Researchers from Aarhus College’s MAPP Centre surveyed customers from 4 European international locations to gauge their perceptions of animal-free dairy – with a specific deal with precision fermentation-derived merchandise – and decide how and why attitudes differed throughout totally different client teams.
Consumers from the UK, France, Denmark and Germany have been requested about their stage of data in regards to the expertise – which outdoors of meals manufacture is broadly used within the pharmaceutical business – and instructed how it may be leveraged to create microbially-synthesized milk proteins with out involving a reside animal. The researchers then sought to judge the customers’ perceptions on product naturalness, style and sensory expertise, sustainability, affordability, and different associations. A variety of plant-based, hybrid, and precision fermentation dairy options have been in contrast, together with standard dairy.
“We needed to reply three questions,” stated one of many authors, affiliate professor Marija Banovic who works on the Division of Administration on the MAPP Centre. “If we’ve got these merchandise available on the market, would they have the ability to stand out? So we in contrast them to different dairy options, comparable to plant-based.
“The second query we needed to deal with was what are the attributes that resonate with the patron – that may ‘catch their eye’ and truly make them settle for this product?
“And the ultimate query was, if accepted, will this acceptance proceed over time?”
Whereas the paper is but to be revealed in full, Banovic introduced a number of the key findings throughout January’s precision fermentation of milk proteins convention organized by the Meals & Bio Cluster Denmark and held in Copenhagen.
Increasing on earlier analysis revealed by herself and college professor Klaus G. Grunert on client attitudes on well being and naturalness1 and a separate client research on the patron acceptance of precision fermentation expertise2, this analysis assesses in additional depth the perceptual limitations to adopting precision fermentation-derived dairy in Europe.
Whereas dairy options that comprise precision fermentation-derived milk proteins are bought in a number of markets – notably, the US – such meals merchandise aren’t out there in Europe. That is largely as a consequence of EU regulation that requires producers to submit a Novel Meals file to the European Meals Security Authority (EFSA) with a view to get hold of approval – a course of that’s but to yield a constructive consequence, with the primary ever utility, from US-based Good Day, relationship again to 2022.
Regardless that such merchandise aren’t out there to European customers but, the researchers argued that data of early client perceptions might assist overcome limitations to future adoption.
From ‘synthetic’ to ‘revolutionary’
Customers have been requested about their high affiliation when confronted with details about precision fermentation expertise. The responses have been combined – Danish customers leaned in direction of adverse associations, with probably the most often used phrases being ‘synthetic,’ ‘good,’ and ‘future’. Within the UK, ‘fascinating’, ‘pleasant’ and ‘synthetic’ have been the highest associations; in France – ‘microbes’, ‘fermentation’ and ‘well being’, and in Germany, these have been ‘environmentally pleasant’, ‘animal’, and ‘microbes’.
Notably, customers strongly related sustainability and eco-friendliness with precision fermentation, placing the expertise second to plant-based options in most international locations.
However when it got here to what’s seen as ‘wholesome’, precision fermentation got here final, with standard and plant-based merchandise perceived because the healthiest, adopted by hybrid dairy.
On perceived style and sensory attraction, precision fermentation additionally fared poorly, with Banovic telling the convention that producers and retailers might flip to sensory advertising that emphasizes interesting flavors with a view to overcome adverse style perceptions.
‘Hybrid’ potential
Subsequent, the researchers requested customers to charge 9 merchandise, together with milk, ice cream, and protein bars, primarily based on the manufacturing methodology concerned of their manufacture. Right here, precision fermentation emerged because the possible challenger of the plant-based class, whereas hybrid dairy – notably merchandise that mix conventional dairy and precision fermentation-derived elements – have been the second most-popular amongst buyers. Conventional dairy was the best choice throughout all nations, reflecting the class’s market dominance and provenance.
“We thought that plant-based merchandise can be the second most-popular class,” defined Banovic. “However what got here second have been hybrids that mixed precision fermentation and traditional dairy elements. After which in third place, merchandise derived completely by means of precision fermentation had a comparable rating to plant-based ones.”
