Abstract
Water scarcity is one of the top five key global risks over the last years, and agriculture is the major and least efficient user of fresh water. In this scenario, the “hydroSOStainable” concept has been developed and registered to protect fruits and vegetables cultivated with a volume of water below the crop evapotranspiration. The purpose of this experimental study was to investigate how the information influence the consumer liking and preference of the roasting almonds labelled as “hydroSOStainable” and “conventional”, although belonged to the same sample. Thus, we explored 300 consumers (Seville, Spain (high levels of water stress) versus Donostia, Spain and Wroclaw, Poland (regions with no water stress)) preference and acceptance of roasted almonds using satisfaction degree, CATA and willingness to pay questions. The present study demonstrated that both location and sociodemographic aspects influenced consumers perception and liking. Consumers living in areas with water restrictions were more susceptible to be influenced by the hydroSOStainable/conventional concept, while consumers from regions without water restrictions would need more information to choose a sustainable product. Both man and women, centennials and millennials scored higher the supposed hydroSOStainable almonds, while generation X was not really influenced by the information effect. Finally, 77% of consumers, regardless of location, were willing to pay a higher price for the almonds labelled “hydroSOStainable”. Consequently, these results provide valuable information for the government and food industry about consumer choice regarding sustainable products, depending on the location, knowledge, and sociodemographic aspects.
Highlights
Similar results were reported by authors working with table olives, which concluded that the “hydroSOStainable” logo caused a clear effect on consumer overall liking and green-olive flavor perception, increasing these attributes with 1.1 and 1.3 units, respectively, compared to the control samples [35]
Literature mainly focused on consumer behavior regarding recycling and energy saving but, limited research has addressed to consumer opinion about water consumption and sustainability
This study revealed that in general consumers were positively influenced by the “hydroSOStainable” concept, with consumers from Seville being the most sensitive ones
Summary
According to Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, the area covered with almonds trees in Spain (657768 ha) was in 2018, 1.5-fold higher than United States of America (USA 441107 ha); USA produces 4.5-fold more almonds than Spain [1]. This occurs because almond crop in Spain has been mainly grown traditionally in marginal lands under rainfed conditions [2]. The almond cultivated surface has increased, especially in irrigated areas previously occupied by other crops, in order to achieve yield intensification. The main reason behind it is because almonds are an economically and nutritionally valuable agricultural goods, widely consumed in the Mediterranean diet; the higher demand and the relevant increases in prices, between 6.0 and 8.5 € kg−1 during 2014–2016 and stabilized at ~6 € kg−1 farmer price after 2016 [3,4] were the main reason to introduce the irrigation methods
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