Demand and Nutrient Elasticities of Egg Consumption: Evidence from Saudi Arabia

Dana Alsaad and Mohammed Al-Mahish ()
Additional contact information
Dana Alsaad: Department of Agribusiness & Consumer Science, College of Agriculture and Food Science, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia
Mohammed Al-Mahish: Department of Agribusiness & Consumer Science, College of Agriculture and Food Science, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia

Economies, 2024, vol. 12, issue 9, 1-15

Abstract: Chicken eggs are a staple food widely consumed directly or indirectly (as an ingredient in other food items) in Saudi Arabia. Due to the importance of eggs in Saudi consumers’ diet, this study aimed to determine the sociodemographic factors affecting Saudi consumer demand for eggs and how changes in egg prices and consumer income may influence dietary intake derived from eggs. This study analyzes survey data from 466 respondents. We used a double-log demand model to obtain the price and income elasticities of egg demand. The results show that the price elasticity of egg demand is negative and inelastic, indicating that changes in egg price have a small influence on egg demand. Additionally, income elasticity is positive and <1, implying that eggs are a necessary food item. Cross-price elasticities show that cheese and milk complement egg consumption. Meanwhile, cornflakes (a breakfast cereal) were found to be a good substitute for eggs. Furthermore, the results show that consumer demand for eggs is expected to increase as household size increases. Women exhibited a higher demand for eggs, compared with men. Nutrient income elasticity shows that an increase in consumer income increases protein, fat, and calorie intake from eggs. Nutrient price elasticity shows that an increase in egg price has the greatest negative influence on protein intake, resulting from a decrease in egg consumption. This study recommends that decision makers actively monitor egg prices and take all necessary actions to prevent spikes in egg prices, as this will improve nutritional and food security and help consumers maintain a stable protein intake from egg consumption.

Keywords: demand elasticity; egg consumption; nutrient elasticity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E F I J O Q (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7099/12/9/245/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7099/12/9/245/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jecomi:v:12:y:2024:i:9:p:245-:d:1476146

Access Statistics for this article

Economies is currently edited by Ms. Hongyan Zhang

More articles in Economies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().