📩 27/09/2023 11:44
In the world and in Turkey, the increase in food prices and the trend towards organic-functional foods are changing consumer preferences. Regardless of their economic situation, consumers prioritize the price-quality balance and determine their preferences according to these criteria.
It is also reflected in research that consumers pay more attention to packaging and labels than before. Especially in food preferences, 90.6 percent give importance to the brand.
“The food market in Turkey is growing, especially in organic and functional products, despite the economic contraction. We can say that global trends associate quality in food with health and packaging. There is a trend in the world towards locally sourced products. “Locally sourced products will gain more importance in Turkey in 3-5 years.” Food Engineer, Karma Group Sales and Marketing Coordinator Sinem Bahçekapılı said:
“Consumers prioritize healthy eating and do price research.”
“Price increases in food have caused consumers to pay attention to the price-quality balance. Consumers have now discovered the importance of reading labels when looking at food packaging. 51 percent of consumers research prices when purchasing products, and 45 percent look at the cost-benefit relationship. The rate of those who consider nutritional value and read label information is 44 percent. Globally, 54 percent only shop from brands they trust. 57 percent of consumers research extensively, while 51 percent want a specially designed product.
“The brand can speak for itself in the packaging”
Increasing prices in food day by day started to raise consumer expectations from the product... User experience also became quality-oriented. User awareness of quality is increasing. In order for food brands to be sustainable and protect their brand reputation in the eyes of consumers, there should be no difference between the user's perception of quality and experience. If there is a difference, the consumer loses confidence and changes his preferences. When deciding to purchase a food product, 88 percent of consumers care about the completeness and accuracy of the product's content and information. Consumers pay most attention to product information in milk and dairy products, white and red meat delicatessen products. “89 percent of consumers care about the completeness and accuracy of product content and information when deciding to purchase a food product.”
Stating that the consumer's effort to understand the price-quality balance pushes him to pay more attention to packaging and labels, Bahçekapılı stated the following on the subject: “Packaging and labels are at least as important as other media for quality communication, because the brand can speak on its own behalf with packaging. Packaging and labels are also an important source of information globally. We see that information sources are shifting further to single-source sources. Recommendations and user comments are increasing.”
"Brands don't tell the truth"
“72 percent of consumers say they have never heard of the concept of traceability in food before, meaning the consumer is just discovering traceability.” Bahçekapılı explained that citizens do not trust brands with the following figures: "While only 27 percent of the consumers say that they trust the information on the product, 83 percent want more detailed information about the products. With these figures, the citizen tells us that 'brands do not tell the truth.' he warned. The most important element of trust for consumers is the impartial transfer of information through reliable and directly observable channels. Providing documents/certificates/evidence in quality perception is not enough for the consumer without providing trust. ”
Saying that the brand should be transparent to ensure the trust of the consumer, Sinem Bahçekapılı said, “Although the share of people who read the quality statements on the packaging has increased in our country, that is, if the user keeps track of documents, certificates and content, their knowledge of what these are is not at the ideal level. To explain it numerically; “77 percent of users think it is very important to have the document, but only 44 percent think they have information about these certificates.” said.
“Quality on the Shelf” will be viewed in terms of Consumer Trends and Sustainability.”
Bahçekapılı stated that quality perception communication is being rediscovered day by day in terms of the food industry, and said that meetings such as seminars and workshops organized on this subject are very valuable for the development of the sector.
“In this sense, we will approach “Quality on the Shelf” from the perspective of Consumer Trends and Sustainability at the “Quality and Product Experience Seminar” hosted by Istinye University on 23-24 November 2023.” said Bahçekapılı in the seminar. Consumer behavior, consumer communication, consumer trends; waste recovery strategies and cost calculations in the supply chain; new trends in functional foods; He stated that they will discuss many issues such as the strength of packaging, shelf life analysis and design.
"There should be no difference between perception and experience"
Stating that these preferences of the citizens determine the perception of product quality, Food Engineer and Karma Group Sales and Marketing Coordinator Sinem Bahçekapılı said: "Talking about the average quality expectation of the food industry is not enough to create a perception of quality. When managing the perception of quality, we must invest in every stage of the process. “There should not be much difference in terms of quality between the perception given before the user experience and what the user experiences afterwards.” he said.
Pointing out that trust and consistency are emotional concepts that can be achieved with quality, Bahçekapılı stated that it is important for the brand to decide which type or types of quality it will emphasize in order to create the perception of quality.