Product authenticity and food fraud: the case of organic olive oil in Spain

This paper intends to investigate the role of the food product’s authenticity as a response to the fraudulent practices in the food system. Food product’s authenticity will have an impact on the consumers’ perceptions of food integrity and safety, improving its confidence and trust about food products, food chain actors, and food systems as a whole. The conceptual foundations of the proposed model and related hypotheses are drawn from a review of relevant literature and a previous qualitative explorative analysis. Data are collected through an online survey in Spain, investigating the organic olive oil. Findings provide support for the proposed conceptual framework by showing evidence that food product’s authenticity affects the consumers’ perception of food fraud as well as the consumers’ willingness to pay in order to obtain an authentic food product and, specifically, the consumption of organic olive oil. The study extends the understanding of the food product’s authenticity and presents meaningful practical implications for actors involved in the food supply chain.