Are US consumers willing to pay a premium for bee-friendly beef?

The loss in biodiversity has resulted in a decline in bee populations which threatens our food production systems due to the reliance of wild plants and agricultural crops on bee pollination services. Thus, the restoration of pollinator habitats calls for concerted efforts from all actors, including producers, retailers and consumers. This study examines consumer willingness to pay for bee-friendly beef using data from a nationwide choice experiment survey of 2,162 U.S. beef consumers. Using a fully correlated mixed logit regression we show that U.S. beef consumers prefer bee-friendly ground beef compared to conventional ground beef and are willing to pay $1.06 - $2.36 more per pound for bee-friendly ground beef. The willingness to pay value varies depending on whether beef consumers donate or volunteer to an environmental organization, are knowledgeable about pollinator population decline, feel they have a role to play in restoring pollinator populations or if the beef consumer considers the environmental impact of food production when purchasing food. The analysis from this study identifies one incentive that can be used to encourage beef producers to contribute to the restoration of pollinator populations by adopting and maintaining wildflower-enhanced pastures on their ranches.