Consumer Acceptance and Willingness to Pay for Instant Cereal Products With Food-to-Food Fortification in Eldoret, Kenya.

BACKGROUND

Maize is the major food staple in East and Southern Africa, where food-processing industries are emerging fast. New low-cost extrusion cookers allow small enterprises to enter the market for processed cereals, including instant, fortified, and flavored products.

OBJECTIVE

Assess consumers' interest and preferences for the new products.

METHODS

Consumers (n = 220) in Eldoret, Kenya, were invited to evaluate 4 new cereal products: (1) sifted maize flour mixed with sorghum, (2) instant sifted mixed flour, (3) instant whole flour, and (4) instant whole flour fortified with natural ingredients and to compare them to conventional sifted maize flour, using 2 preparations: stiff porridge () and soft porridge (). These were followed by economic experiments to estimate consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for the new products and traits.

RESULTS

For , consumers preferred conventional sifted maize flour, while for , they appreciated the new products, especially sifted mixed flour (with sorghum) and instant whole mixed flour. Fortification with food-to-food sources was not appreciated, especially for . Comparing WTP for the traits with their production cost showed that mixed, whole, and instant flours were economical, but not fortification. Maize/sorghum mixtures realized a benefit of 24% over conventional maize flour, whole meal 11%, and instant mixtures 5%.

CONCLUSIONS

There is a potential market for improved cereal products in Kenya, but more for than for , especially with instant, mixed, and whole flour. Acceptable and affordable products, fortified with other foods that are locally available, however, still need to be developed, especially for .