Convenience food products. Drivers for consumption.

Area of Science:

• Food Science
• Consumer Behavior
• Nutritional Science

Background:

• Convenience food consumption is a growing trend in the food industry.
• Traditional drivers like time and effort saving are insufficient predictors of consumption.
• Understanding diverse consumption drivers is crucial for the food business.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and analyze a broad spectrum of drivers influencing convenience food consumption.
• To categorize convenience food products and examine consumption patterns within these categories.
• To investigate the relationship between demographic, attitudinal, and skill-based factors and convenience food intake.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a convenience food frequency questionnaire to assess consumption behavior.
• Surveyed a representative sample of 918 individuals in German-speaking Switzerland.
• Categorized convenience food into highly processed, moderately processed, single components, and salads.

Main Results:

• Identified 15 significant drivers impacting overall or category-specific convenience food consumption.
• Age, concern for naturalness, nutrition knowledge, and cooking skills emerged as strong predictors.
• Consumption patterns varied across the four identified convenience food categories.

Conclusions:

• Consumption of convenience foods is influenced by a complex interplay of factors beyond mere time-saving.
• Demographics, health consciousness (naturalness), nutritional literacy, and culinary abilities significantly shape purchasing and consumption habits.
• Future strategies in the convenience food sector should consider these multifaceted drivers for effective market engagement.