Milk Consumer’s preferences in urban Albania

Currently agriculture in Albania makes up about 23% of GDP (MoAFCP 2008a). The dairy industry, and along with it the milk collection system, are still in the course of modernizing structures and technologies. As milk is a very important component of the Albanians diet, this study explores consumer preferences for milk in Albania and also tries to determine consumers types based on their preferences and socio-demographic factors. A conjoint choice experiment survey was designed and primary data were collected the most populated cities of Albania. Then the data were analyzed using Latent Class approach to determine milk consumer classes based on the product attributes. Conjoint analysis is a better method for determining consumer preferences than the other methods of research that have previously been used. Conjoint choice experiment with latent class analysis indicates that the most important attribute for Albania consumer is “fat level†. Also four consumers groups, 9.2%, 28.1%, 42.6% and 20.1% were identified with their specific characteristics for each group. This study provides useful information to different stakeholders including milk producers and importers. The milk industry and its marketers may benefit from this information by using it to strategically market their milk to different groups.