Consumers’ Trust in Greek Traditional Foods in the Post COVID-19 Era

We are entering a new, unprecedented global economic and social era following the COVID-19 pandemic, in which there will be opportunities and threats for the goods and services provided. Traditional foods (TFs) could have their chances in the new food chain which will be developed, as long as they become the food of choice for the consumers of the future. This paper investigates consumers’ trust in Greek TFs, and northwest Greek TFs, in order to assess their potential consumption in the new economy. Trust was tested using the variables of safety, healthiness, sustainability, authenticity and taste, assessing consumers’ confidence and satisfaction with the TFs, their raw materials, and the technologies used for their production. A self-response questionnaire survey was carried out in May and June 2021 on a sample of 548 participants through the Google platform. In order to analyze the data, basic descriptive statistical tools were used, combined with crosstabs and chi-square tests. The results show that the participants trust the Greek TFs because they “strongly agree” by an average of 20%, and “agree” by an average of 50% that they are safe, healthy, sustainable, authentic and tasty. A similar pattern was recorded for the regional northwest Greek TFs as well. These results indicate that TFs could be the food of choice because they bear consumers’ trust in the coming “new normality”, where trust will be a major factor of choice for the purchase of goods and services.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Consumers’ Attitude and Perception Toward Traditional Foods of Northwest Greece during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

 Traditional foods (TFs) have a significant impact on the society and the economy of the  areas where they are produced. The COVID‐19 crisis, with the restrictions on daily living, is ex‐ pected to cause a long‐term influence on peoples’ lives worldwide. This paper investigates the con‐ sumers’ attitude and perception of TFs of northwest Greece in order to assess the possible impact of  the pandemic toward the consumption of this kind of food. A questionnaire survey of self‐response  was carried out in fall 2020 on a sample of 510 participants through the Google platform. To analyze  the data, basic descriptive statistical tools were used, combined with crosstabs and chi‐square tests.  The results revealed that the participants know the regional TFs well, continue to choose them due  to a number of reasons, which include: the quality to price ratio, being local products with local raw  materials, the nutritional properties, the social impact, as well as their positive impact to the regional  economy and promotion. They buy them primarily from the supermarkets. They would recom‐ mend them to others, and they have increased their consumption during the pandemic, even though  they consider their marketing inadequate, and they do not purchase them through the Internet yet.  They believe that consumers in other regions of Greece would buy them if they had access to them.  The foods of choice are traditional cheese and other dairy products, followed by wines, and aro‐ matic herbs, which are the main regional TFs. These results indicate that the COVID‐19 crisis has  not interfered in consumers’ attitudes and perceptions regarding TFs; therefore, they have the po‐ tential to expand and grow further in the future. In fact, they can play a vital role as major economic  drivers in the post‐COVID‐19 era for the regional and local economies of Europe and elsewhere. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio