engleski

Fruit and vegetable as functional food – Croatian consumers´ opinion

Public perception relating to fruit and vegetable as functional foods was investigated using a survey. The cross-relation of their perceptions was examined according to the gender, age and educational level. The main aim was to identify the public acceptance of the concept of functional food as well as possibilities of the marketing in this filed. In this paper a convenience sample was used and data were collected using a self-administrated questionnaire. The questionnaire was designed to assess opinions and attitudes about consumption and about fruit and vegetables as functional foods. Individuals of both genders (N = 628) aged from 19 to 65 with different education levels were interviewed. Stratification of the units from the sample has been made according to gender, age and educational structure as well as social-economic status of respondents in the sample. The study showed that over 45.7% of female consumers are familiar with the term functional food which is more than male consumers (36.5%). Results also indicate differences regarding education level and age because the majority of younger consumers with higher education are interested to pay more (34.6%) for vegetables and fruits. The consumers consider as most important the origin (67.5%) of fruits and vegetables and their quality (77.9%). The place of sale and the brand of the product seem not to be as important as expected (49.6%). The opinions are especially divided (p<0.05) according age and education level and not to the gender (p>0.05). The results have shown that general familiarity with functional food varies systematically as a function of age, gender and education level.

vegetable; functional food; consumers

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