Cela, N.; Fontefrancesco, M.F.; Torri, L. Fruitful Brewing: Exploring Consumers’ and Producers’ Attitudes towards Beer Produced with Local Fruit and Agroindustrial By-Products. Foods2024, 13, 2674.
Cela, N.; Fontefrancesco, M.F.; Torri, L. Fruitful Brewing: Exploring Consumers’ and Producers’ Attitudes towards Beer Produced with Local Fruit and Agroindustrial By-Products. Foods 2024, 13, 2674.
Cela, N.; Fontefrancesco, M.F.; Torri, L. Fruitful Brewing: Exploring Consumers’ and Producers’ Attitudes towards Beer Produced with Local Fruit and Agroindustrial By-Products. Foods2024, 13, 2674.
Cela, N.; Fontefrancesco, M.F.; Torri, L. Fruitful Brewing: Exploring Consumers’ and Producers’ Attitudes towards Beer Produced with Local Fruit and Agroindustrial By-Products. Foods 2024, 13, 2674.
Abstract
This study explored the beer consumers’ and producers’ perception of using local fruit and agroindustrial by-products in brewing. An online survey was conducted in Italy with 496 beer consumers and 54 beer producers. The survey assessed sociodemographic information, consumption behavior, support for brewery neolocalism, alongside brewers’ perception of sustainability of their breweries. Findings showed high consumers’ involvement in sustainable eating and high support for breweries utilizing local resources and that operate in a sustainable way. Breweries rated their sustainability practices as moderate, and most of them considered their efforts in using local raw materials and repurposing by-products as “excellent”. Both consumers and producers considered beer made with agroindustrial by-products less tasty than those with local fruit (p < 0.05), but no significant difference in willingness to buy was observed (p > 0.05). According to cluster analysis results, the ideal consumer profile for sustainable beers was characterized by a higher proportion of females prioritizing sustainability and local sourcing over sensory quality. Therefore, using local materials or agroindustrial by-products can align brewers’ practices with consumers’ preferences, enhancing competitiveness and market positioning by fostering a sense of sustainability and locality.
Biology and Life Sciences, Food Science and Technology
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.