The food system is in a constant state of change driven by the social and bio-physical environment. Acknowledging the role that innovations and preference adaptations on the consumer side play in this process, in this dissertation I use cutting-edge experimental procedures to assess consumer demand in three areas: food-away-from-home (FAFH), sustainable food products, and new food technologies. In the first chapter I determine the impact dining settings have on consumer demand for FAFH, while also evaluating how a tax levied on red meat dishes would impact low- and high-income consumers. Capturing both substitution and complementarity patterns, I employ a food menu basket-based choice experiment approach, which permits respondents to freely pick and combine a range of food items at different price levels. I find that respondent's orders in the delivery setting are typically higher in calories and most items act as complements for one another, while menu items are substitutes in the dine-in setting. The red meat tax that I simulate is regressive towards low-income individuals in the delivery setting but not in the dine-in setting. Thematically corresponding with the red meat tax, in the second chapter I study the market potential of "low carbon" ribeye steaks. In conjunction with this empirical component, I also propose the use of a reference price informed design that mirrors respondent's price expectations for actual food shopping situations. I find the market potential of meat with a lower carbon footprint is relatively small, with conventional meat taking up most of the market share. Our results also show that a reference price informed design best describes choices and leads to more conservative market share estimates than traditional designs. One way to achieve a lower carbon footprint could be the use of gene-editing. In my third chapter, I therefore assess consumer preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for milk from cows gene-edited to produce less methane. In doing so, I also analyze whether and how preferences for new food technologies are affected by information on the climate impact of dairy production. I supplement this analysis with an exploration of what medium of information (video vs. text) has the strongest impact on consumer acceptance and how responses change depending on whether respondents get to opt-in to seeing information or are forced to see the respective information. I find that gene-edited milk is discounted relative to other available alternatives. Results also show that choice outcomes differ between respondents seeking additional information and those remaining willfully ignorant. Giving respondents autonomy over their knowledge gathering is a significant factor in determining choice behavior. In sum, findings from these three chapters can be used to inform producers, policymakers, and the food industry, as well as improve the way food experiments are designed within the realm of food choices and beyond.
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