Aquaculture 2022

February 28 - March 4, 2022

San Diego, California

THE IMPORTANCE OF PRODUCT ATTRIBUTES FOR FARMED OYSTERS: AN ANALYSIS OF U.S. RESTAURANTS

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. U.S. oyster aquaculture is an industry that appears to have successfully used product attributes to attract new consumers and increase consumption. However, there are also indications that attribute preferences vary regionally and that prices vary with attributes, as well as the ability or willingness of producers in different regions to supply various attributes. To understand the importance of attributes and qualities of a premium half shell oyster, we have conducted an analysis of restaurant menus around the U.S. which will be combined with qualitative surveys of restaurant managers and chefs. We randomly selected 358 restaurants that sell raw oysters on the half shell across 18 major U.S. cities to analyze the attributes that are provided on the menu. A hedonic price analysis was conducted to determine the significance of each attribute when determining an oyster’s price point. The main region that the oyster was sourced from was found to have the most significant effect on an oyster’s price, with the highest priced oysters coming from the West coast and the lowest priced oysters coming from the Gulf coast. Additionally, oyster branding was found to have a significant effect on pricing, while information with respect to the taste of the oyster had a negative effect on the oyster price. Oysters that only had one associated attribute on the menu were seen to fetch lower prices as well.