Research of consumer awareness of food quality labels in the Republic of Croatia

Područje sigurnosti i kvalitete hrane aktualno je u suvremenom svijetu zbog pojave niza bolesti uzrokovanih konzumacijom higijenski neprovjerenih ili nesigurnih prehrambenih proizvoda. Danas potrošači, uglavnom, nisu zadovoljni samo sa sigurnim i zdravstveno ispravnim proizvodima, nego žele višu kvalitetu života, ekološki prihvatljivije proizvode, te brinu o vlastitom zdravlju i zaštiti životinja. U radu su predstavljeni trendovi u prehrambenoj industriji, uloga čimbenika kvalitete prehrambenih proizvoda u ponašanju potrošača i procesu donošenja odluke o kupovini, te uloga trgovine i ostalih sudionika u kreiranju ponude proizvoda na tržištu. Tema rada je upoznatost potrošača s oznakama kvalitete prehrambenih proizvoda u Republici Hrvatskoj i za tu je svrhu provedeno online istraživanje putem anketnog upitnika u razdoblju od kolovoza 2019. do siječnja 2020. na uzorku od 160 ispitanika starijih od 15 godina. Rezultati su pokazali da potrošači u Hrvatskoj nisu dovoljno upoznati sa oznakama kvalitete prehrambenih proizvoda koje su prisutne na tržištu, s obzirom da je u prosjeku 33% ispitanika znalo ispravno povezati proizvod s pripadajućom oznakom kvalitete na kojem se ona nalazi. No, svakako se može zaključiti da su potrošači zainteresirani za ovu temu, s obzirom da većina ispitanika ipak čita deklaracije na prehrambenim proizvodima, te su spremni platiti višu cijenu ukoliko im se garantira viša razina kvalitete proizvoda.The domain of food safety and food quality is relevant in the contemporarily world due to appearance of a number of diseases caused by the consumption of hygienically untested or unsafe food products. Nowdays, consumers are not satisfied only with safe and healthy correct products, but they also want a higher quality of life, more enviromentally friendly products and also they care about their own health and protection of animals. The paper presents trends in the food industry, the role of food quality factors in consumer behavior and the purchasing decision-making process, also the role of the trade and other participants in creating product offerings in the market. The topic of the paper is consumer familiarity with food quality labels in Croatia and therefore an online survey was conducted in the form of a survey questionnaire in the period from August 2019 to January 2020 on a sample of 160 respondents over 15 years. The results showed that consumers in Croatia are not adequately familiar with the quality labels of food products that are present on the market, only 33% of respondents knew how to correctly connect the product with the corresponding quality label on which it is located. However, it can be concluded that consumers are not interested in this topic, according to most examinees still read the declarations on food products and are willing to pay a higher price if they are guaranteed a higher level of product quality