Dados do Trabalho

Título

CALCIUM-FORTIFIED FRUIT SNACKS: THE CONSUMER PERSPECTIVE

Introdução

Incorporating calcium into foods can both increase the nutritional properties and change the consumer perception and interests. This work characterized the Brazilian consumer perception of calcium-fortified apple snacks, comparing it with other products.

Material e Métodos

Initially, a focus group was held to collect terms for the Check-all-that-apply (CATA) test. A total of 18 terms were collected (9 positive, 9 negative). 743 participants traced the differences and similarities among calcium-fortified apple snacks, dried apple snacks and in nature apples stimuli. Moreover, participants completed a self-assessment covering lifestyle habits, sociodemographic profile, and snack consumption preferences (texture, nutrition, purchase intent, price willingness). Participants were categorized into groups: (G1) were the participants whose snacks consume is less healthy (eating potato chips and corn snacks. P<0.05). Groups two (G2) and three (G3) has a similar profile (low consumption of potato and corn chips), but are different by the consumption of cereals, fruits and protein bars (higher in G2, lower in G3, P<0.05).

Resultados e Discussão

All groups indicated that they would consume the fortified snack because of its perceived nutritional (74%) and health benefits (72%), although 48% were unsure of its taste. In addition, although the perceived value, 71% of participants were not willing to pay more for this product, compared to common snacks. The correspondence analysis, determined by using the 11 attributes cited by >25% of participants for at least one stimulus, explained 95.42% of the total variance, representing the stimuli effectively. Negative descriptors (tasteless, non-uniform, hard, ultra-processed and artificial flavour) were rarely mentioned, suggesting a positive perception of apple snacks (fortified or not) for all groups

Conclusão

In general, it was clear that the descriptors “source of fibre”, “sweet”, “natural”, “practical”, “aromatic”, “nutritious”, “healthy”, “expensive” and “crunchy” are strongly associated to all stimuli for all groups, with the exception of the apple snack with calcium for G1 - which correlated fortified snacks as more “nutritious”. Therefore, it was possible to characterize calcium-fortified snacks compared to other products, highlighting a positive perception. Participants preferred crunchy snacks that are nutritious and healthy but were unwilling to pay extra for them. These results are fundamental to design calcium-fortified snacks, meeting consumer preferences.