Consumer perceptions of local and organic foodsK. Roininen*(1), A. Arvola (1), J. Mäkelä (2), M.Isoniemi (2), S. Forsman-Hugg (3), J. Paananen (3), and L. Lähteenmäki (1)
(1) VTT Biotechnology, Finland;
(2) National Consumer Research Centre,
(3) MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Finland
 katariina.roininen vtt.fi
Marketing food products as local food seems to hold promising business opportunities for small enterprises in rural areas. Compared to organic food, the concept of local food is, however, quite new and there is no clear consensus about the definition of it. The aim of this study was to clarify how consumers understand the concept of local food, what benefits and disadvantages they relate to it and how these differ from those associated with organic, other domestic (=produced in Finland) and imported foods. Based on two qualitative studies, a questionnaire was developed on definition of local food, beliefs and attitudes towards concepts of local food, organic food, domestic food and imported food. A representative sample of Finnish internet users (N=1695) filled in this questionnaire.
Discriminant analysis of beliefs showed that the respondents perceived local, organic and domestic food very similarly, but as different from imported food. In comparison to imported food, local, organic and domestic foods were seen as having positive consequences for the domestic economy, as being less industrially produced, more natural, trustworthy, good quality and as having positive consequences e.g. for health.
The second function discriminated domestic foods from other foods with good availability and positive consequences for the domestic economy with highest loadings. The third function discriminated local food from other foods.
The beliefs most unique to local food were "support for the local small enterprise" and "difficult to identify in shops". The results also show that consumers' notions about organic and local foods share some common features, such as good taste, trustfulness, traditional production methods, small scale production and limited selection. Freshness, supporting local economy was rated higher in the case of local food compared to organic food, whereas, organic was rated as more clean, expensive and less processed than local food. These results confirmed our findings from the previous qualitative study.
Key words: local, organic, food
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This study is part of the Consumers, decision makers and local and organic food. Possibilities for SMEs project supported by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland.
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