Abstract
Consumers’ food preferences increasingly meet concerns of authenticity, health, origin, and sustainability, altogether attributes embodied in rural provenance food products. The dynamics of production, commercialization, and availability of these products in urban centers are growing stronger. This study aims to explore rural provenance food consumption and underlying motivations, the consumers’ images of products and provenance areas, and the influence of rural ties in consumption. Data from a survey directed to 1554 consumers of 24 urban specialty stores located in three Portuguese cities were analyzed. The analysis is based on the differences between frequent and sporadic consumers of Portuguese rural provenance food products. The two groups significantly differ in the reasons provided to acquire the products. Those who buy and consume these products more frequently especially value sensorial features, convenience, national provenance, and the impacts on rural development. Additionally, the motivations to choose rural provenance foods tend to pair with positive images of those products and of their territories of origin. This is intrinsically connected with familiarity, a nuclear notion that encompasses the symbolic images of the products and their origins as actual connections (familiar and otherwise) to rural contexts.
Highlights
The interest of both consumers and retailers in rural provenance food products has increased in recent years [1,2]
The purpose of this study is to identify and explore the main reasons underlying the valorization and preference for rural provenance foods, the images consumers associate with products and provenance areas, and the influence of rural ties, identifying the products acquired more in urban specialty food shops
To identify and analyze the main reasons underlying the preference for Portuguese rural provenance food products and unveil the differences between frequent and sporadic consumers, a survey was conducted between October 2020 and June 2021 on 1554 clients of 24 urban specialty food stores located in three Portuguese cities, Aveiro (n = 5), Porto (n = 10), and Lisbon (n = 9)
Summary
The interest of both consumers and retailers in rural provenance food products has increased in recent years [1,2]. According to Figueiredo [3], rural provenance foods may be defined as all the products whose distinct qualities are anchored in their rural place of production and are shaped by the respective biophysical conditions and food-related cultural traditions. Regional, traditional, authentic, gourmet, or organic [4,5], these products share this common denominator of being interwoven with specific places of origin, production processes and/or cultural features, and traditions [3,4]. The growing number (mainly in the last decade) of specialty stores selling rural provenance food in urban centers speaks favorably about new rural–urban connections and fluxes of people, products, capital, and knowledge [1,6]. It is argued that this recent phenomenon may influence the expansion and consolidation of agricultural production in
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