Consumer acceptance of food obtained from olive by-products

Purpose –The purpose of the paper is to evaluate the market potential of food obtained from olive by-products. The marketing of such by-products (for example, olive leaves and pulp) is a challenging opportunity for the sustainable development of the sector. Yet, consumer demand is still poorly understood. The paper contributes to filling the knowledge gap with an empirical survey of a sample of Italian consumers. Design/methodology/approach – We provide an assessment of consumers’ willingness to accept (WTA) food from olive by-products. We collected structured questionnaire from a sample of 289 Italian consumers. We asked to consumers their willingness to try a variety of food products containing olive by-products, as a proxy for their WTA the products. In order to investigate the drivers of the average WTA, we used the information in the questionnaire to build four constructs of interest: Technophobia, Neophobia, Perception of Benefits and Awareness about Sustainable Consumption. The choice of the constructs and the variables was driven by the existing literature. Findings – The paper shows how the WTA food with olive by-products is a general attitude of the consumer, rather than product-specific choice. The results suggest that consumers perceive the use of olive by-products as a new technology for preparing well-known food products. We did not find statistical evidence of the wariness of olive by-products as new food products. Technophobia is the most important factor hampering the marketing of olive by-products. Originality/value - The paper is a first attempt of exploring the topic of WTA food with olive by-products.