Consumer Trends and Attitudes to Functional Foods

Abstract

Consumers' needs have grown to such an extent that they are sought out of nutritious and pleasant organoleptic foods, as well as functional foods. This study explores consumer attitudes towards health nutrition products and particularly functional foods, using data from a survey to 325 consumers. The results designate that consumers recognize different kinds of functional foods, willing to pay a premium for their purchase. They perceive that functional foods may contribute to easily follow a healthy and balanced diet and reduce the risk of health problems but appeared anxious about the health benefits these foods communicate in their labelling.

Keywords:

• Attitudes
• behavior
• consumer
• clustering
• functional foods

Acknowledgments

The authors are very grateful to the three reviewers and sincerely appreciate their effort to improve the text significantly. The study received no specific grant from any funding from public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors. The authors had no conflicts of interest in writing this paper.