Organic legume snacks, a growing trend. Italian consumers’ preferences

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On-shelf offerings of legume snacks are showing substantial growth, thanks to Italian consumers’ interest in healthy, often organic, alternatives to potato chips and junk-food (1,2).

A study published in Nutrients (Petrontino et al., 2023) examines the influence of ingredients and label claims on the choice and propensity to pay higher prices. (3)

1) Legume snacks, 177 products compared.

Researchers from the Aldo Moro University of Bari and the university spin-off Sinagri selected 177 legume-based snacks offered between May and July 2022 in supermarkets, convenience stores and discount stores in the Puglia region, as well as in online stores.

The sample is very heterogeneous, as:

  • the price per 100g ranges from €0.73 to €3.53 (almost five times as much),
  • The weight of the package ranges from 40 to 240 grams,
  • organic (organic certification) covers 57.10 percent of snacks.

Among the ingredients, the most common type of legume and flour are chickpeas (65 percent) and corn (46.9 percent), respectively. Wheat flour appears in only 11.9% of the sample. As a result, the majority of snacks (78.5%) are gluten-free. (4)

In most cases, the snack is non-fried (61%), non-spiced (87%) and formulated with sunflower oil (70.1%).

2) Nutrition Claims, vegan

Nutrition claims are almost ubiquitous in the labeling of legume snacks, with references to:

  • low fat content (14.10%), (5)
  • source of protein (65%), (6)
  • Source of fiber (73.40 percent). (7)

The claimvegan is present in one in four labels (25.40 percent).

On the packaging, most of the products (81.90%) carry the packaging recyclability symbol.

3) Sales channels

The distribution of legume snacks in different sales channels is broken down as follows:

  • e-commerce (52 percent),
  • supermarkets (33.3%),
  • neighborhood stores (5.60 percent),
  • discount (5.60%),
  • hypermarkets (3.40 percent).

4) Italian consumer preferences

The study highlights how ingredients, claims, and organic certification have actual influence on Italian consumers’ purchase choices of legume snacks. The propensity to buy rewards:

  • legumes lentils and chickpeas, but not peas,
  • The regional origin of the ingredients,
  • the use of extra virgin olive oil, not also sunflower oil or no oil at all,
  • The replacement of wheat flour with gluten-free flour and/or potato starch,
  • The recyclability of the packaging.

In contrast, the discrete choice experiment, that is, a simulation of choosing among three variants, shows the following priorities in order:

  • organic certification,
  • regional indication of origin,
  • Certified gluten-free.

Marta Strinati

Notes

(1) Dario Dongo, Camilla Fincardi. The value of legumes for feeding the planet, FAO report. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 11.1.20

(2) Dario Dongo. Palm oil and junk food. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 7.1.19

(3) Petrontino, A.; Frem, M.; Fucilli, V.; Labbate, A.; Tria, E.; Bozzo, F. Ready-to-Eat Innovative Legumes Snack: The Influence of Nutritional Ingredients and Labelling Claims in Italian Consumers’ Choice and Willingness-to-Pay. Nutrients 2023, 15, 1799. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15071799

(4) Dario Dongo. Claim ‘gluten-free’, similar wording not allowed. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 29.1.21

(5) Dario Dongo. Good fats, nutrition declaration and nutrition claims. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 11.4.18

(6) ‘x% protein’ on the front label, do you need the asterisk? Lawyer Dario Dongo answers.. FARE (Food and Agriculture Requirements). 11.3.23

(7) Dario Dongo. ABC nutritional claims. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 26.5.18

(8) Dario Dongo, Andrea Adelmo Della Penna. ISO 23622:2021, Veg, vegetarian and vegan food labeling criteria. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 22.3.21

Marta Strinati
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Professional journalist since January 1995, he has worked for newspapers (Il Messaggero, Paese Sera, La Stampa) and periodicals (NumeroUno, Il Salvagente). She is the author of journalistic surveys on food, she has published the book "Reading labels to know what we eat".