Understanding young immigrant Chinese consumers’ freshness perceptions of orange juices: A study based on concept evaluation

Freshness is a multidimensional attribute commonly encountered in everyday life and particularly in association with food. It awakens certain expectations from consumers, as it is a critical variable that affects the food quality and acceptability. The aim of this research was to identify sensory and non-sensory factors contributing to young immigrant Chinese consumers’ freshness perceptions of orange juices. Two focus groups were undertaken, where participants (n= 19) evaluated freshness of 20 orange juices and their corresponding packages. The qualitative data from these focus groups was combined with the results from a wide-ranging review of existing literature on orange juice characteristics as well as related consumers’ perceptions. From this, a set of 60 statements was derived with the purpose of representing the whole spectrum of possible viewpoints that young immigrant Chinese consumers might have about freshness. To obtain a holistic understanding of freshness, these statements were then used for sub-sequent sorting exercises using Napping and Q methodology (n= 20). Results showed that perceived freshness was related to an overall notion of healthy and natural. The young immigrant Chinese consumers defined freshness as a level of closeness to the orange, perceiving orange-like sensory qualities as fresh. Results also showed that freshness perceptions were greatly influenced by non-sensory attributes. Three distinct consumer perspectives were identified, with consumers in each of these perspectives holding homogeneous viewpoints about freshness. The new insights obtained from this research are important for food companies in determining long-term new product developments and in developing the marketing mix for products that are marketed on the freshness attribut

Parental attitudes toward weaning practices and weaning foods for health in Malaysia

The purpose of this paper is to gain insight on parental attitudes towards weaning practices and weaning foods for health in Malaysia using Q-methodology. The study population was parents that had a child aged three years or less. A total of 47 parents were recruited to partake in a one-on-one activity which involved sorting 69 statements about weaning practices and weaning food products into a grid that was normally distributed ranging from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree”. Sorting was immediately followed by a short interview to understand the reasons behind the placement of particular statements. Data analysis identified three statistically distinct participant attitudes towards weaning practices and foods for health that were then interpreted using the rich qualitative data from the post-sort interviews. The attitudes identified were “All Homemade and Natural”, “Commercial Convenience and Trust” and “Balance and Variety”. This study identified the dominant sets of attitudes held by Malaysian parents towards weaning practices and weaning foods for health using Q-methodology. To authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper focusing on weaning foods for health, specifically on functional weaning food. This new understanding of shared attitudes will allow product developers, marketers and health communicators to more effectively design their products and their marketing mix to ensure that these messages resonate well with the target audience who want to provide the best weaning foods possible for their children

A Qualitative Study of Malaysian Parents’ Purchase Intention of Functional Weaning Foods using the Theory of Planned Behavior

In this study, qualitative research methods were used to explore the behavioral, normative, and control beliefs underpinning parents’ decisions to purchase functional weaning food products.Seven focus groups were conducted with 44 parents in two locations in Malaysia (Sabah and Selangor). Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior theoretical framework, participants were prompted with questions about commercial weaning foods including functional weaning foods and shown several different products to stimulate discussion. Important behavioral beliefs (product attributes, babies’ needs and suitability of the product, perceived healthiness), referrals and influences (family and friends’ opinions and experiences, internet and social media influence, health professionals’ recommendation and advice) and facilitating and inhibiting factors (trust and confidence, brand and cost, and product availability and options) were identified. Overall functional weaning food purchase intention was influenced positively and negatively by behavioral, normative and control beliefs. To increase the awareness and commercial product knowledge on weaning food are suitable for their children, more information on functional weaning food products from reliable sources that can reach the parents and other potential customers is needed. Government, health professionals and manufacturers should work together to develop a better way to inform parents about functional weaning foods

Effect of information on Chinese consumers’ acceptance of thermal and non-thermal treated apple juices: A study of young Chinese immigrants in New Zealand

