Goat milk acceptance and promotion methods in Japan: The questionnaire survey to middle class households

Abstract

A consumer questionnaire conducted with the purpose of ascertaining the acceptability of goat milk and related products in Japan was carried out on 345 guarantees of Nippon Veterinary and Life Science University in December 2006. 275 effective responses (79%) representing middle class urban households were returned. The results revealed that (1) 30% of respondents have experienced drinking goat milk and only 10% are aware of the current retail situation of goat milk and related products; (2) over 70% of goat milk drinkers raised goats by hand at some point in their past and their first experience drinking goat milk was in infancy; (3) those with experience in drinking goat milk expressed a vague evaluation and minimal understanding of drinking goat milk; (4) respondents who were inexperienced goat milk drinkers expressed a strong desire to taste and a weak desire to purchase goat milk; (5) respondents expressed low recognition regarding retailed goat milk products, but those who had already purchased goat milk products expressed a high evaluation and strong desire to purchase these products again; and (6) recognition of goat milk characteristics is low, but those with high recognition also rate goat milk highly. Goats are perceived as being 'mild and familiar.' It is necessary for those who manage goat husbandry to present goat milk and related product tasting opportunities to consumers. The key point is to make the functional differences between cow and goat milk clear and present the advantages of goat milk at the fore of this promotion. Goat milk should not be promoted merely as a drink that is similar to cow milk, but must be positioned as a functional drink or health food in order to expand the Japanese goat milk market.

Is experience on a farm an effective approach to understanding animal products and the management of dairy farming?

“…During their stay on the farm, the students were served freshly produced cow's milk at each meal. On the other hand, Ozawa et al (2009Ozawa et al ( , 2010 discussed the possible opportunities for marketing goat milk in Japan. In Japan, the milk that is commonly available to consumers is treated with ultra-high temperature disinfection (accounting for more than 90% of commercial milk, ALIC 1999).…”

“…Milk obtained from several breeds, such as Jersey, Holstein and Guernsey cows, was treated with lowtemperature pasteurization. They reported that more than 70% of the respondents who had never consumed goat milk expressed a desire to try it (Ozawa et al 2009). The cooked odor and taste of milk is different depending on the heat method (Akuzawa 2011).…”

“…It appeared that the reason that many students decided that the taste of milk was good was that the low-temperature pasteurization did not remove the natural taste and texture of the milk. On the other hand, Ozawa et al (2009Ozawa et al ( , 2010 discussed the possible opportunities for marketing goat milk in Japan. They reported that more than 70% of the respondents who had never consumed goat milk expressed a desire to try it (Ozawa et al 2009).…”

“…On the other hand, Ozawa et al (2009Ozawa et al ( , 2010 discussed the possible opportunities for marketing goat milk in Japan. They reported that more than 70% of the respondents who had never consumed goat milk expressed a desire to try it (Ozawa et al 2009). A similar study investigated the possible market for goat meat, not currently used as food in Japan (Ozawa et al 2005).…”

Relationships between milk characteristics and somatic cell score in milk from primiparous browsing goats

“…This happened in the United States and it was a cause of several difficulties for goat breeders who were not able to maintain SCC below the legal limit (Paape et al 2007), even if the milk was obtained from healthy goats. Goat milk is even more used or desired as 'drinking milk' (Ozawa et al 2009), but in pastoral systems, it is mainly transformed into cheese and the composition of raw milk is an important factor in determining the quality of cheese. This research confirmed that in milk from primiparous Sarda goats there are few relationships between TMC and SCC, and showed that milk from local breeds could be considered as a good quality product, despite hand-milking and absence of modern husbandry techniques.…”