In 2019, the food industry began to change significantly due to COVID-19 pandemic following the change in working environment. As the time spent at home increases, interest in healthy diet increases, and the number of consumers looking for fresh "loca...
In 2019, the food industry began to change significantly due to COVID-19 pandemic following the change in working environment. As the time spent at home increases, interest in healthy diet increases, and the number of consumers looking for fresh "local food" that is produced, distributed, and hygienically safe in the region is increased rapidly. Local food aimed at ethical and sustainable environment helps revitalize the economy of the local community. As the visit rate to restaurants decreases due to fear of COVID-19 infection, it became a trend to purchase lunch boxes containing various menus rather than single menus for simple and healthy lunch through the Internet or delivery, a safe way. Thus, the sales volume of the lunch box industry in Korea is showing a very large growth rate of 400 billion units in 2015 and 1 trillion won in 2019. If local food is used to foster a healthy lunch box industry, it is believed that greater added value can be achieved with food mileage differentiated from existing delivery foods. Currently Gongju-si, Chungcheongnam-do, established to focus on local specialty such as Gongju Albam, Gongju's flagship brand, in the process of creating a credibility between producers and consumers. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to understand the perception and preference of local food, stability and price rationality of local food, preference for the lunch box industry itself, and purchase intention when local food is applied to lunch boxes.
This study aimed to understand the perception and preference of local food, safety and price rationality of local food, preference for the lunch box industry itself, and purchase intention when local food is combined into lunch boxes, and to present basic data on how to improve the lunch box industry and activate menus.
The consumer perception survey analysis on local food showed that men perceived that local food was more diverse than women, those in their 50s had the highest preference and positive freshness for local food, those in their 20s recognized the most convenient, and those in their 30s recognized the most expensive. Graduate school graduates showed the highest preference and freshness for local food, high school graduates showed the most convenient perception, and monthly income of more than 4.5 million won showed the highest preference and freshness perception. Regarding the occupation, housemakers showed the highest preference and convenience for local food, and students perceived the freshness and safety of local food the most.
Next, Three lunch box menus using Albam, princess chesnut, were developed and the nutrients of the menus were presented based on calculation: Albam tofu salad, Albam bulgogi, and Albam white kimchi. Finally, from sensory evaluation results, all three menus with Albam showed higher scores than regular ones.
In conclusion, the results of this study confirmed the necessity of customized local food lunch boxes for each age group. The higher the educational background, the better the perception of local food, so it is thought that education related to local food is necessary to adjust to target costumers.