Purchasing Habits, Sustainability Perceptions, and Welfare Concerns of Italian Consumers Regarding Rabbit Meat

Abstract

Several factors drive consumer behavior in buying meat, particularly rabbit meat. The consumption of rabbits has decreased in Europe, and the main causes of this trend are an increasing association with the perception of rabbits as pets, consumers’ changes in lifestyle, and eating habits. Additionally, increasing attention is paid to ethical issues regarding animal welfare. Investigating consumers’ knowledge, perceptions, and concerns about rabbit meat production and consumption are crucial for improving market strategies. This study investigated consumers’ perspectives of rabbit meat to provide useful information to producers for promoting this sector to consumers. A mixed-methods research design was applied. Qualitative data were collected through four focus group discussions involving 32 consumers and quantitative data through a semi-structured questionnaire administered nationally and completed by 1001 consumers. The limited use of antibiotics in inbreeding and the absence of animal suffering are factors that most influence consumers’ willingness to purchase rabbit meat. Rural/domestic farms were recognized as places where animal welfare measures can be applied and have a positive influence not only on organoleptic quality but also on ethical value and food safety. The cage was perceived as unsuitable for rabbit growth and was oriented to a process of fattening based on industrial feed and antibiotics. Respondents sought information on rabbit farming during purchase, and the label was the most used tool. The rabbit meat production sector should consider these results to meet consumers’ demands and raise awareness among operators on the use of animal welfare-based farming systems, helping to build a more positive image of the rabbit meat industry.

The Effect of Weaning and Slaughter Age on the Physicochemical and Sensory Characteristics of Arouquesa Beef—A PDO Portuguese Meat

“…When comparing the results for the weaning at 9 months, the effect of information was evident, resulting in 57.1% of the consumers changing their hedonic evaluation for a higher score. These results indicate that the information on welfare-related issues improves meat acceptability, even in the general hedonic appreciation [ 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 ].…”

“…The consumer’s psychological influence was tested in different contexts related to animal welfare, organic production, or fewer chemical additives. The information on the consumer’s psychological expectations results in a higher sensory appreciation [ 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 ]. When comparing the results from the hedonic evaluation of the same meat presented anonymously and identified with the weaning age ( Table 3 ), we can observe that the evaluation was similar ( p = 0.073) for the early weaning group but with a slight tendency to improvement in the evaluation of the identified samples.…”

Influence of Plant Biological Additive on the Productivity of Young Rabbits

“…Considering the growing demand for environmentally safe and organic livestock products, there are several ways to solve the problem of optimising the maintenance of rabbits in intensive technologies (Legendre et al, 2018). Important in this regard are measures and techniques that improve the feed conversion rate, as this reduces feed costs per unit of production, increases the resistance of animals, reduces the use of antibiotics and other substances that are unacceptable in the production of organic rabbit meat (Crovato et al, 2022). Among the effective measures that positively affect feed conversion in animals, the use of pro-and prebiotics in fattening diets is noted (Adhikari & Kim, 2017;Mancini & Paci, 2021).…”

“…Influence of Plant Biological Additive on the Productivity of Young RabbitsScientific Horizons, 2022, Vol 25,No. 10.…”

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“…Considering the growing demand for environmentally safe and organic livestock products, there are several ways to solve the problem of optimising the maintenance of rabbits in intensive technologies (Legendre et al, 2018). Important in this regard are measures and techniques that improve the feed conversion rate, as this reduces feed costs per unit of production, increases the resistance of animals, reduces the use of antibiotics and other substances that are unacceptable in the production of organic rabbit meat (Crovato et al, 2022). Among the effective measures that positively affect feed conversion in animals, the use of pro-and prebiotics in fattening diets is noted (Adhikari & Kim, 2017;Mancini & Paci, 2021).…”