Consumer behavior of organic and functional foods in Brazil

MARTINS, Adalgisa Paula de Oliveira; BEZERRA, Maria de Fátima; MARQUES JÚNIOR, Sérgio; BRITO, André Fonseca; ANDRADE NETO, Júlio César de; GALVÃO JÚNIOR, José Geraldo Bezerra; LIMA JÚNIOR, Dorgival Morais de; RANGEL, Adriano Henrique do Nascimento

doi:10.1590/fst.03519

Brasil

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Original Article • Food Sci. Technol 40 (2) • Apr-Jun 2020 • https://doi.org/10.1590/fst.03519 linkcopy

Consumer behavior of organic and functional foods in Brazil

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Abstract

The objective of this study was to correlate the gender and behavior of consumers of organic foods enriched with functional properties. The study was carried out by investigating the profile of organic and functional food consumers through the application of a questionnaire. A total of 1230 responses (of the questionnaire) were collected from people from all Brazilian states through social networks and e-mails following the snowball technique during the months of February and March 2017. The results showed that women expressed greater interest in consuming organic foods enriched with functional properties compared to men. Men and women agree that organic food are produced in a sustainable. Their high price, difficult access, irregular supply and availability in few establishments were highlighted as the main limiting factors for not consuming organic food, while an increased motivation (of consumption) was related to the awareness that organic foods are healthier and can improve quality of life. Fruits and vegetables are the most consumed organic foods among men and women, however women consume more functional foods than men. Thus, there are few differences in behavior and eating habits of organic foods between men and women.

Keywords: healthy foods; consumption frequency; reasons for consumption; quality of life

WOULDP	OFTENO	TRUSTO	OFINTE	NCVS
I would not pay anything more	Never	I do not trust it	None	1
I would pay up to 10% more	Almost never	I trust it a little	A little interested	2
I would pay up to 20% more	Sometimes	I’m indifferent	Indifferent	3
I would pay up to 30% more	Often	I trust it	Interested	4
I would pay more than 40%	Always	I trust it a lot	Very interested	5

DIMENSIONS	VARIABLES	CODES
Degree of knowledge of organic foods consumer. What is an organic food for you?	Organic foods are those produced in an environmentally sustainable way	SUSTEN
	Organic foods are those without preservatives	NOPRSV
	Organic foods are those produced without chemical fertilizers or pesticides	NOPEST
	Organic foods are natural	NATUR
	Organic foods are obtained in production systems that preserve animal welfare, the environment and human health.	PRESER
Limiting Causes for Organic Food Consumption. What are the main reasons that limit your consumption of organic foods?	High price	HIGHPR
	Lack of interest	LINTER
	Lower quality	LQUALI
	Low variety	LVARIE
	Lack of confidence	LCONFI
	Difficult access	ACCESS
	Irregular offer	IOFFER
	Availability limited to a few establishments	LIMAVA
Reason for organic food consumption. Why do you consume organic foods?	Because they are tastier	TASTIE
	Because they are more nutritious	NUTRIT
	Because I have environmental awareness	AWAREN
	Because they improve the quality of life	QUALIF
	Because they are healthier	HEALTH
Establishments for purchase of organic foods. Where do you usually purchase organic foods?	Supermarkets	SUPERM
	Directly from the production site	PRODSIT
	Organic markets	ORGMKT
	Greengrocer	GGROCE
	Natural Product Stores	NAPRST
	Own production/I grow my own	OWNPRO
Most consumed organic foods. Which organic foods do you consume the most?	Organic fruits and vegetables	FRUVEG
	Organic Milk and its derivatives (of animal origin)	OGMILK
	Organic certified eggs	OCEGGS
	Organic certified meat (poultry, beef, goat, sheep and pork)	OCMEAT
	Organic certified fish	OCFISH
	Organic bee products (honey, pollen and royal jelly)	OCBEEP
	Organic cereals and its derivatives	OCEREA
Most consumed functional foods. Which functional foods do you usually consume?	Soybeans, maize and whole grains (oats, rye, barley and wheat bran) and its derivatives.	FUNSOY
	Flaxseed and its derivatives, nuts and almonds.	FUNFLA
	Green tea, red wine and artichoke.	FUNTEA
	Fruits (apple, purple grape, watermelon, cashew, red guava, blackberries, raspberries, cherries, pequi and citrus fruits).	FUNFRU
	Vegetables (tomatoes and derivatives, green leaves, cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, radish, bell peppers and onions)	FUNVEG
	Condiments (garlic, mustard, basil and nutmeg).	FUNCON
	Probiotic dairy derivatives (fermented milks and probiotic yogurts, and probiotic cheeses).	FUNPRO

