Consumer Attitudes for Asian Vegetables in Direct Markets
Because the demand for Asian vegetables is rapidly increasing in the United States, these crops may provide local market growers new revenue opportunities with high returns per acre. However, consumer attitudes and purchasing habits regarding Asian vegetable crops are poorly understood. Therefore, consumers were surveyed in two direct-market venues (on-farm and farmers market) to measure their familiarity and preferences for Asian vegetables. Attributes that may influence buying decisions such as purchase frequency, consumption behavior, and knowledge of preparation and use were measured. Respondents were generally not familiar with fresh Asian vegetables. Although greater than 80% consumed less than 5 lb per year and less than once per month, the consumers surveyed expressed a strong interest to learn more about these vegetables. Consumers purchased Asian vegetables most often at supermarkets (29.4%) and restaurants (28.1%), and much less at local direct markets (12.5%). Results also indicated that Asians as well as consumers with higher income levels were most likely to consume these vegetables. Thirty-eight percent of consumers strongly indicated that the availability of recipes for various Asian vegetables at direct markets would increase the likelihood for purchase; thus, the opportunity exists to add these vegetables to local production and marketing systems, if recipes were made available at the point-of-purchase.