Are beef merchandisers in South Korea willing to adopt food-safety enhancing treatments of imported chilled beef?

Abstract

This study examined a survey data set of 840 observations from 105 beef merchandisers in South Korea, regarding their perceptions toward food safety-enhancing treatments on imported chilled beef products. Estimation of a multinomial logit model (MNL) indicated that price and meat color attributes are important in determining Korean beef buyers' purchase choice. The study results showed that the Korean beef buyers are willing to pay a premium (10 %) for bio-preservatives packaging, while they are reluctant to accept steam pasteurization technology. The Korean beef merchandisers' positive response toward bio-preservative treatment suggests that adoption of this food safety technology may contribute to improvement of quality control of imported chilled beef in the Korean beef market.

This study examined a survey data set of 840 observations from 105 beef merchandisers in South Korea, regarding their perceptions toward food safety-enhancing treatments on imported chilled beef products. Estimation of a multinomial logit model (MNL) indicated that price and meat color attributes are important in determining Korean beef buyers' purchase choice. The study results showed that the Korean beef buyers are willing to pay a premium (10 %) for bio-preservatives packaging, while they are reluctant to accept steam pasteurization technology. The Korean beef merchandisers' positive response toward bio-preservative treatment suggests that adoption of this food safety technology may contribute to improvement of quality control of imported chilled beef in the Korean beef market.