Vol. 12, Special Issue 8 (2023)

Author(s):
Annie Kerketta, Biswajit Sen, Udita Chaudhary and Ajay Verma

Abstract:
The present study attempted to explain some of the factors which influenced the consumer’s perception regarding the consumption of the dairy-based functional foods. The monthly per capita consumption expenditure of households on the dairy-based functional foods was considered as dependent variables and influenced by the age of head of households, income of household, education of the head of households, type of occupation of the head of household and Dietary pattern of the household etc. The primary data were collected from the six wards of the Ranchi city. The perception index was slightly higher for income group III (0.709) compared to income group II (0.690) and income group I (0.642).The most important attribute for consumers was the economic attribute (0.712), followed by the safety attribute (0.691), nutrition and health attribute (0.663), and sensory attribute (0.652).The major constraints identified by consumers were lack of awareness and knowledge (0.88), followed by low availability (0.74), high price (0.71), less tasty (0.67), and low confidence (0.63). Study revealed that consumers, irrespective of their level of education or awareness of functional dairy foods, were hesitant to compromise on the flavour of dairy items, irrespective of how nutritious the product might be.