Aquaculture America 2021

August 11 - 14, 2021

San Antonio, Texas

AN ANALYSIS OF U.S. RESTAURANT MENUS TO DETERMINE THE IMPORTANCE OF PRODUCT ATTRIBUTES FOR FARMED OYSTERS

 Robert Botta*, Taryn Garlock, James L. Anderson, Frank Asche
School of Natural Resources and Environment
 University of Florida
 Gainesville, FL 32611
 Botta822@ufl.edu
 

A significant share of seafood consumption in the U.S. occurs in restaurants, making knowledge about important product attributes important for producers to succeed in the marketing of their product. Moreover, there are also indications that attribute preferences vary regionally and that prices vary with attributes. Of particular interest, while oyster aquaculture has already been successful in several regions of the U.S., it is being promoted by government agencies to increase overall production and consumption. For instance, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) has been interested in seeking ways to market Florida farmed, half shell oysters to fetch a premium when sold to restaurants. To understand the importance of attributes and qualities of a premium half shell oyster, we have conducted a preliminary analysis of restaurant menus around the U.S. We randomly selected 266 restaurants that sell oysters on the half shell across 12 major U.S. cities to analyze the attributes that are provided on the menu. We found that restaurants on the West Coast provide more information about the oyster being sold, while also fetching a higher average price per oyster. Additionally, restaurants that offered a higher number of West Coast oysters were more likely to provide more information about the oyster products. On the other hand, Gulf Coast oysters consistently had less information provided when compared to East Coast and West Coast oyster products. This study provides a starting point for further analyses that will survey restaurant owners to collect information about the preferred attributes for potential oyster products.