This study examined the effects of technology information on Chinese consumers’ acceptance of thermaland non-thermal treated apple juices. Apple juice was treated using thermal, high hydrostatic pressureprocessing and pulsed-electric field processing methods and compared to untreated apple juice. The fourjuices were evaluated by 118 Chinese consumers in three testing conditions: (a) blind (rating acceptanceof the apple juices without any information), (b) label (rating acceptance of the apple juice labels contain-ing different technology information without tasting the juices), and (c) informed (rating acceptance ofthe apple juices by tasting the juices and observing the labels containing different technology informa-tion). Results showed that technology information had the strongest positive influence on consumers’acceptance for untreated and high hydrostatic pressure processed apple juices. No effect of technologyinformation on the acceptance of pulsed-electric field treated apple juice was observed. Acceptance was lower for thermal treated apple juice, but its sensory characteristics were good enough to minimize the negative effect of technology information on acceptability. The findings of this study help manufacturers understand how technology information affect Chinese consumers’ acceptance of apple juices. When marketing non-thermal processed beverages, especially high hydrostatic pressure processed ones, to young and educated Chinese consumers, food manufacturers are recommended to focus on technology information as a selling point as this information strongly influences expectations and acceptance of the product. However, it should be noted that sensory characteristics are also important factors driving consumer acceptance and hence repeated consumption

Investigating consumers’ perception of apple juice as affected by novel and conventional processing technologies

This work evaluates consumers’ perception of apple juice processed by high pressure processing (HPP) and pulsed electric field (PEF) compared with thermal processing. As a case study, young Chinese immi grants living in New Zealand were selected. Targeting a broad understanding of process impact, three industrially relevant apple cultivars (New Zealand Jazz, Rose and Granny Smith) were chosen. The con sumer study was performed using napping with ultra-flash profiling technique (n = 38). The process impact on sensory perception seems to vary among the investigated apple cultivars. For Jazz and Granny Smith apple cultivars, PEF- and HPP-treated juices are perceived as fresh, natural, sweet and balanced flavour. For Rose apple cultivar, however PEF-processed juices appear to be perceived as fresh flavour in comparison with HPP and thermally treated juices. Moreover, thermal processing caused cooked flavour. With respect to colour, immediately after processing, HPP retains the natural apple juice colour compared with other treatments

Analisis bobot faktor yang mempengaruhi kinerja departemen Produksi PT X

PT."X" adalah perusahaan yang bergerak di bidang industri perhiasan emas yang berlokasi di Surabaya. Departemen produksi Hollow PT. 'X' sebagaimana perusahaan lainnya tidak terlepas dari proses pengambilan keputusan dengan mempertimbangkan banyak aspek/faktor di dalam prosesnya. Departemen produksi perlu menentukan faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi keputusan, baik langsung maupun tidak langsung, beserta tingkat kepentingan (bobot)dan pengaruh hubungan antar faktor-faktor tersebut, sehingga dapat membantu perusahaan terutama dalam pengambilan keputusan di departemen produksi Hollow. Keputusan yang tepat melalui strategi-strategi yang digunakan perusahaan akan mempengaruhi kinerja dan keberhasilan perusahaan..

Application of Novel Thermal Technology in Foods Processing

Advanced and novel thermal technologies, such as ohmic heating and dielectric heating (e [...

Combined Effects of Calcium Addition and Thermal Processing on the Texture and In Vitro Digestibility of Starch and Protein of Black Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris)

Legumes are typically soaked overnight to reduce antinutrients and then cooked prior to consumption. However, thermal processing can cause over-softening of legumes. This study aimed to determine the effect of calcium addition (0, 100, 300, and 500 ppm in the form of calcium chloride, CaCl2), starting from the overnight soaking step, in reducing the loss of firmness of black beans during thermal processing for up to 2 h. The impact of calcium addition on the in vitro starch and protein digestibility of cooked beans was also assessed. Two strategies of calcium addition were employed in this study: (Strategy 1/S1) beans were soaked and then cooked in the same CaCl2 solution, or (Strategy 2/S2) cooked in a freshly prepared CaCl2 solution after the calcium-containing soaking medium was discarded. Despite the texture degradation of black beans brought about by increasing the cooking time, texture profile analysis (TPA) revealed that their hardness, cohesiveness, springiness, chewiness, and resilience improved significantly (p < 0.05) with increasing calcium concentration. Interestingly, beans cooked for 2 h with 300 ppm CaCl2 shared similar hardness with beans cooked for 1 h without calcium addition. Starch and protein digestibility of calcium-treated beans generally improved with prolonged cooking. However, calcium-treated beans cooked for 1 h under S2 achieved a reduced texture loss and a lower starch digestibility than those beans treated in S1. A lower starch digestion could be desired as this reflects a slow rise in blood glucose levels. Findings from this result also showed that treating black beans with high level of CaCl2 (i.e., 500 ppm) was not necessary, otherwise this would limit protein digestibility of cooked black beans