Exploratory market study of the ready-to-drink dalandan-calamansi-carrot juice blend

Date

2008

Degree

Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness Management

College

College of Economics and Management (CEM)

Abstract

Locally known as dalandan, native orange (Citrus aurantium) is a kind of citrus that is currently being used as a base for natural fruit juice. On the other hand, native lemon or calamansi (Citrus microcarp) is a shrub or small tree that is used to add spice for foods and which processed as a base flavor for drinks. Like other citrus fruits, calamansi and dalandan are high in vitamin C, and juice extracted from it can be a good source of other vitamins. Likewise, (Daucus carota) are well known as the universal vegetable used in juicing process.. It has been reddish orange color, and has a coarse woody feel and texture. A lot of people think that if this crop will be converted into juice, it would taste bitter or too deep in flavor. In reality, carrot juice blends with all other fruit juice. The processing of fruits and vegetable into juice blends allows the introduction of new beverages of a different flavor and quality. In fact, dalandan, calamansi and carrot are known for the juiciness, their blend has not yet been formulated. For this reason, the researcher sought assistance fron the UPLB Institute of Food Science and Technology to develop a new flavor of juice blend to be launched in the market. This study determined the acceptability of the ready-to-drink dalandan-calamansi-carrot juice blend in the San Pablo City market, Specifically, it aimed to described buying and consumption behavior with regards to juice blends, determine the buyers' level of awareness and familiarity with juice blend products, identify the products attributes that are required and important to the buyers, evaluate the ready-to-drink dalandan-calamansi-carrot juice blend in terms of the identified attributes. identify gaps between the desired juice blend attributes and the ready-to-drink dalandan-calamansi-carrot juice blend qualities, suggest product development strategies to address the gaps, and recommend strategies to facilitate product is found acceptable. A set of respondents participated in the focus group discussions where their in-depth insights about the product were obtained. Moreover, a total of 150 respondents consisting of 50 high school students, 50 college students and 50 working professionals from San Pablo City participated in the UAI survey and product tests. The respondents were selected through purposive sampling and systematic random sampling. In the UAI survey, the demographic variables such as age group and sex were evaluated with respect to the different consumer behavior variables e.g. purchase decision factor, place of purchase, preferred flavors and brands, frequency of consumption, last consumption time and usual size of juice blends purchased, to assess if the said demographic variables are related to the respondent's behavior. The chi-square tests were also used to determine if there were significant differences among the three groups' rating on the product and their likelihood to buy it. Mann whitney test was also conducted to determine if significant differences exist among the respondents' rating on the importance of the juice blend attributes. The result of the study showed that all of the 150 respondents were aware of juice blends and based on the survey, the most effective source of juice blend information was the media. In fact, all of them were also buyers blends and the majority considered good taste as the most important decision factor in purchasing juice blends. They also purchased juice blends at the traditional outlets such as supermarket and grocery stores. Del Monte was still the most preferred juice blend brand of the consumers while pineapple-orange was the most preferred flavor. The 250 ml size was the most usual size that the respondents preferred for a juice blend. Furthermore, only 37 respondents considered juice blends as an everyday beverage. Also, 60 out of 150 individuals have consumed a juice blend just days or week ago. Nearly everyone answered that all the members in their household were juice blend drinkers. On the other hand, most of the respondents were already purchasing and consuming juice for a long period of time. However, they did not have a definite buying and consumption pattern. The Chi square test result showed that when it comes to the color of the juice blend. the ratings were found to have significant association with the segment group. In contrast, the rating for the smell, taste and consistency of the juice blend were found to have no considerable relationship with the groupings. However, the health benefit attribute was not subjected to the chi square test because the remaining cells have less than 5 expected counts, thus the analysis would yield erroneous results. Furthermore, when it comes to the likelihood of the respondents to buy the product, the test showed that the ratings have no relationship with the segment groups. On the other hand, the result of the Mann Whitney test showed that significant differences existed among the groups with respect to the color attribute. However, high school students and the working professionals were also differed significantly in terms smell attribute. Lastly, Mann Whitney test was also used in comparing the ratings for the acceptability of the product and result showed that there were no significant differences existed. The result of the study showed that the ready-to-drink dalandan-calamansi-carrot juice blend was not yet acceptable in the market having an average mean rating of 3.34, which corresponds to a neither like nor dislike rating. Although the ratings were relatively above the average, it was nearer to the dislike rating. The product needs a lot of improvement especially with its inferior attributes identified in the product evaluation. The result also showed that the most acceptable attribute of the ready-to-drink dalandan-calamansi-carrot juice blend was its health benefits having 4.13 mean rating. Moreover, the respondents were not sure if they will buy the product if ever it became available in the market because there were several unfavorable comments about it like the unpleasant smell and bitter aftertaste. Since the product was not acceptable, gaps between its attributes and the desired attributes of the consumers were also identified. With these results, it was recommended that the ready-to-drink dalandan-calamansi-carrot juice blend should be subjected to further improvements before it can be launched in the market.

Language

English

Location

UPLB Main Library Special Collections Section (USCS)

Call Number

LG 993 2008 M17 A74

Document Type

Thesis

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS