Consumer expectation and perception of ready-to-eat hybrid chicken-vegetable patty

Abstract

Designing a new food and placing the consumer as the central axis of the process guarantees a greater probability of product success in the market. The objectives of this work were: 1) To study consumer habits, preferences, and opinions on commercial foods of hybrid formulation of chicken meat and vegetables, and 2) To perform the design and sensory characterization of different ready-to-eat hybrid formulations. It was carried out from an online survey that included demographic, socioeconomic questions, consumption frequency of different types of food, and two completion tests. A total of 426 people completed the questionnaire 50% turned out to be "consumers" and 19% "potential consumers". Results showed that the groups differing in consumption of products, attached different sensations and motivations to hybrid products, "consumers" perceive this food as novel and healthy, these being the main motivations to acquire it, and, “non consumers´´are skeptical of convenience foods because the level of processing increases. Sensory characterization shows that chicken flavor, tasty and well-seasoned, were responsible for the most significant positive impact on the acceptability of the five samples. This study revealed that combining vegetables with chicken meat in a ready-to-eat patty presented acceptable sensory characteristics, so that it could be a good marketing option. Nonetheless, depending on consumer familiarity and attitude, different strategies need to be considered for introducing "less meat" products.