Innovation as a Factor Increasing Fruit Consumption: The Case of Poland

Abstract

Due to the low level of fruit consumption in relation to dietary recommendations in many European countries, including Poland, multidirectional actions should be taken to increase the consumption of these products. One of the ideas could be the introduction of innovative products. The main goal of the study is to determine the relationship between consumer propensity to purchase innovative products and the frequency of consumption of fruits and their preserves of consumers. The research sample consisted of 600 respondents who declared to consume fruit and were responsible for food shopping in their households. The results obtained indicate that consumers with a higher propensity to purchase innovative products consumed fruit and fruit preserves more. In addition, statistically significant differences were found between innovators and non-innovators in terms of income, expenditures on fruit purchases, places where fruit and fruit preserves were purchased and product characteristics that determined the purchase decision. The logistic regression results indicate that a higher frequency of supermarket/hypermarket and online shopping, a higher weekly spending on fruit and a greater importance attributed to the biodegradability of the packaging increased the favorability of innovation relatively to fruit products (by 23.8%, 31.4%, 32.7% and 21.6%, respectively). The relationships found may have important implications for both private and public stakeholders in the fruit and vegetable sector.

Native vs. Unique Fruit Popularity: Exploring the Sustainable Fruit Consumption in Poland—Research Report

“…It was also found that women were more active in terms of answering our survey. This stays in line, also, with the observation that women consume more fruits than men, not only in Poland [46] but also in the EU countries [47]. However, our observation could not be confirmed yet across various studies due to their lack of focus on Poland [48,49].…”

“…Regarding Poles with a less innovative approach, apart from the price, their current habits are also important. On the other hand, among consumers with a more pro-innovative attitude, the following are important in making decisions: information on the biodegradability of the packaging, general information on the packaging, and the place of origin of the fruit [46].…”

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