systems (organic and integrated pest management) and product origin labels (protected designation of origin and sustainable local brand) associated with the territory are being used. The results demonstrated that consumers’ choices to purchase extra virgin olive oil were primarily influenced by the type of production system, with a clear preference evident for organic systems. Furthermore, consumer preferences for sustainable local over generic national certificates of origin were also confirmed. In concrete terms, the willingness to pay for organic extra virgin olive oil is more than double that of the conventional one, while the surcharge for local origin may rise up to 75%. This work contributes to the understanding of how information related to the type of production system and its interaction between different origin certification labels applies in agri-food products, offering broader implications for producers and policy makers.