Local and Organic: Substitutes or Complements? An In-Store Evaluation of Labels for Apples

Over the past two decades, consumer demand for niche products has grown substantially. The primary objective of this paper is to disentangle the value consumers place on two prominent food claims, organic and local (defined as Colorado Proud in this study) as they relate to fresh produce. Using primary data from a choice experiment conducted in a grocery store that has conducted co-promotional efforts with the Colorado Proud program, we found the value of the “local” claims trumps that of “organic” in apples. However, the difference in results between the experiments that offered participants either one- or two-pounds is far more pronounced, illustrating how scaling may influence estimates in such market-based research.