Adult and Child Focus Group Views of Oranges and Mandarins

Abstract

<jats:p>To identify factors that may reduce mandarin (<jats:italic>Citrus reticulata</jats:italic>) and orange (<jats:italic>Citrus sinensis</jats:italic>) consumer acceptance and to acquire information on current consumer thoughts and perceptions, a series of eight focus groups were held in a college town in northern California: four with children and four with adults. Adults mentioned cost proportionately more (<jats:italic>P</jats:italic> ≤ 0.05) often than children, as well as farm to fork, purchasing preferences, and seasonality. Children mentioned eating preferences, social use, and healthiness more often (<jats:italic>P</jats:italic> ≤ 0.05). Flavor and taste were important to both age groups, as well as ease of peeling. Both ages viewed oranges as slightly too large and messier than mandarins. Adults felt frustration that oranges and mandarins lack flavor and that quality is not consistent. Many indicated they would be willing to pay more for consistent quality. Children reported relying on availability, appearance, and the basic tastes to guide their choices and did not express a clear preference between mandarins and oranges. Development of a fruit intermediate in size between an orange and a mandarin, either a small orange or a large mandarin, would potentially satisfy an untapped area of the market. Other potential areas of consumer interest are in fruits with edible peels, like kumquats (<jats:italic>Citrus japonica</jats:italic>) and in more unique, identifiable varieties such as Cara Cara oranges.</jats:p>

The Dessert Flip: Consumer preference for desserts with a high proportion of fruit and nuts

“…Some participants expressed that the cake itself was more representative of being a dessert than the fruit. This is similar to our previous findings that fruits, such as oranges, may be viewed more as a snack than a dessert in the United States (Kurzer et al., 2019). One participant in Experiment 2 described why they selected the conventional dessert as follows: “I rarely eat dessert when cooking for myself, while I regularly eat fruit, so I generally don't classify fruit as a dessert.…”

“…Fruit may also elicit emotional nostalgia (Kurzer, Bechtel, & Guinard, 2019), potentially driving the preference for the high fruit dessert. One of the participants in Experiment 1 said “My brother and I used to eat peaches, nectarines, persimmons, and grapes every day at home.…”

Uruguayan consumers' perception of mandarins: insights for selection and marketing of new cultivars

“…Responses related to sweetness were the most frequently mentioned, suggesting that this sensory characteristic is the most relevant for consumers' conceptualization and the most influential on their purchase decisions (14) . Previous studies conducted in USA have reported that sweetness and flavor are key drivers of consumers' willingness to purchase mandarins (7)(8) (17) . Additionally, juiciness and color were also relevant sensory characteristics for consumers' conceptualization of mandarins.…”

“…Results from the B-W scaling highlighted the importance of sensory characteristic good flavor as the most important characteristic underlying consumers' purchase decisions of mandarins. According to Kurzer and others (17) , adults feel frustrated by the lack of flavor and inconsistent sensory quality of mandarins. These results stress the need to integrate sensory and consumer science into breeding programs in order to improve marketability of new cultivars and increase consumption of mandarins (4) (18) .…”

“…In this sense, a previous study conducted in USA showed that although consumers were positive about vitamin C labelling, information about this nutrient did not increase their willingness to purchase (24) . Another study showed that younger consumers are more aware of healthiness, easy of peeling, social use and eating preferences when choosing citrus (17) .…”