The findings recommend that there might be urge for food for a brand new dairy options class that improves on the sensory and dietary properties of plant-based options. In Europe, plant-based gross sales decelerated in 2022, as did funding pooled by buyers into the sector, however the phase continued to develop each in worth and gross sales phrases in 2022, based on information from the Good Meals Institute, a suppose tank.
Requested if hybrid dairy – a class that’s possible extra acquainted to customers in Europe – might assist facilitate the acceptance of precision fermentation dairy in Europe – Banovic answered affirmatively.
“What we are able to see from client research is that this light, pure transition by means of hybrid merchandise can really assist significantly better than going straight for 100% precision fermentation-derived dairy,” she instructed us. “We noticed that with hybrid meat merchandise, so I believe there’s scope for hybrid dairy to assist in the transition.”
How did ice cream, milk and protein bars fare?
Whereas Danish customers had a stronger choice for hybrid merchandise in comparison with precision fermentation-derived dairy, the image was totally different elsewhere. German customers picked PF-derived milk options in second, as did French buyers, whereas UK customers trusted plant-based dairy options. Dairy milk was everybody’s best choice, with the French expressing the strongest choice for conventional dairy.
For ice cream, Danish buyers picked a mixture of standard and precision-fermentation derived protein merchandise as their second most most popular possibility; the Germans narrowly selected a plant-based and precision fermentation hybrid in second place; the French opted for 100% precision fermentation-derived ice cream there, as did the British.
Protein bars was the class the place different manufacturing strategies got here nearer to catching up with conventional dairy, notably in Germany the place 24% of buyers picked plant-based options versus 28.7% who selected standard dairy.
When all information was aggregated, the proverbial rankings have been led by standard dairy merchandise, adopted by hybrids that mixed 50% precision fermentation-derived elements and 50% standard, whereas plant-based and 100% precision-fermentation merchandise shared the third place.
When it got here to buyers’ willingness to pay the upper price ticket of animal-free dairy, the researchers discovered that not one of the 4 client teams have been prepared to fulfill both the reference worth nor an estimated worth for precision fermentation merchandise, although some (Denmark and the UK) have been barely much less unwilling in comparison with others (France). “General, we discovered a really low buying willingness and excessive worth sensitivity,” Banovic defined, including that the researchers noticed an analogous pattern amongst US customers. “As a result of these merchandise are fairly excessive in worth, we’d recommend value-driven worth fashions or a promotional discourse.”
In a separate analysis undertaking Banovic’s workforce are at present wanting into client pricing sensitivity, evaluating the US market with Europe. Requested how client perceptions in contrast, the affiliate professor instructed us: “We simply completed with the information assortment on this new cross-cultural research, which contains three EU international locations and the US, the place we have been wanting particularly into client willingness to pay for animal-free dairy milk. We’re within the technique of writing it up, so I can’t reveal a lot, however I can affirm that buyers are fairly price-sensitive in relation to animal-free milk, and this cuts throughout all international locations.”
In the meantime, youthful customers, notably Millennials, appeared extra open to making an attempt novel dairy options, the researcher stated. “We have been wanting on the age teams between 20 and 70 years outdated,” Banovic instructed us. “What we might see was that these below 35 years of age have been extra more likely to settle for and had the next chance of shopping for merchandise from precision fermentation expertise.”
Whereas European customers didn’t seem to charge precision fermentation-derived dairy extremely by way of sensory expertise and worth, the expertise’s perceived environmental credentials might assist entrepreneurs, Banovic concluded. “We all know that constructive associations exist, and these are the advantages that needs to be highlighted,” she stated. “For instance, the relation to a decrease carbon footprint that buyers are seeing, the environmental and animal welfare advantages, and so forth.”
Sources:
1. Shopper acceptance of precision fermentation expertise: A cross-cultural research
Authors: Banovic, M., Grunert, Okay. G.
Revealed: Progressive Meals Science and Rising Applied sciences 88 (2023) 103435
www.elsevier.com/find/ifset
2. Past sugar: Exploring the affect of well being and naturalness framing on attitudes in direction of merchandise with candy proteins in Europe
Authors: Banovic, M., Grunert, Okay. G.
Revealed: Meals Analysis Worldwide 175 (2024) 113767
www.elsevier.com/find/foodres