Variables	Female (N=846)		Male (N= 384)		t	p
Variables	$\bar{x}$	s	$\bar{x}$	s	t	p
SUSTEN	8.29	2.39	7.78	2.79	3.10	0.02
NOPRSV	8.18	2.87	7.90	2.97	1.55	0.12
NOPEST	9.42	1.42	9.10	2.00	2.84	< 0.00
NATUR	8.65	2.45	8.62	2.38	0.19	0.02
PRESER	8.98	1.86	8.40	2.57	3.97	< 0.00

	Variables	Female		Male		t	p
	Variables	$\bar{x}$	s	$\bar{x}$	s	t	p
Limiting consumption causes Female (n=846) Male (n=384)	HIGHPR	8.24	2.36	8.01	2.32	1.60	0.10
	LINTER	2.34	3.09	3.29	3.20	-4.86	< 0.00
	LQUALI	0.92	1.99	1.59	2.53	-4.55	< 0.00
	LVARIE	3.65	3.29	4.05	3.23	-2.00	0.04
	LCONFI	3.33	3.33	3.57	3.36	-1.12	0.26
	ACCESS	6.92	2.94	6.89	2.90	0.19	0.84
	IOFFER	6.18	3.08	6.42	2.90	-1.34	0.18
	LIMAVA	7.82	2.51	7.53	2.55	1.90	0.05
Reasons for consumption Female (N=802) Male (N=360)	TASTIE	6.92	2.86	6.27	2.97	3.45	0.01
	NUTRIT	7.90	2.57	6.98	2.83	5.26	< 0.00
	AWAREN	7.98	2.27	7.41	2.58	3.61	< 0.00
	QUALIF	8.87	1.71	8.30	2.21	4.31	< 0.00
	HEALTH	9.34	1.42	9.08	1.60	2.68	< 0.00

	Variables	Female		Male		t	p
	Variables	$\bar{x}$	s	$\bar{x}$	s	t	p
Locations for purchase Female (N=802) Male (N=360)	SUPERM	5.89	3.53	5.53	3.49	1.64	0.10
	PRODSIT	3.59	3.76	3.88	3.76	-1.21	0.22
	ORGMKT	5.45	3.89	5.44	3.81	0.05	0.95
	GGROCE	3.67	3.68	3.45	3.40	1.00	0.31
	NAPRST	5.39	3.69	4.78	3.65	2.62	< 0.00
	OWNPRO	3.30	3.91	3.42	4.08	-0.47	0.63
Most consumed organic products Female (N=802) Male (N=360)	FRUVEG	6.34	2.53	6.24	2.71	0.58	0.55
	OCMLK	3.14	3.20	3.21	3.31	-0.36	0.71
	OCEGGS	4.05	3.70	3.34	3.60	3.09	< 0.00
	OCMEAT	2.07	2.83	2.23	2.96	-0.85	0.39
	OCFISH	1.91	2.93	2.26	3.14	-1.80	0.07
	OCBEEP	4.84	3.76	4.20	3.67	2.69	< 0.00
	OCEREA	3.95	3.41	3.98	3.48	-0.12	0.90
Most consumed functional foods Female (N=846) Male (N=384)	FUNSOY	5.90	3.19	5.46	3.42	2.14	0.03
	FUNFLA	5.58	3.50	4.27	3.37	6.25	< 0.00
	FUNTEA	3.97	3.48	3.33	3.27	3.12	< 0.00
	FUNFRU	7.48	2.78	6.60	3.00	4.89	< 0.00
	FUNVEG	8.06	2.42	7.22	2.82	5.06	< 0.00
	FUNCON	6.48	3.38	5.29	3.61	5.42	< 0.00
	FUNPRO	4.74	3.55	4.34	3.49	1.86	0.06

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[1] WOULDP = willingness to pay more for an organic cheese; OFTENO = frequency of organic consumption; TRUSTO = level of confidence that food is organic; OFINTE = interest in consuming organic foods with functional properties; NCVS = number corresponding to the verbal scale.