University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
Cluster FOOD+I, Calahorra La Rioja, Spain.
Food Res Int. 2022 Mar;153:110975. doi: 10.1016/j.foodres.2022.110975. Epub 2022 Feb 5.
A wide variety of novel non-thermal processing technologies (NTPTs) are under development to meet the increasing consumer demand for high-quality fruit and vegetable (F&V) products. Understanding consumers' needs and possible barriers to acceptance of these technologies is however essential to assess the commercial feasibility of mildly processed F&Vs. Situated within this context, and extending previous work on the topic, in this paper we present results from a large-scale choice-based conjoint analysis consumer survey to investigate consumers' choice behavior towards NTPT-processed F&V products in four European countries - Denmark, Italy, Serbia, and Spain, using three model products - orange juice, iceberg salad, and cherry tomatoes respectively processed via three NTPT - mild processing, novel washing, and active packaging, compared to three conventional processing techniques - pasteurization, conventional washing, and conventional packaging, respectively. Images of the three product categories were developed to systematically vary in three key attributes: stated benefits (health and nutrition, natural taste, shelf-life), information on processing (conventional, NTPT), and price point (reference, premium price). The results showed that, out of the three attributes considered, "stated benefit" was the most important driver of consumer choice - in all countries and across product categories. Benefits relevant to health and nutrition, and to natural taste were more positively received, compared to extension of shelf-life. Information on processing and price levels had a similar influence on consumer choice of iceberg salad and cherry tomatoes, whilst for orange juice processing had a larger effect than price, suggesting that information on processing may be more impactful for F&V-derived products than for fresh produce. Individual differences among consumers according to country, age, gender, and dietary status, appeared small and transient. The most consequential individual characteristic was consumers' level of food technology neophobia (FTN), with results showing that high FTN consumers (17% of the sample) were less likely to choose F&V treated with NTPT, compared to consumers with medium or low FTN. Overall, this research suggests that products treated with NTPT may have a broad appeal across European consumers, and that targeted communication explicitly and efficiently focusing on health and taste benefits has the greatest chance to meet consumer preferences.
为满足消费者对高品质水果和蔬菜 (F&V) 产品的日益增长的需求，人们正在开发各种新型非热加工技术 (NTPT)。然而，了解消费者的需求和可能接受这些技术的障碍对于评估轻度加工 F&V 的商业可行性至关重要。在这种背景下，本文在之前关于该主题的研究基础上，通过在四个欧洲国家（丹麦、意大利、塞尔维亚和西班牙）进行大规模基于选择的联合分析消费者调查，研究了消费者对 NTPT 处理的 F&V 产品的选择行为。使用三种模型产品——橙汁、冰山沙拉和樱桃番茄，分别通过三种 NTPT——轻度加工、新型清洗和活性包装进行处理，与三种传统加工技术——巴氏杀菌、传统清洗和传统包装进行了比较。三种产品类别的图像被开发出来，以系统地在三个关键属性上进行变化：声明的益处（健康和营养、天然味道、保质期）、处理信息（传统、NTPT）和价格点（参考、溢价）。结果表明，在所考虑的三个属性中，“声明的益处”是消费者选择的最重要驱动因素——在所有国家和所有产品类别中都是如此。与延长保质期相比，与健康和营养相关的益处以及与天然味道相关的益处更受欢迎。处理和价格水平的信息对冰山沙拉和樱桃番茄的消费者选择有类似的影响，而对于橙汁，处理的影响大于价格，这表明对于 F&V 衍生产品，处理信息的影响可能大于新鲜产品。消费者根据国家、年龄、性别和饮食状况的个体差异很小且短暂。消费者的食品技术恐惧程度 (FTN) 是最关键的个体特征，结果表明，高 FTN 消费者（样本的 17%）不太可能选择用 NTPT 处理的 F&V，而中低 FTN 消费者则更有可能选择。总的来说，这项研究表明，用 NTPT 处理的产品可能会在欧洲消费者中具有广泛的吸引力，并且有针对性的沟通，明确和有效地关注健康和口味益处，最有可能满足消费者的偏好。
