Abstract

Interest in heritage cereals is increasing among consumers, bakeries and farmers, and the trends point towards the local production of crops and connect to sustainability. The most known variety is spelt, which has opened up for old landraces such as Oland wheat. Heritage cereals have shown a higher resilience than modern varieties and have the potential to supply the market with alternative products that have an attractive cultural background. Delicious and nutritious products based on heritages cereals have a growing market potential. Consumers' attitudes and preferences to different products are affected by factors such as age, gender and education. The aim of this study was to investigate and analyse different consumer groups' awareness, attitudes and preferences toward heritage cereals. The number of respondents who participated in this study and answered the web-based questionnaire was 434. It can be concluded that most consumers are aware of heritage cereals. Geographic background had an influence, while academic background did not. Bread and pasta are the most consumed products and are regarded as the most popular future products to be based on heritage cereals. The most essential factors in bread are taste and flavour, followed by freshness and texture. The origin of the cereal and its health aspects are important; women are more concerned about the origin than men, while older consumers are more concerned about health. Older consumers are also more willing to pay extra for heritage cereal than younger consumers.

Keywords

heritage cereals; consumer attitudes; preferences and awareness

Published in

Foods
2020, Volume: 9, number: 6, article number: 742
Publisher: MDPI

SLU Authors

• Ortman, Tove

  • Department of Urban and Rural Development, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Gerhardt, Karin

  • Department of Urban and Rural Development, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Associated SLU-program

SLU Swedish Biodiversity Centre


Sustainable Development Goals

End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture


UKÄ Subject classification

Food Science


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/foods9060742

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/107218