Perceptions and trends related to the consumption of honey: A case study of North‐West Romania

Abstract

The present research investigated tendencies related to the purchasing and consumption of honey and to how it is perceived by consumers. Although Romania is a traditional honeyproducing area, paradoxically, there is not a culture of consumption for this product, honey consumption being lower than in other European countries. The research objectives were achieved by investigating a representative sample of subjects from the North-West region of Romania. The research instrument used was a questionnaire, which included questions about honey consumption, questions related to perceptions of honey, together with sociodemographic questions. Honey is perceived to be a delicious product, delightful to consume and is considered beneficial for health by most of the respondents. A number of factors (education, occupation and age) significantly influence the perception that the respondent had of the value of honey. The most popular types of honey were acacia honey, polyfloral honey and linden honey. Respondents preferred to buy honey from a local producer, and had more confidence in domestic honey than in imported honey. Although the frequency of consumption is quite high, the quantity consumed per capita is low (on average 3 kg/year). Local honey producers should be aware that the revival of the beekeeping sector in Romania could be promoted by stimulating domestic consumption. Educating consumers to adopt a healthy lifestyle could significantly contribute to an increase in honey consumption. The paper emphasizes the need to conduct research that provides useful information about the quantitative and quality indicators of honey consumption, in order to improve marketing strategies.

Conditions of honey consumption in selected regions of Poland

“…The most preferred types in Poland were polyfloral, lime and acacia honey. Similar preferences were found in earlier studies in Poland (Giemza, 2004), as well as in Romania (Pocol and Bolboacă, 2013) and Hungary (Árváné et al, 2011). Apart from flavour, colour was also very important for participants of the study.…”

“…Similar behaviours were found among consumers in Romania (Pocol and Bolboacă, 2013) and Australia, who claimed that honey bought in supermarkets was of inferior quality.…”

“…Such reasons were also demonstrated in studies in Germany (Bardy et al, 2008), Poland (Przybyłowski et al, 2011;Wilczyńska, 2011) and Romania (Pocol and Bolboacă, 2013). These results confirm opinions about the growing nutritional awareness among the consumers (Johnston et al, 2005).…”

“…Among the Hungarian population it was found that the most important determinants of honey purchase were: quality of product, price, producer and quality of the packaging (Árváné et al, 2011). However, in the omanian population, the importance of price was mostly stressed by the consumers with the lowest incomes (Pocol and Bolboacă, 2013).…”

Comparison of selected quality characteristics of domestic and Thailand multifloral honeys

“…5). The crucial role of flavour and taste in honey perception is emphasized in many studies (15,16,32).…”