Consumer views on sustainable food choices in a region in southern Finland

Ulla Johanna Hoppu, Ville Juhani Piikki, Mari Sandell

Research output: Conference materialsAbstractpeer-review

Abstract

Paijat-Hame region in the southern part of Finland is an area with a strong history of grain cultivation and grain processing, including mills, bakeries, malting and breweries, and co-operation in the grain cluster. The regional council has recently launched a plan of action for green transition and one key element is the sustainable food system, including food innovations. However, the opinions of the ordinary consumers on sustainable food products have not been studied in the region. The aim of the present study was to investigate the consumer views, attitudes, motives etc. towards sustainable food choices, local foods and food innovations.
The electronic questionnaire form will be developed and pilot-tested, and the data will be collected and managed using REDCap electronic data capture tool. Different dimensions of the sustainable food choices, e.g. willingness to choose vegetarian food, local food and seasonal food, opinions on new foods etc. will be covered in the questionnaire. The survey is answered anonymously and the respondents will be asked the permission to use their answers for research purposes. The questionnaire link will be distributed via mailing lists. In addition, we will recruit respondents in the local shops, bakery shops and lunch restaurants, where the participants can access the questionnaire via QR-code and their own smartphone. The project started in January 2024, and data collection will be performed in the spring 2024. The preliminary results will be published in the congress poster.
During the initial discussions in the planning phase of the questionnaire, we have already found out contradictory views on sustainability dimensions among consumers and food sector actors. The results of this study will be valuable for the food companies and restaurants in the region for boosting the development of new sustainable food products.
Original languageEnglish
Publication statusPublished - 2024
MoE publication typeNot Eligible
EventEUROSENSE 2024: A Sense of Global Culture
11th Conference on Sensory and Consumer Research
- Dublin, Ireland
Duration: 8 Sept 202411 Sept 2024

Conference

ConferenceEUROSENSE 2024: A Sense of Global Culture
11th Conference on Sensory and Consumer Research
Country/TerritoryIreland
CityDublin
Period08/09/202411/09/2024

Fields of Science

  • 416 Food Science

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