Fruit and vegetable expenditure disparities: evidence from Chile
ISSN: 0007-070X
Article publication date: 16 May 2019
Issue publication date: 7 June 2019
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore fruit and vegetable (FV) procurement disparity across income groups.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses mean comparison and quintile regression to explain FVs variations.
Findings
Households from the highest income quantile spend more than two times on FVs than households from the lowest quantile; however, this expenditure disparity is largely mitigated in terms of purchase quantity. This paper presents evidence that, rather than quantity discounts or income neighborhood, the type of store (traditional markets vs supermarkets) plays a relevant role in explaining the smaller gap in terms of purchase quantity.
Research limitations/implications
Traditional markets help low-income households access low-cost FVs.
Social implications
The authors generate evidence to show that traditional markets play a relevant role to supply affordable FV to low-income households.
Originality/value
The paper used a high-quality and uncommon data set. It is a topic of high social impact.
Keywords
Citation
Carreño, P. and Silva, A. (2019), "Fruit and vegetable expenditure disparities: evidence from Chile", British Food Journal, Vol. 121 No. 6, pp. 1203-1219. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-06-2018-0365
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited