Consumer Preference Study on Muñoz Science City (MSC) Food Products Cafe Rice and a Commercially-Prepared Instant Coffee

Date

4-2010

Degree

Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness Management

College

College of Economics and Management (CEM)

Adviser/Committee Chair

Agnes T. Banzon

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Abstract

Consumers looking for a hot beverage that would replace or substitute coffee would find a hot chocolate preparation or tea in supermarkets. Aside from that, you might need to prepare your own hot beverage from roasted grains. In Europe or in the United States however, roasted grain beverages are used as instant hot beverage as substitute to coffee. Reasons for substituting coffee could be part of living a healthy lifestyle, for health reasons such as need to abstain from caffeine, or due to religion restrictions.

One of the products of Muñoz Science City (MSC) Food Products is Café Rice which is a roasted rice grain beverage. It is locally called by Tagalogs as kapeng bigas, sara sara by Visayans, and kinirog by Ilocanos. Though a misnomer to call it rice coffee, this hot beverage was known as such back then since it was long used as substitute to coffee when it wasn’t readily available everywhere. It also served as a morning hot beverage to children since it was believed that drinking coffee at an early age “ay nakakabobo”(could make one dull).

A consumer preference study was done to determine whether preferential difference exists between Café Rice and a regular coffee. Nescafe Classic was used as a representative of a commercially prepared instant beverage since it is similar to Café Rice in terms of form, and because Nescafe is the leading brand of coffee in the Philippines according to a market research. The study presented the profile of potential buyers of Café Rice, described their consumption and buying behavior, identified and evaluated different product attributes that consumer look for in coffee, and identified attributes where consumer preferential differences existed as well as suggested improvement possibilities for the product.

One hundred twenty (120) respondents participated in the consumer and market survey as well as in the product test. They were grouped into three consisting of high school students, college students, and working individuals. Three Focus Group Discussions (FGD) were conducted. Each FGD consisted of seven respondents except for the group of working individuals where there were only six. Storechecks were conducted covering Robinson’s Supermarket, South Supermarket, WalterMart Supermarket, and Star Commercial Grocery Store where different brands, packaging, and prices of coffee were identified. Consumer buying behavior in the store was also noted in the storecheck.

Results show that most of the respondents purchase coffee once a week in a supermarket. They know most coffee brands that are available in the market and some were even able to name a few that are imported or are exclusively found in some areas only in the country. The respondents also have tasted most of the brands but when it comes to what they consume in their household, there is only one predominant brand and that is Nescafe. In their households, it is the parents and the teenagers who consume coffee most. However, the parents are those who buy coffee and decide which product the household will use.

The respondents have rated taste as the most important attribute in coffee, followed by aroma. Tied in the third rank for attribute importance were color, mouth feel, and aftertaste. Attributes that ranked fourth were bitterness, caffeine, and price. Thus, the least important attribute was sedimentation.

Consumer preferences were all varied across respondent groups. High school students perceived significant difference in aroma and caffeine content. College students on the other hand only found significant difference in aroma of the drink while working individuals did not find any. Using Kruskal-Wallis Test, it was found that each respondent group indeed behaves differently when it comes to a coffee drink. This implies that high school students, college students, and working individuals are different individual market segments.

Since working individuals did not perceive differences between Café Rice and a regular instant coffee, it is therefore recommended to target this market segment. Moreover, working individuals are the one who have the most amount of disposable income in the household and are the primary decision makers when it comes to coffee. The target market segment would also include under it health conscious individuals who are earning. Tea drinkers may be considered as potential buyers as they may see the Café Rice in the hot beverage section of supermarkets when they buy their tea. The product concept developed for Café Rice is: A daily instant hot beverage for health conscious working individuals that promotes detoxification for a healthy body.

Adding nuts such as almonds or hazelnut may give the product a more upscale image and add variety to the taste as well. Adding cinnamon was also recommended to make users relive of the experience of a coffee and cinnamon bread combination. Packaging was recommended to be improved in terms of redesigning the labels and changing the primary packaging material from the carton box to stand-up foil pouch that is similar to existing coffee products in the market.

As for further studies that can be done, a market potential study can be conducted in certain places where interested entrepreneurs might want to venture. The tea variant of Café Rice can also be researched in comparison with an existing tea brand in the market. Since the working individuals segment is specifically targeted by the product upon the recommendation of the researcher, a study focusing just on this segment can be done. MSC Food Products has a lot of other beverages and rice-based products that an interested researcher can work on.

Language

English

Location

UPLB College of Economics and Management (CEM)

Call Number

LG 993 2010 M17 J83

Notes

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Document Type

Thesis

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