The sensibility of European consumers towards animal-friendly foods

The attitudes of EU consumers towards animal welfare (AW) and AW Friendly Foods (AWFF) have been the object of Eurobarometer surveys in 2006 and in 2015 (Eurobarometer 2007, Eurobarometer 2016).In 2013, our research group carried out a survey on Italian consumers (Bologna district), in order to assess their knowledge and their Willingness To Pay (WTP) for AWFF (Di Pasquale et al., 2014). In 2006, farmers were considered the main responsibles for AW (40% of the answers). In 2013, the answer “farmers” reached 72%among Italian consumers. In 2016, when asked to choose between business and public authorities as the responsible for AW, EU consumers primarily chose public authorities (43%).As concerns WTP for AWFF, in 2016 EU consumers declared a reduced WTP if compared to 2006 data. However, in 2006 the Eurobarometer question specifically concerned eggs, which are the typical example of low-priced animal-derived food. Conversely, in the 2016 Eurobarometer, the question referred to all AWFF. In the recent Eurobaromter survey, the majority of consumers (52%) declared to look for AW labels when purchasing foods. A significant number of consumers stated that the choice of AWFF in shops and supermarkets is probably not (31%) or certainly not (16%) sufficient.Italian consumers' answers indicate a marked lack of knowledge with respect to AWFF (Di Pasquale et al., 2014). On the whole, these data suggest the necessity of a clear and informative European label on AWFF in order to increase consumer trust and help them recognize foods with ethical added value.