Market Opportunities for Hay Milk: Factors Influencing Perceptions among Italian Consumers

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Consumer’s awareness of milk quality has been largely increased by real food safety scares, environmental issues, and the effects of food on health. Consumers are asking about how the cows were fed and treated. In this framework, despite their appearing to be copious research in the current literature on milk, the consumer acceptance of hay milk in Italy is largely unexplored. Using a structured questionnaire, we found that aspects such as curiosity, the production place of food, the local culinary traditions, label, and environmental issues play an important role in the people’s consumption intentions for milk from hay-fed cows. This study could provide useful implications for food manufacturers and facilitate the design of marketing strategies for hay milk produced in the Centre and South of Italy. ABSTRACT: Central and South Italy are characterized by small-scale dairy farms and growing abandonment by farmers for other, better-paid, off-farm jobs. New marketing concepts for milk can be one solution to remunerate mountain farmers for their efforts. This study investigates the potential market for hay milk in Italy. In particular, we want to understand which variables drive the people’s willingness to consume hay milk, and if the European food quality certification schemes impact on people’s willingness to consume milk from hay-fed cows. Data were collected from a sample of consumers from Central and South Italy (n = 331) using a web-based survey. Later, a discrete choice probit model was applied. The main results indicate that aspects as curiosity, the production place of food, the local culinary traditions, label, and environmental issues play an important role in the people’s consumption intentions for milk from hay-fed cows. Moreover, the survey highlights that the respondents had positive opinion towards hay milk and highlighted some important marketing implications for the Italian milk sector. The study findings could encourage discussion about a niche market to boost local growth, initiating a process of improving livelihoods, certification of products, and use of the marketing tools addressed towards a specific milk consumer’s profile. In other words, the study could provide useful implications for food manufacturers and facilitate the design of marketing strategies for hay milk produced in Central and South Italy.