Attitudes of a group of young Polish consumers towards selected features of dairy products
Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Institute of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Production Engineering, Nowoursynowska 166, PL02-787 Warsaw, Poland
*Correspondence: marek_gaworski@sggw.edu.pl
Abstract:
Consumer opinion surveys include key elements of improving the food market and assessing consumers’ approaches to current issues related to access to high-quality food. In the survey, which aimed to find out the opinions of young Polish consumers about dairy products, the focus was on issues related to the assessment of selected features of dairy products and their packaging, evaluation of regional products and innovations in dairy production. The methodology for assessing the significance of the features of dairy products and their packaging was based on the proposed feature significance index (FSI). In the carried out research, young respondents pointed to the importance of taste and quality of dairy products, and indicated the small role of packaging, determining the choice of products concerned. The ease of product identification based on packaging has gained the greatest importance among the assessed packaging features. Over two-thirds of respondents indicated that they did not pay attention to the biodegradability of dairy product packaging. When asked about regional dairy products, respondents paid most attention to their value resulting from natural methods of production without preservatives, and least to freshness. In the opinion of young consumers, access to regional products increases the certainty of using raw materials from a given region and facilitates the development of local agricultural business. A small percentage of young respondents showed knowledge of the idea of dairy production ‘from grass to glass’, which would indicate insufficient interest in innovative solutions in the dairy sector.
Key words:
biodegradation, consumer preferences, dairy products, packaging, regional products, young consumers