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Keywords

Mozambique, Halal, Branding, Poultry

Abstract

While price typically drives consumers’ food-purchasing decisions in low-income countries, religious attributes associated with food production and corporate branding could influence buying patterns. In Mozambique, more than 46% of people were living below the poverty line of ($0.31 USD) per day in 2018. That being said, in the Nampula Province (the location of this study), which is the second poorest province in the country, over 25% of the population is Muslim and may be willing-to-pay (WTP) a premium for Halal meat products to uphold Islamic beliefs. Like many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, poultry is the fastest-growing source of protein. Since large-scale domestic poultry industries are relatively new in Mozambique, brand loyalty is a new concept that has not been empirically analyzed before in the literature. In this study, we surveyed 312 consumers in Nampula, Mozambique, using a choice-based modeling approach to estimate if consumers were WTP for chicken that was slaughtered according to Halal laws and chicken which was branded by New Horizons (the largest chicken producer in Nampula). Results from the small sample in this study indicated that even in low-income countries like Mozambique, consumers are WTP a premium for branding. Specifically, Muslim consumers were WTP a premium for Halal-produced meat with branding. While non-Muslims did associate Halal poultry with being safer (69%) and of better quality (64%), but they were not found to be WTP a premium for these attributes.

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