**4. Results**

Descriptive statistics show that of the 834 respondents the majority of LFPs consumers were female (58.27%), while in the sample of LFPs producers the majority of them were male producers (52.6%). Female consumers were more willing to participate in the research and were more interested in providing responses on their perceptions and beliefs toward the local food products they were buying. The average age of the consumers is in the age group of 21–40 years old (63.4%), while in the sample of producers the average age belongs to the group of 41–50 and 51–60 years old. The majority of consumers and producers have a high school diploma (Table 1).


**Table 1.** Socio-demographic characteristics of the sample.

Source: Author's calculation.

For the consumer sample the mean score for 30 aspects ranged from 3.05 to 4.41. At the top of the list are aspects relating mainly to LFP attributes: Good taste (4.41, standard deviation—SD 0.815), healthy (4.35, SD 0.884), good quality (4.15, SD 0.884), good appearance (4.00, SD 0.941), image (3.92, SD 1.02), followed by promotion (3.63, SD 1.04), and packaging (3.53, SD 1.077). Although the perceived LFPs' availability on the market mean score was slightly above the mid-point score of 3 (3.59, SD 1.026), the consumers are of the opinion that LFPs do prevent the disappearance of traditional foods (4.13, SD 1.02), further promote gastronomic culture (4.10, SD 0.939), and contribute to the preservation of local production techniques (4.09, SD 0.933). The consumers are of the opinion that LFPs contribute to the promotion of local communities (4.03, SD 1.015), protect the diversity of tastes (4.09, SD 0.94), and increase public interest in local methods of production (3.97, SD 1.023). The consumers are of the opinion that the state encourages LFPs production (4.03, SD 1,016), but not enough, that is, that the state does not have a defined LFPs technological process (3.41, SD 1.144), and that direct sales to some degree enable producers to avoid paying taxes (3.52, SD 1.182). The results indicate that the consumers are of the opinion that not all producers have a complete LFPs production process (3.94, SD 0.994), and that LFPs are not subject to the same phytosanitary control as other types of conventional products (3.51, SD. 1.045). LFPs are perceived as rather expensive (3.74, SD 0.887), not stored in an adequate manner (3.60, SD 1.027), which all together has a limiting effect on the perception of quality, that is, consumers are of the opinion that not all LFPs have a quality guarantee (3.70, SD 0.968). The results indicate that direct contact with producers is not very important to consumers (3.96, SD 1.119), and that there is no clear view regarding the difference in quality and price between domestic and imported LFPs (3.05, SD 1.002).

For the producer sample the mean score for 30 aspects ranged from 2.00 (imported LFPs are of better quality than the domestic LFPs) to 4.68 (producers are of opinion that LFPs contribute to the promotion of gastronomic culture). At the top of the list are aspects relating to LFPs' promotion of gastronomic culture (4.68, SD 0.695) and attributes such as good taste (4.51, SD 0.826), healthy (4. 63, SD 808), good quality (4.54, SD 0.623), good appearance (4.42 SD 0.863), image (4.08, SD 0.863). They are perceived by producers as not expensive (3.39, SD 0.986). The producers are of the opinion that individual LFPs are not adequately stored (3.00, SD 0.227) and that packaging (3.50, SD 0.959) and promotion (2.88, SD 1.203) of LFPs can be improved. The results of the research indicate a high level of awareness of producers on the importance of LFPs: For the protection of taste diversity (4.54, SD 0.866), for the prevention of the disappearance of local foods (4.42, SD 0.863), for the promotion of

consumption of LFPs (4.38, SD 0.906), for the promotion of local communities (4.32, SD 1.004), for the preservation of local production techniques (4.17, SD 0.944), and for the public interest in local methods of production (4.00 SD 1.26). Thus, the respondents considered their LFPs to be of good quality, but their mean scores on the LFPs institutional framework were rather low: Not all LFPs have a quality guarantee (3.38, SD 0.973), implemented phytosanitary controls (3.29, SD 1.209), and defined local production technological process (3.09, SD 1.296). Producers are of the opinion that there is not enough systematic support from the state (4.00, SD 1.446). From the producers' point of view imported LFPs are not safer (2.08, SD 1.354), cheaper (2.04, SD 1.062), or of better quality than domestic LFPs (2.00 SD 1.26). The domestic LFPs' market availability is scarce (2.42, SD 1.354) and their placement on the market is rather difficult (2.42, SD 1.224). It is interesting to conclude that producers and consumers have the same attitude about mutual contact—they think that it is not significant, and that producers are not interested in direct contact with buyers of their products (resellers/intermediaries or directly with consumers).

When the mean scores are compared between both stakeholder groups (Figure 1), the producers evaluated more positively the quality, price, and safety of the domestic LFPs in regard to imported LFPs. On the other hand, the consumers evaluated more positively the current LFPs' placement on the market and LFPs' availability, so we can conclude that consumers are currently satisfied with the LFPs' availability on the market. The producers' mean scores are higher with regard to the following statements: LFPs promote gastronomic culture; LFPs protect the variety of local tastes; LFPs promote the consumption of local products; therefore we can conclude that producers tend to value more their contribution to support the local community. The producers' mean scores of LFPs appearance, quality, image, and health attributes are slightly higher than the consumers' which reflects the need for further promotion of these products and their local production process to diminish the perceptual gap.

**Figure 1.** Graphical representation of mean scores of consumer and producer attitudes on local food products (LFPs).
