“I don't like wonky carrots”- an exploration of children's perceptions of suboptimal fruits and vegetables

Annesha Makhal; Maree Thyne; Kirsten  Robertson; Miranda  Mirosa

doi:10.1016/j.jretconser.2019.101945

“I don't like wonky carrots”- an exploration of children's perceptions of suboptimal fruits and vegetables

Annesha Makhal, Maree Thyne, Kirsten Robertson, Miranda Mirosa

University of Otago

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

22 Citations (Scopus)

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Abstract

Children's perceptions of suboptimal fruits and vegetables have not been studied in the suboptimal foods domain. Using two qualitative research methods, this study investigates children's (N = 97) edibility perceptions of suboptimal produce with varied appearance defects. The results show that unlike adult samples previously studied, children are more accepting of suboptimal produce. Defects in shape, size, and certain colour defects were positively perceived, reflecting retailers' opportunities to market suboptimal produce. High levels of brown discolorations and superficial blemishes were not acceptable, implying that produce with such defects could be repurposed as ingredients in foods prepared and sold in-store. These implications reflect retailers' opportunities in marketing suboptimal produce to children, who by their familial influence may also be able to get families to buy and consume suboptimal produce. The importance of familiarity in improving suboptimal food acceptance is also recognised for future research to explore.

Original language	English
Article number	101945
Journal	Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services
Volume	54
Early online date	17 Sept 2019
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2019.101945
Publication status	Published - 1 May 2020
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

© 2020, Elsevier. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Copyright © and Moral Rights are retained by the author(s) and/ or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This item cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder(s). The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.

This document is the author’s post-print version, incorporating any revisions agreed during the peer-review process. Some differences between the published version and this version may remain and you are advised to consult the published version if you wish to cite from it.

Keywords

Children
Food acceptance
Food appearance
Qualitative research
Suboptimal produce

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Marketing

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10.1016/j.jretconser.2019.101945

Post-PrintAccepted author manuscript, 1.25 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

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“I don't like wonky carrots”- an exploration of children's perceptions of suboptimal fruits and vegetables

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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