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Exploring the Rise of Alternative Foods: A Consumer Behavior Perspective
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Exploring the Rise of Alternative Foods: A Consumer Behavior Perspective

A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Sensory and Consumer Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2024 | Viewed by 5976

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Francisco Javier Mesias

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Economics, University of Extremadura School of Agricultural Engineering, Avenida Adolfo Suárez, S-N, 06007 Badajoz, Spain
Interests: agronomy; agrifood marketing; food behaviour; consumer preferences
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Carlos Diaz-Caro

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Financial Economics and Accounting, Faculty of Business, Finance and Tourism University of Extremadura, Cáceres, Spain
Interests: agronomy; choice experiment; willingness to pay; heterogeneity; consumer behaviour

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Recently, the agri-food sector has undergone significant changes regarding the types of products that consumers purchase. These changes reflect alterations in demand for food products with an increase toward alternative products (less consumption of resources, sustainable, ethical, with less environmental impact, animal welfare, etc.) compared to products produced traditionally and without incorporating relevant aspects for the consumers. In addition, consumers present changes in their behaviour that influence the choice of product purchases and their characteristics, such as consumption habits, motivations, and even psychological aspects. In this sense, research on consumer behaviour toward alternative food products is necessary for developing productive, financial, and marketing strategies in private companies, the public sector, and even institutions that promote improvements in social welfare and the sustainability of the economic system.

Dr. Francisco Javier Mesias
Prof. Dr. Carlos Diaz-Caro
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Foods is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • alternative food
  • sustainable food
  • ethical food
  • food consumption
  • willingness to pay
  • behaviour choice consumer

