The consumer response to the introduction of private label products with a GI

In Italy GIs and private labels products are walking on diverging paths. On the one side the adoption of private labels by the major food retailing companies is gathering momentum. On the other side, GI products suffer by the law awareness of this labeling scheme among consumers. Against this background, the aim of this paper is to demonstrate the existence of higher willingness to pay of consumers for GI products bearing a private label. The cross positive effect of the two labels is studied in terms of price elasticity of demand (PED). The longitudinal study carried out is based on a sample of 19,702 scanner data of 15 GI products sold in the Italian retailing company COOP Adriatica collected in the period January 2010-May 2012. The analysis shows that the value of the price elasticity of demand of PDO and PGI products in Italy is significantly lower for those bearing also a private label, even if their price is higher. Private labels could represent a concrete evolution for some of the hundreds of PDO and PGI Italian products in order to emerge from the shadow of the local market.