Consumer awareness, attitudes and preferences towards heritage cereals

Introduction Consumer trends are pointing towards local and regional food production, e.g. heritage cereals not least because of a rising interest for sustainability. It is well known that the sensory experience of a product is of greatest importance for the consumers, but also claims such as ancient, organic, or local may have a positive impact. Aim To investigate consumers’ awareness, attitudes and preferences towards heritage cereals. Further to study differences and similarities between different groups of consumers. Methods Swedish consumers, aged 18 years or older were invited to answer a web based questionnaire concerning awareness, knowledge and attitudes towards heritage cereals. Participation was anonymous and voluntarily. Results The total number of participants was 434. Spelt was the significantly most known variety among all participants. Knowledge about other varieties differed with participants’ geographic location. Bread followed by pasta were the most consumed cereal products, more than 99% of the participants consumed bread. The consumption of pasta was high among all groups except for the older consumers who consumed significantly less. Taste, flavour and freshness were the most important quality aspects of bread. It was found that texture, wholemeal flour as well as the origin of the cereal, were more important to women than to men. Bread and pasta are the most preferred future products based on heritage cereals and most consumers, except for the younger, are willing to pay a higher price. Discussion In line with other studies it was shown that sensory properties such as taste and texture are the most important factors for the consumers, nevertheless more important for women than for men. The willingness of paying a higher price for products based on heritage cereals indicated awareness about the importance of sustainable food production. Still, well known product categories are the most preferred future products among all consumers.