Food/ Europe makes purchases based on costs, Albanians are guided by taste

In general, when Europeans buy food, they start from the prices, giving importance to the cost, while the Albanians, both in Albania and Kosovo, to a large extent when they buy food, are guided by the taste.

The "Future Of Food" study, which is dedicated to the developing countries of Europe, shows that about 37% of the population in Albania and 36% of the population in Kosovo have taste as a criterion when buying food.

Only 40% and 36% of citizens from Albania and Kosovo, respectively, have cost as the main criterion, while for other Eastern European countries, this indicator ranges from 50 to 75%.

Citizens play an important role in changing the way our food systems work. Therefore their attitudes and perceptions are important for sustainability and food preferences.

The online survey in developing European countries, which was conducted between December 15, 2022 and January 16, 2023, showed that when buying food, 53% of consumers in developing European countries started by cost, 34% by taste and 30% by value. health.

These are the three main influencing factors on the consumers of the developing countries of Europe.

Almost one in three people consider food safety important (27%). Organic foods, environmental impact, little or no pesticides, low processing, geographical origin are other important factors between 8 and 12%.

Although cost is the main driver influencing the consumer's food purchase, there are some variations depending on the country.

In almost every country, cost is the dominant factor in purchasing, well above average in Lithuania e.g. 75% of respondents say cost is the most important criterion when buying food.

Among all the countries, only in Albania and Kosovo, taste is considered to be more important.

The study shows that the propensity to start from cost varies by level of education. For example, educated people balance cost with healthy food choices.

The tendency to buy and consume food with a preference for taste decreases significantly, as people grow up and the quality of food becomes more and more important, whether they are healthy, whether they have pesticides or not, etc.

Also, Albania stood out among developing European countries for the variety of food consumed. Lithuania (54%) and Albania (53%) had the highest percentage of people who attach importance to the variety of food./ Monitor