Factors affecting consumer choice of novel non-thermally processed fruit and vegetables products: Evidence from a 4-country study in Europe.

A wide variety of novel non-thermal processing technologies (NTPTs) are under development to meet the increasing consumer demand for high-quality fruit and vegetable (F&V) products. Understanding consumers' needs and possible barriers to acceptance of these technologies is however essential to assess the commercial feasibility of mildly processed F&Vs. Situated within this context, and extending previous work on the topic, in this paper we present results from a large-scale choice-based conjoint analysis consumer survey to investigate consumers' choice behavior towards NTPT-processed F&V products in four European countries - Denmark, Italy, Serbia, and Spain, using three model products - orange juice, iceberg salad, and cherry tomatoes respectively processed via three NTPT - mild processing, novel washing, and active packaging, compared to three conventional processing techniques - pasteurization, conventional washing, and conventional packaging, respectively.

European Consumers' Perceptions and Attitudes towards Non-Thermally Processed Fruit and Vegetable Products.

In order to meet the demand for high-quality fruit and vegetable (F&V) products, a wide variety of novel non-thermal processing (NTP) technologies are under development. This study used a qualitative focus group approach to investigate consumers' perception and attitudes towards non-thermally processed F&V products among young (18-30 years old) and middle-aged (45-60 y.o.