ACTITUDES AND PREFERENCES OF FRESH FRUIT AND VEGETABLES CONSUMERS. VALDIVIA, LOS RIOS REGION

Abstract

The consumption of fruit and vegetables, both locally and internationally, does not meet the recommendations of health organizations. As a result, several private and public initiatives promote adequate consumption habits and products that can provide the necessary elements for a right nutrition. In this context, the objective of this research was to characterize and analyze the behavior of fresh fruit and vegetables consumers in the city of Valdivia.

The methodology used to obtain the data included a semi-structured survey applied to 416 consumers of six commercial shops in Valdivia (2 markets, 2 groceries and 2 supermarkets) during September, October and November 2008. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistic methods.

Results show that the vegetables that exhibit the higher consumption (more than 82%) were lettuces, tomatoes and carrots, with 55% of the consumers stating that they eat these products on a daily basis. In the case of fruits, bananas and red apples were preferred by consumers with a comsumption level of 82% and 65%, respectively.

Consumers with high income levels prefer supermarkets and markets to buy these products, while low income consumers prefer groceries close to their homes. Fruit and vegetables consumers have incomes that range from $100.000 (US$ 200) to $700.000 (US$ 1.400) per month. Regarding the consumers gender, 55% of them were women and 45% were men. The most frequent ageof the consumers ranged between 30 and 40 years old, a range that represents 26% of the total surveyed people. Young (younger than 20 years old) and mature (over60 years old) consumers had the lower participation with less than 8% of the sample for each group.