Résumé
Voluntary labeling strategies, such as
Organic
label or
Label Rouge
, have long been considered as a potential solution to address environmental and social issues in the food sector. As a complement, the European political authorities developed a mandatory marking system for fresh eggs. This article questions the effectiveness of public intervention to support sustainable practices using analysis of the demand for fresh eggs in France. Unit root (augmented Dickey Fuller) tests, stationarity (KPSS) tests, and Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (SARIMA) models are used to investigate the unit root behavior of the prices and expenditure shares of fresh eggs in France between 2017 and 2022. We use the Almost Ideal Demand System model on scanner data to analyze the demand of six eggs’ categories, including mandatory egg codes and two labels (
Organic
and
Label Rouge
). The results suggest that a low price does not compensate for low sustainability involvement in eggs from caged farming, favoring
free range
eggs.
Label Rouge
shows market weaknesses, while the organic label shows promising results with both a voluntary and a specific mandatory mark. The lack of elasticity observed, except between
cage
and
free range
eggs, implies that consumers who choose high-priced products with voluntary labeling strategies are less inclined to switch to alternatives. The mandatory marking system brings more transparency than voluntary labeling initiative, in favor of sustainable products. The case of eggs is a relevant example of how market intervention can push sustainable consumption and production without forbidding products in the market.