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 1468 KiB  
Article
Content Analysis of Food Safety Information in Apple-Drying Recipes from YouTube, Blogs, Cookbooks, and Extension Materials
by Megan Low and Yaohua Feng
Foods 2024, 13(5), 778; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods13050778 - 1 Mar 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 827
Abstract
Recurrent foodborne outbreaks associated with low-moisture foods prompted this study to evaluate apple-handling practices presented in apple-drying recipes available to United States consumers, and to explore the food safety implications of the recipes. Because little research is available on the safety of home [...] Read more.
Recurrent foodborne outbreaks associated with low-moisture foods prompted this study to evaluate apple-handling practices presented in apple-drying recipes available to United States consumers, and to explore the food safety implications of the recipes. Because little research is available on the safety of home fruit-drying, we conducted a systematic search of English-language apple-drying recipes from YouTube videos, blog articles, cookbooks, and university extension sources. Our evaluation found that most recipes excluded handwashing instructions, and potential cross-contamination practices were evident in 12% of the videos. Bruised or damaged apples were selected for drying in 16% of the videos, two blogs, and five cookbook recipes. Although more than half the blogs and videos demonstrated pre-treatment procedures, they did so predominantly to minimize browning with almost no mention of antimicrobial benefits. Drying temperature information was missing in 41% of the videos and 35% of the cookbooks that we evaluated. Even when temperatures were mentioned, most were insufficient for pathogen reduction according to the recommendations of previous studies. These videos, blogs, and cookbooks commonly advocated subjective indicators instead of unit measurements when slicing apples and checking for doneness. Our findings reveal the need for drastic improvements in food safety information dissemination to home apple-dryers and recipe developers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring the Rise of Alternative Foods: A Consumer Behavior Perspective)
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15 pages, 297 KiB  
Article
Does Consumers’ Cultural Background Affect How They Perceive and Engage in Food Sustainability? A Cross-Cultural Study
by Julieth Lizcano-Prada, Marcela Maestre-Matos, Francisco J. Mesias, Olda Lami, Handan Giray, Celile Özçiçek Dölekoğlu, Abdou Gafarou Abdoulaye Bamoi and Federico Martínez-Carrasco
Foods 2024, 13(2), 311; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods13020311 - 18 Jan 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1101
Abstract
Motivated by the evolving global food landscape and its detrimental impacts on society, the environment, and health, this research aims to understand consumer perceptions, preferences and involvement regarding sustainable food products and consumption practices. To this aim, three countries were chosen for their [...] Read more.
Motivated by the evolving global food landscape and its detrimental impacts on society, the environment, and health, this research aims to understand consumer perceptions, preferences and involvement regarding sustainable food products and consumption practices. To this aim, three countries were chosen for their distinct economic, cultural, and demographic differences (Spain, Türkiye, and Colombia), enabling an exploration of how these factors influence sustainability perceptions. The results show high levels of awareness, knowledge, consumption, and willingness to switch to more sustainable habits, although differences between countries were also found (price sensitivity in Spain and demand for information regarding sustainable food in Colombia). In addition, a group of consumers has been identified that is influenced by health, shows positive behaviours and perceptions towards sustainable food, and is not price sensitive. The study is significant, as it addresses the information gap between consumers, producers, and policymakers regarding sustainable food awareness. It seeks to provide insights into cultural influences on sustainability perceptions and aims to assist in developing educational programs and policies to promote sustainable consumption. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring the Rise of Alternative Foods: A Consumer Behavior Perspective)
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24 pages, 1449 KiB  
Article
Effects of Multi-Level Eco-Labels on the Product Evaluation of Meat and Meat Alternatives—A Discrete Choice Experiment
by Anna Kolber and Oliver Meixner
Foods 2023, 12(15), 2941; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12152941 - 3 Aug 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2456
Abstract
Eco-labels are an instrument for enabling informed food choices and supporting a demand-sided change towards an urgently needed sustainable food system. Lately, novel eco-labels that depict a product’s environmental life cycle assessment on a multi-level scale are being tested across Europe’s retailers. This [...] Read more.
Eco-labels are an instrument for enabling informed food choices and supporting a demand-sided change towards an urgently needed sustainable food system. Lately, novel eco-labels that depict a product’s environmental life cycle assessment on a multi-level scale are being tested across Europe’s retailers. This study elicits consumers’ preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for a multi-level eco-label. A Discrete Choice Experiment was conducted; a representative sample (n = 536) for the Austrian population was targeted via an online survey. Individual partworth utilities were estimated by means of the Hierarchical Bayes. The results show higher WTP for a positively evaluated multi-level label, revealing consumers’ perceived benefits of colorful multi-level labels over binary black-and-white designs. Even a negatively evaluated multi-level label was associated with a higher WTP compared to one with no label, pointing towards the limited effectiveness of eco-labels. Respondents’ preferences for eco-labels were independent from their subjective eco-label knowledge, health consciousness, and environmental concern. The attribute “protein source” was most important, and preference for an animal-based protein source (beef) was strongly correlated with consumers’ meat attachment, implying that a shift towards more sustainable protein sources is challenging, and sustainability labels have only a small impact on the meat product choice of average consumers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring the Rise of Alternative Foods: A Consumer Behavior Perspective)
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13 pages, 1312 KiB  
Article
Exploring Consumer Perceptions and Changing Consumption Patterns for Smoked Paprika: Implications for Traditional Food Products in Spain
by Olda Lami, Celia Sama-Berrocal, Alberto Martín, Francisco J. Mesías and Rocío Velázquez
Foods 2023, 12(14), 2808; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12142808 - 24 Jul 2023
Viewed by 1103
Abstract
Changes in the level of income of the population and a reduction in time availability are shifting food consumption from traditional to more convenient food products. The production of traditional food has a significantly positive impact on the territory, as it contributes to [...] Read more.
Changes in the level of income of the population and a reduction in time availability are shifting food consumption from traditional to more convenient food products. The production of traditional food has a significantly positive impact on the territory, as it contributes to preserving cultural traditions and identity and supports rural development and resilience, thus becoming essential for the survival of rural areas. Within traditional food products, spices are among the most usual ingredients in traditional cuisine, extensively used to add flavour and colour to dishes. However, spices in general and paprika in particular—one of the most typical spices in the Spanish cuisine and the subject of this paper—have been rarely the subject of scientific studies. The purpose of this study is to analyse consumers’ perceptions towards paprika and determine the level of its consumption. For this purpose, a survey was conducted on a representative sample of Spanish consumers. The findings indicated that the average consumption of paprika was 154.5 gr/person per year. Although the general consumers’ perceptions toward this spice were generally positive, they proved to be less positive amongst young people and inhabitants of large cities, whose consumption of the spice was also lower. Additionally, the Pimentón de La Vera PDO paprika was the most popular version of paprika, being mentioned by all the participants. The findings from this study confirm the change in food consumption patterns. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring the Rise of Alternative Foods: A Consumer Behavior Perspective)
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