Are Low-Income Consumers Willing to Pay for Fortification of a Commercially Produced Yogurt in Bangladesh

Abstract

Background: There is an active debate over the potential for market-based strategies to address micronutrient deficiencies in low- and middle-income countries. However, there are questions over the viability of market-based strategies, reflecting limited evidence on the value that low-income households attach to the nutritional attributes of processed foods. Objective: The objective of this article is to investigate the willingness to pay of primary food purchasers in low-income households in rural Bangladesh for Shokti+, a nutritionally fortified yogurt produced and distributed by Grameen Danone Foods Limited. Methods: A real choice experiment with economic incentives was conducted with 1000 rural food purchasers sampled from the distribution area of Shokti+ in rural Bangladesh. The choices of respondents revealed attribute nonattendance, favoring the fortification attribute over price. Results: Results from a random parameter logit model found that respondents were willing to pay an average of 18 BDT (US$0.22) for fortification and 6 BDT (US$0.073) for brand name. The market price for Shokti+ at the time of the study was 10 BDT (US$0.12). The results from a random effects model suggest the magnitude of willingness to pay for fortification was primarily driven by the nutritional awareness of respondents but offset by household food insecurity. Conclusions: The article concludes that, while there is a viable market for fortified yogurt in rural Bangladesh, efforts to promote this product as a strategy to address micronutrient deficiency are best targeted at low-income households with some capacity to pay for low priced commercially produced foods.

Toward a Theory of Marginalized Stakeholder-Centric Entrepreneurship

“…This is, for instance, observable in the case of Danone (a MNC based in France) and Grameen Bank (a NGO based in Bangladesh), which collaborated in an initiative to produce Shokti Doi (a yogurt) for malnourished poor children in Bangladesh. While this yogurt was a good product, the problem was that it was a luxury product for poor children (Agnew, Henson, & Cao, 2020). When this yogurt was first produced, there was no feasible way to encourage the families of the targeted children to buy it (Bapat, 2011).…”

“…When this yogurt was first produced, there was no feasible way to encourage the families of the targeted children to buy it (Bapat, 2011). In fact, many children in rural Bangladesh do not even know what yogurt is and have no knowledge of its nutritional content or why it is important for their health (Agnew et al, 2020).…”

Utilizing Chickpea Isolates as a Fortificant to Develop Protein-Dense Yogurt: A Review

“…Hussein et al [89] respectively, for foods fortified in carotenoids, folate, and fortified maize [90][91][92]. A recently published study by Agnew et al, [93] reported that 96% of the study population in Bangladesh were willing to pay the market price of 10 Bangladeshi takas (BDT) or the US $0.14 for a pack of 60g micronutrient fortified yogurt. The yogurt targeted children aged 3 to 12 years.…”