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Respondents’ attitudes towards meat and meat alternatives: propensity and reasons for meat reduction (Panel (A)); preferred options to replace meat (Panel (B)); meat alternatives acceptable for Italians (Panel (C)); expressed as % values.
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Growing worldwide food demand with its environmental impacts requires a reshaping of food consumption. This study aims to evaluate the degree of Italian consumers’ awareness of sustainability and whether protein alternatives to meat could be accepted. A cross-sectional survey was carried out on a group of 815 respondents, representative of the Ital...
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Citations
... This study builds up on data from a previous investigation by Aureli et al. (2023), which identified five consumer clusters based on the importance attributed to meat in diet, the intention to adopt more sustainable food choices, and the demand for (inter)national regulatory measures. The findings from that study indicated that significant portion of the Italian population is open to change and supports stricter regulations from the European Union. ...
... The dataset utilised in this study was derived from the cross-sectional survey detailed in the paper by Aureli et al. (2023). The sample included 815 adults (aged between 18 and 65 years) living in Italy, recruited with the help of the specialised market research agency, SWG Italy®. ...
... Complete socio-demographic information on the studied sample are reported in Table 1 and could be found in the already-mentioned paper (Aureli et al. 2023). For the purpose of the present work, it is important to note that socio-demographic characteristics of the sample were consistent with the overall socio-demographic composition of the Italian population (ISTAT 2020) as far as gender, age, and area of residence. ...
The actual food system negatively impacts human health and the environment. to promote sustainable food consumption, a cross-sectional survey of 815 italian adults, representative for age,
gender, and geographical areas, explored consumer perceptions and purchasing barriers. Correspondence and cluster analysis were applied. Most respondents identified sustainable foods
as having low environmental impact (88.6%), being healthy (81.3%), and locally sourced (81.2%). However, high prices and unclear labelling emerged as key obstacles. the cluster analysis identified four consumer groups. Notably, even the group aware of sustainability issues (aware consumers with barriers – cluster 2) still struggled to make sustainable choices due to persistent obstacles. Conversely, a small segment (Ditched consumers – cluster 1), despite high socio-economic and educational status, showed no interest in sustainability. These results highlight the complex nature of barriers to sustainable consumption, shaped by diverse sociodemographic factors. Tailored strategies are needed to overcome these obstacles and support more sustainable consumer behavior
... Apart from this, the dimension on meat and plant-based alternative was also correlated with educational level. In this case greater educational level was positively associated with less barriers toward meat intake moderation which is in accordance with previous studies (Aureli et al., 2023;Kenny et al., 2023;Milford et al., 2019). Kenny et al. (2023) suggested that individuals with higher educational level often believe that current meat consumption is excessive and should be limited accordingly, thus leading to the uptake of plant-based meat alternatives. ...
A transition towards sustainable and healthy diet(SHD) is crucial for both population and planetary health. However, changing consumer’s behaviour is challenging due to the many factors influencing food choices. Tools that comprehensively assess these factors are paramount, yet none are available in Spain. Hence, we created and validated the SALSA questionnaire to capture self-perceived barriers and facilitators for SHD. The process involved three phases: First, item development combining insights from a scoping review and content validity with experts(n = 9) and the target population(n = 38); Second, scale development by pre-testing the questionnaire(n = 4), administering it through an online survey to two samples(Dimensionality-Sample, n = 516; Reliability-Sample, n = 61), and applying exploratory factor analysis for factors extraction and item reduction; Third, scale evaluation by testing its dimensionality through confirmatory factor analysis, its reliability through Cronbach’s alpha and McDonald’s omega, and intra-class correlation coefficient, and construct validity through discriminant validity, convergent validity, and correlation analysis. Results yielded a questionnaire with 27 items grouped into four dimensions: personal factors, sociocultural factors, external factors, and meat and plant-based meat alternatives. The psychometric analysis revealed that the SALSA questionnaire is a reliable instrument to identify behavioural determinants.
... Studies show that a significant portion of consumers are sceptical (Macdiarmid et al., 2016) or limitedly aware of the environmental impacts of their food choices (Aureli et al., 2023;Mann et al., 2018). The prevailing consumer attitude tends to be more egocentric, valuing health Rickerby & Green, 2024) and quality over environmental or social sustainability (Annunziata & Mariani, 2018). ...
... In addition, BSF can be refined into a whole range of raw materials for the chemical and energy industry, including fuel production (Barragan-Fonseca et al., 2017;Maroušek, 2023). While insects constitute a significant portion of the diet of over 2 billion people globally, their consumption has not gained popularity in the USA and the EU, either as a food source or as an ingredient in animal feed (Aureli et al., 2023). ...
Significant progress in Hermetia illucens (hereinafter BSF) rearing and refining over the last 2 decades has attracted attention of many investors all over the globe. In subtropical and tropical regions, emerging businesses are rapidly expanding to capitalize on the semi-automated conversion of food waste into a wide range of higher value-added products. In the Northern Hemisphere, however, regulatory bodies intervene more strictly, and the volume of the insect economy remains below its potential. Review of the state of knowledge that was followed analysis of BSF competitiveness in Central Europe was performed. Synthesis of acquired knowledge made it possible to identify original and economically promising BSF business concepts which comply with EU legislation.
... Poultry consumption is anticipated to rise as high as 152 million tons (FAOSTAT, 2024). Such a shift in consumption patterns may be influenced by concerns about health and the environment and altering consumer preference and purchasing power (Aureli et al., 2023;Cobanoglu et al., 2014;Mohammadi et al., 2023). One of the consumers' preferences is to use healthy food products and avoid consuming food containing antibiotics (Oviedo-Rondon, 2016). ...
