Marketing Agroforestry Food Products in Germany

Introduction and Objective Agroforestry combines agricultural land use with woody plants offering multiple ecological and socio-economic benefits such as protection from wind and water erosion, a cooling micro-climate and diversified income opportunities (Herder et al. 2015; Ramachandran Nair et al. 2022). Agroforestry products therefore entail a range of hidden benefits but currently lack visible labels, making it difficult for consumers to identify them. In order to both highlight and valorize the value of these products,appropriate marketing is needed. The research aimed to analyze German consumers’ knowledge about and preferences regarding agroforestry products, as well as their information-seeking and purchasing behavior. Special attention was given to the use of collaborative business models involving consumers, as these offer the potential to explain the farming method and its diverse sustainability benefits more directly. This, in turn, can increase consumers’ awareness, understanding, and acceptance of agroforestry products.