УКРАЇНСЬКІ SUPERFOODS: ЕКОНОМІЧНІ, ЕКОЛОГІЧНІ, ПСИХОФІЗІОЛОГІЧНІ, ГАСТРОКУЛЬТУРНІ АСПЕКТИ

Abstract

The article examines the factors that caused the growth of the segment of consumers choosing balanced, healthy, ecologically clean and safe food. The characteristics of the products named "superfoods", their composition, and their properties to have a health-improving effect on the human body are presented. At the same time, superfoods represent a luxury food product for many consumers, and research has linked traditional luxury foods to higher average food prices. Features of the superfood market and its growth rates are discussed. It emphasizes the negative aspects of globalization and the development of international logistics networks, which increasingly facilitate the marketing of food products from different countries and, therefore, beyond traditional sales periods. The specified advantages of creating short food chains for consumers of organic products, who get the opportunity to independently evaluate the ecological and social characteristics of products, and for their producers, who can take advantage of modern technological developments, solving the observed process of perception of the quality of food products. In addition, short food chains show greater resilience to external shocks, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian-Ukrainian war. The analysis of the superfood market of Ukraine and its development prospects is presented. A retrospective review of the use of products with an increased biological and functional value in traditional Ukrainian gastronomic culture is presented. These are the main products that fully meet the definition of "superfoods" and can be offered to domestic consumers. The possibilities for expanding the assortment of high-quality food products are given in the use of flax seeds as whole grain seeds, flour, and oil. A conclusion was made about the possibility of replacing expensive foreign superfoods with domestic products that are no less valuable, but affordable to a wide segment of consumers. The economic, ecological, psychophysiological, and gastrocultural significance of the increase in the production of Ukrainian superfoods is considered. There are proposed communication and marketing strategies for popularizing Ukrainian regional superfoods.