Consumer attitudes to the temperate zone fruit and its consumption in the Slovak Republic: Case study from the Nitra region

The fruit consumption in the Slovak Republic rates below the European average. There are several reasons causing this situation: the financial situation of the inhabitants, high prices of the temperate zone fruit in shops and the unhealthy eating habits of the consumers. The expenses on fruit have been decreasing within the consumer basket in our country. The consumption of fruit and the fruit products (in the value of fresh fruit) rose in 2006 in comparison with 2005 and achieved 54.0 kg per capita. The increase of fruit consumption was recorded thanks to the growth of the fruit containing products. Despite the rising tendency of the fruit consumption per capita, it is still much lower than the recommended dose. Based on the questionnaire survey, the objective of this paper is to identify and analyse the attitudes and behaviour of Slovak consumers, particularly from the Nitra region, to the temperate zone fruit consumption. The survey showed that health is the most important reason for the temperate zone fruit consumption. Apples and grapes are the most frequently consumed sorts. They comprise 50% of the total consumption of the temperate zone fruit. The consumption of the temperate zone fruit has stagnated recently according to the responses of half of the respondents, and even 66% of them would like to increase the temperate zone fruit consumption. Consequently, the dependence of the particular answers to the questions and the indications of a respondent (sex, age, education, locality) were studied by the use of the associative analysis.