Quality Factors Influencing Consumer Demand for Small Fruit by Focus Group and Sensory Test

Abstract

The market of berries is a niche of high value in Italy. Small fruit's healthy properties are well known in the international market, but little is known about the reason for a low commercialization rate of fresh small fruit in Italy. The objective of this study was to assess consumer preferences in Italy for selected berry species. Moreover, the study aims to identify the relevant attributes of berries that affect the demand for this produce according to consumers and to compare these attributes. We assessed relevant attributes affecting the demand for fresh berries for different consumers' profiles and compared berries' attributes rankings. The results reveal high concordance between blackberries and raspberries; price is the attribute that constrains more purchases because it is deemed too high. Consumers prefer small fruit because of the rising interest in their nutraceutical value, and they have a higher willingness to pay because of this important attribute.

Recent advances in postharvest technologies to extend the shelf life of blueberries (Vaccinium sp.), raspberries (Rubus idaeus L.) and blackberries (Rubus sp.)

“…Lastly, while consumers' purchasing behaviour at retail is strongly determined by visual appearance, it will be flavours and texture that will determine consumers' acceptance and repeat purchasing behaviour [136]. Therefore, it will be necessary to investigate more explicitly how the reviewed technologies affect sensorial properties and consumer acceptability, which is currently lacking.…”

Alginate-Edible Coatings for Application on Wild Andean Blueberries (Vaccinium meridionale Swartz): Effect of the Addition of Nanofibrils Isolated from Cocoa By-Products

“…This behavior was attributed to the smoother surface of the coated fruit, compared to the fruit skin, and it caused a greater reflection of visible light [35]. The brightness is an important quality perceived attributed to blueberries because consumers commonly associate it with a fresh-like appearance [36]. Table 1 shows the thickness, transparency, and water vapor permeability of the alginate films with and without cellulose nanofibrils from cocoa shell.…”

Study of Wine Producers' Marketing Communication in Extreme Territories - Application of the AGIL Scheme to Wineries Websites Features

“…A general recommendation is that participants should be strangers, although various reasons can support the use of acquaintances [35,49]; in the present case, where there was a need to increase the number of participants for reasons related to the statistical significance of the sample, this implied that some of the experts could get to know each other. The composition of each focus group was designed according to the literature and previous studies [50,51,52] and is presented in Table 1. These experts observed individually, for 12 months, both the 38 sites of the wineries in the Etna territory and the 11 sites of those in Pantelleria, and, at different times, they came together to discuss through focus groups.…”