USA Consumer Demand for Passionfruit: Results from a Choice Experiment

The passionfruit industry is expanding in the US, and consumers are becoming more aware of these products. This changing market reality necessitates a study on consumer preference for passionfruit products so breeders, growers, traders, and retail outlets can be updated on current and projected trends to meet market demand. In July 2023, an online consumer preference study and choice experiment was distributed via a Qualtrics survey to 849 residents in four US states: Florida, California, Texas, and New York. Respondents were asked to select a passionfruit that would have been purchased in a hypothetical retail outlet between two options with different product attributes and prices or decide not to make a purchase. We used a multinomial logit model to evaluate the effects of product characteristics (i.e. yellow or purple, fruit with mature wrinkled skin or not, grown within the state or imported, organic or not) and consumer profiles (i.e. race, age, education level, income, gender, household size) on consumer choice for passionfruit. The respondents were willing to pay more for purple, organic, and US-grown passionfruit and less for wrinkled passionfruit. This analysis allowed us to determine which consumers to target to expand the US market for fresh passionfruit and provide insights into introducing previously unknown fruits in markets in the Global North.