An innovative way of food labeling in supermarkets in the Republic of Serbia

Označavanje hrane u Republici Srbiji uređeno je Pravilnikom o deklariranju, označavanju i oglašavanju hrane (“Službeni glasnik RS”, br. 19/2017, 16/2018, 17/2020 i 118/2020). Promatranjem ponude ekoloških proizvoda u maloprodajnim objektima odabrano je 60 proizvoda na temelju kojih je utvrđeno da je svaki od odabranih proizvoda označen na propisani način: ima logotip “organski proizvod”, logo certifikacijske kuće, deklaraciju i nutritivnu tablicu. Kako bi se stvorila slika o preferencijama potrošača organske hrane, a time i o upotrebi deklaracija pri kupnji, bilo je potrebno ispitati ponašanje potrošača. Dublje razumijevanje preferencija potrošača ekološke hrane o ključnim elementima kupnje i korištenja deklaracija, uz odgovarajuću primjenu označavanja proizvoda, može omogućiti bolju komunikaciju između proizvoda i potrošača. Ovaj rad predstavlja neke od najvažnijih nalaza do kojih su autori došli na temelju kvantitativnog istraživanja u Beogradu. Ispitivanje potrošača provedeno je metodom anketnog upitnika. Od ukupnog broja ispitanika, njih 45,0 % uvijek čita podatke prikazane na deklaracijama, a njih 30,0 % iste i razumije. Ključni problemi koji otežavaju korištenje deklaracija pri kupnji su: podaci na deklaracijama proizvoda napisani su iznimno sitnim slovima (što mnogim potrošačima predstavlja veliki problem jer nisu u mogućnosti pročitati iste), nerazumijevanje, nepovjerenje, nemogućnost procjene kvalitete (nedostatak znanja), kao i nedostatak vremena za detaljno tumačenje. Kako bi se smanjio utjecaj ovih čimbenika, predložena je uporaba jednog od mnogih sustava označavanja na prednjoj strani pakiranja.Food labeling in the Republic of Serbia is regulated by the Rulebook on declaring, labeling and advertising of food (“Službeni glasnik RS”, No. 19/2017, 16/2018, 17/2020 and 118/2020). By observing the offer of organic products in retail outlets, 60 products were chosen. These 60 chosen products were accordingly marked by having an “organic product” logo, certification agency logo, declaration and a nutrition fact table. In order to observe consumer habits and attitudes towards organic food, and also to determine their knowledge about food declarations, it was necessary to examine consumers behaviour. By better understanding the preferences, attitudes and habits of organic food consumers about the key elements of purchasing and using declarations, with adequate labeling, it is possible to ensure better communication between products and consumers. This paper presents some of the most important findings that the authors came to on the basis of a quantitative research in Belgrade. A field survey was performed by using a questionnaire, the consumer survey was performed using the survey questionnaire method. Of the total number of respondents, 45.0% of them always read the information shown on the declarations, and 30.0% of the total number of respondents fully understand them. The main problems that make declaration reading during buying are: the information on the product declarations is written in extremely small letters (which is an extremely big problem for many consumers because they are not able to read them), then misunderstanding, mistrust, inability to assess quality (lack of knowledge ), as well as lack of time for detailed interpretation. To reduce the impact of these factors, the usage of one of the many labeling systems on the front of the package has been proposed