Sulmont-Rossé C (1), Issanchou S (1), Enderli G (1), Verbeke W (2), Vanhonacker F (2), Contel M (3), Scalvedi ML (3), Zakowska-Biemans S (4), Sajdakowska M (4), Guerrero L (5), Guàrdia MD (5), Granli BS (6), Hersleth M (6)

1 UMR1129 FLAVIC, INRA, ENESAD, University of Burgundy, Dijon, France
2 Ghent University, Department of Agricultural Economics, Gent, Belgium
3 PERegions, Roma, Italy
4 Warsaw Agricultural University, Warsaw, Poland
5 IRTA, Centro de Tecnología de la Carne, Monells, Spain
6 Matforsk, Norwegian Food Research Institute, Ås, Norway

One of the main challenges in traditional food production is to improve competitiveness by identifying innovations which improve quality characteristics, while at the same time meet consumer expectations towards innovation in traditional foods. In order to identify such expectations, 550 consumers from six countries performed a dual sorting test. This test consisted in splitting off 24 innovations into two groups: one group consisting of the 12 innovations that were the least compatible with tradition and one group consisting of the 12 that were the most compatible with tradition. These 12 innovations compatible with tradition were in turn split into two equal groups, and this procedure was repeated until two groups of 3 were obtained. Innovations that were sorted in the non compatible group at the first, second and third step were respectively given a score of 0, 1 and 2. Innovations that were sorted in the compatible group at the last step were given a score of 3. Data were submitted to a chi-square analysis and to a cluster analysis. Results showed that improvements in safety and healthiness were well accepted in traditional food while changes in sensory quality were rejected, even if such changes contribute to more variety in choice (e.g., diversification of texture). Improvements in convenience that allow saving time (e.g., pre-cooked food) were also rejected: tradition needs time. Additionally, three clusters of consumers were observed. The first and the second cluster were respectively more willing to accept improvements in healthiness (e.g., reduction of fat content) and in convenience than the others. The third cluster only consented to innovations that preserved the authentic quality of traditional foods. To conclude, the dual sorting test proved to be an efficient tool to assess consumers’ attitudes with respect to innovation in tradition and to enlighten different attitude profile among consumers.

This work is part of the Integrated Project “Traditional United Europe Food” (TRUEFOOD) funded by the European Union (Sixth Framework Programme).