Consumption and Preference of Tropical Vegetables in the Special Region of Yogyakarta

Abstract

Tropical vegetables are essential food sources for health. However, the consumption of vegetables in the Special Region of Yogyakarta is yet relatively low. Meanwhile, the Special Region of Yogyakarta has the potential to supply vegetable commodities. The research objective is to determine the consumption and consumer preference of the attributes of tropical vegetables. The sample of research locations were purposively selected, i.e., Colombo Market, Kranggan Market, Niten Market, Playen Market, Mirota Kampus, Superindo, and the Agrotechnology Innovation Center (PIAT UGM). The number of respondents was determined by accidental sampling with the survey of 115 respondents. Consumption of tropical vegetables is analyzed descriptively, and consumer preferences are analyzed using the Fishbein analysis. The results showed that the highest to the lowest order of tropical vegetable consumption were purple eggplant, long beans, cucumber, tomato, and chili. In addition, attributes from the preferences of tropical vegetable consumers include freshness, hygiene, convenience, benefits, color, packaging, size, taste, organic, label, and texture. The order of preference for tropical vegetables includes tomatoes, long beans, purple eggplants, chili, and cucumbers.