>b<Percepção e conhecimento do consumidor de mussarela de búfala quanto à autenticidade do produto>/b<

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate consumers' perception and awareness of buffalo mozzarella authenticity. A questionnaire was used to address the motivation for buying buffalo mozzarella, label reading, fraud, willingness to pay more for authentic product, and trust in control agencies. The interviews were carried out in supermarkets, in the neighborhood of Mooca, in the Municipality of São Paulo city, where there were buffalo mozzarella ball-shaped made from mixed milk (cow and buffalo milk), buffalo mozzarella ball-shaped made from buffalo milk; and also mussarela ball-shaped made from cow milk. These ingredients were identified on the "Ingredients List" on label of these cheeses. The inclusion criteria of the interviewees were, besides the agreement to participate, to be buffalo mozzarella consumer and to be of age. The questions dealt with the motivation of buying, perception of buffalo mozzarella authenticity, components identified on food label, opinion on the buffalo mozzarella mixed with cow milk, knowledge about cheese fraud, willingness to pay for authentic product and knowledge and trust in fraud control agencies. The sample was stratified at "high level of knowledge" when the respondent revealed knowledge about cheese fraud and "low level of knowledge" when they demonstrated lack of knowledge or presented misconceptions about fraud. The methodology for discourse analysis was the Discourse of the Collective Subject (DSC) and for the analysis of trust in the control agencies, the Likert Scale; Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis and Fischer tests were used to identify associations of the parameters with the "level of knowledge" of the interviewee. The 120 interviewees' answers (80.8% female, 75% higher education and 49 years old mean age) showed that the main motivation for buying buffalo mozzarella was organoleptic characteristics and, although 41% reported nutritional motivation, knowledge misconceptions about nutritional characteristics were observed; 82% recognize the product by the presentation (shape and color) and by the confidence in brand and business establishment; the consumer demonstrates knowledge and confidence in the institutions of control, but does not seek the seals, either Inspection certificate or other quality seals; 83% reported that they read the label, but only 8% read the "Ingredient List"; there is little knowledge about buffalo-milk mozzarella fraud, although there is a perception that the mixture of milk in this cheese may be fraud; there is a willingness to pay for the authentic product, although there are misunderstandings about its nutritional characteristics. Stratification of the sample did not influence DSC (p> 0.05). The conclusion is that the consumer does not have the necessary knowledge about this fraud to take measures to mitigate the risk of being cheated, nor what measures are within their reach. It is up to the government, researchers and the production chain to make adequate communication to minimize the violation of consumer's right to choose the product they really wa...

Tools for cost management

“…Nevertheless, the changes in production systems and the related challenges may cause traditional cost accounting systems to lose reliability and become of little importance in supporting production in terms of cost reduction efforts. In this sense, there are calls for more appropriate systems that can represent system costs in more details (Al-Dahiyat;Al-Tkryty;Jaara, 2021;Aquino;Meneguette;Pagliarussi, 2012).…”