Food Consumption in the Context of Covid-19 Pandemic: Romanian Market Analysis

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic and the measures taken to reduce the virus spreading have left their mark on many sectors of activity, including the food industry. In order to better understand the main changes in eating behavior and to identify the factors that contributed to changing the eating habits in this atypical context generated by the pandemic, a secondary analysis of statistical data on food consumption in Romania was performed. The data taken into account were those available on the Euromonitor International platform as well as in other reports published on this topic. The analysis of the values registered in Romania in 2020, compared to the pre-pandemic period (2015)(2016)(2017)(2018)(2019) and to the pandemic and post-pandemic estimation (2021-2025) highlighted the orientation of consumers towards essential foods, implicitly the increase of vegetable and meat consumption, and a decrease in the consumption of fruits, sugar and sweeteners. Moreover, the study shows a growing awareness of the importance of health and quality issues in food choice, of the increasing importance of home delivery in the purchasing decision, all in the context of a maintained price sensitivity. The possible practical implications draw our attention to agri-food businesses' need to adapt to current socioeconomic realities, in an attempt to understand the new purchasing behaviors and to meet the current food consumption requirements of the population.

Factors Generating the Willingness of Romanian Consumers to Buy Raw Milk from Vending Machines

“…To cover this research gap, the authors resorted to the implementation of empirical research of a quantitative nature, carried out using a questionnaire-based survey. The research was implemented in an emerging market, Romania, where there is a growing interest in consumer segments for natural, raw, and minimally processed foods sold through short supply chains [29][30][31], even if the literature [32,33] shows that supermarket chains are increasingly offering fresh food, including milk.…”