An assessment of consumer preference for fair trade coffee in Toronto and Vancouver

However, discourse related to the surge in sales of Fair Trade products, and understanding of the related drivers of this growth, is limited by a relative paucity of in-depth research which sheds light on the nature of consumer demand for products labelled as Fair Trade. [...] In Canada, consumption of Fair Trade roasted coffee increased from 22 tonnes in 1998 to about 2,000 tonnes in 2006, all the while the value of sales increased. [...] The level of consumption services depends on the quantity of the good the consumer chooses and the attribute bundle associated with that product. [...] Equation 2 is the object of empirical analysis in that the conjoint experiment enables one to estimate an analytical form for equation (2) and assess the role of prices, income or product attributes on consumer preference for the considered goods. [...] However, in choosing the attributes it is important to balance the desire to include significant product features against the need to minimize respondent burden by limiting the number of attributes.