Meat is one of the most essential food items in household consumption baskets. Despite the unprecedented attention worldwide given to the status of meat demand, there is currently no study that estimates meat demand considering income deciles. The primary goal of this study is to address this research gap. This study aimed to estimate the demand function and demand elasticities for various types of meat, including beef, lamb, chicken, and fish, across different income deciles of urban households in Iran using a seemingly unrelated regression method from 1994 to 2023. To achieve this goal, we estimated various flexible demand systems, such as AIDS, CBS, ROTTERDAM, and NBR models, by incorporating consumption habits effects for each decile. We then compared these models based on the number of significant coefficients in each decile, ultimately selecting the superior model. The results showed that all own-price elasticities in the first to tenth deciles are as theoretically expected and negative. Income elasticities in all deciles became positive, indicating that goods in household consumption baskets are normal. Cross-price elasticity results show that the reaction of various types of meat to price and income changes in different deciles is different, with some being substitutes in some deciles and complements in others. Furthermore, the results of consumption habits coefficients indicate that these coefficients are significant in some equations at a 5% level; therefore, neglecting the effects of consumption habits can lead to biases in estimating the demand function and consequently result in incorrect analysis of household consumption patterns. Hence, it is recommended that the effect of consumption habits be examined in demand analysis studies regarding meat.
... Commercialising insect-based food (IBF) in Western markets must overcome considerable consumer resistance to eating insects (Aureli et al., 2023). Despite evidence of widespread disgust and food neophobia about entomophagy (Sogari, Riccioli, et al., 2023;White et al., 2023), research has also identified potential early adopters of IBF in Western countries (House, 2016;Khalil et al., 2024;Rovai et al., 2021). ...
... This is similar to findings of prior studies in Germany (BMEL, 2023;Gassler et al., 2024;Orsi et al., 2019), confirming the existence of potential early adopters and indicating growth potential for the IBF market within Germany's alternative protein market. In comparison to recent studies on consumer acceptance in other European countries, this value demonstrates a lower level of acceptance compared to Spain (Khalil et al., 2024), but higher compared to Italy (Aureli et al., 2023;Valesi et al., 2024) and Poland (Szlachciuk & Ż akowska-Biemans, 2024). ...
Despite well-documented scepticism among Western consumers about eating insects, there are groups of potential early adopters who will form the initial market for insect-based food. Understanding the different preferences of these potential early adopters is key to developing effective targeted marketing actions. This study aimed to identify segments of potential early adopters and their distinct product attribute preferences. Via an online survey in Germany (N = 922), we conducted discrete choice experiments using real packaging of insect-based meatballs and crackers. Latent class logit analysis identified four consumer segments for each product, three of which showed a willingness to buy the products. While these potential consumer groups varied in their price sensitivity and insect labelling preferences, they all attached the greatest importance to naturalness claims. Interestingly, sustainability and nutritional information were not top priorities for all consumers; instead we observed the importance of an institutional trust indicator, especially for unconvinced consumers. In conclusion, the results of the present study provide interesting insights for both researchers and practitioners to make informed marketing decisions in the development and labelling of insect-based products.
Meat consumption is growing steadily. As with any research, meat investigation requires an overall view of the study field to identify current directions and reveal prospective trends. The number of publications on meat research is growing steadily and reaching several thousand publications per year. This creates difficulties in covering all available information in the field and forces researchers to increasingly limit themselves to narrow issues in their direction. We analysed the main trends in meat research published recently and ten years ago. We identified areas of research in the field of meat based on abstracts of articles with the word “meat” in the title published in the Web of Science database in the time intervals 2000–2003, 2010–2013 and 2020–2023. We also mapped terms from articles directly related to meat using VOSviewer and the OpenAlex application programming interface. Among the selected dominant directions of the Web of Science, research areas were systematised based on abstracts of articles and reviews: 1182 publications in 2013 and 2610 publications in 2023. Such an increase in the number of publications indicates a sharp rise in interest in the topic and the existence of questions that need to be resolved. Therefore, an overview of the main directions in meat research in 2013 and 2023 was presented. Research areas with a declining share of articles and actively developing directions were identified, and unresolved pressing questions and trends were presented. The revealed changes demonstrate a shift from microbiology and technology of obtaining meat and meat products towards research methods development, problems of nutrition, and global warming. In conclusion, the prospects for research in these areas have been considered. The need to regulate the negative effects of meat production and consumption justifies the rationality of interdisciplinary approaches integrating environmental, health, and ethical perspectives. The most promising areas for further research are rationale and developing strategies to reduce meat consumption.
Graphical Abstract
Processing sustainability and the concept of zero waste discharge are of great interest for many industries. Every year, fruit and vegetable processing industries generate huge amounts of by-products, which are often intended for animal feed or discarded as waste, posing a problem to both environmental and economic points of view. However, to minimize the waste burden, the valorization of these residues received increased interest. In fact, fruit and vegetable by-products are an excellent source of valuable compounds, such as proteins, dietary fibers, lipids, minerals, vitamins, phenolic acids, flavonoids, anthocyanins, carotenoids, and pigments, which can be recovered and reused, creating new business prospects from a circular economy perspective. Understanding the chemical characteristics of these materials is a key concern for their valorization and the identification of their most appropriate intended use. In this study, the phytochemical and functional properties of fruit and vegetable processing by-products (peel and pomace) were investigated. Samples of different plants (i.e., apple, black and orange carrot, cucumber, kumquat, mango, parsnip, peach, black plum) were analyzed using chemical analytical methods and characterized using Fourier Transform Mid-Infrared spectroscopy (FT-MIR). The results highlighted their high nutritional composition in terms of protein, lipids, fiber, and ash, as well as bioactive and antioxidant profiles. These characteristics make these residues suitable as natural ingredients for the development of high-added-value products in food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries.
