Analysis of the main determinants of away-from-home consumption of fishery and aquaculture products in the EU28

Abstract

The European Union (EU) is the largest market in nominal terms for fishery and aquaculture products (FAPs), partly due to the away-from-home consumption of these products in restaurants and food outlets. In view of this, it is necessary to identify the main determinants of the away-from-home consumption patterns in order to propose strategies that could increase the consumption of FAPs. Following this, ordered probit models were estimated alongside their marginal effects to identify the most relevant factors determining the frequency of away-from-home consumption of FAPs in the EU28, using a representative sample of 27732 EU residents. We found that those in the highest classes of society are most likely to consume FAPs away-from-home more frequently. Also, the most important reasons for consuming FAPs away-from-home more frequently are that they are less expensive than other foods, taste good, and are healthy and easy to digest. In addition, among the different nationalities, British consumers are more likely to consume FAPs away-from-home. We also found that there is a higher frequency of away-from-home consumption of FAPs for consumers between the ages of 25 and 54, who do not live in rural areas, who prefer wild-caught and local and marine products, and that are very satisfied with their lives. The study contributes to the literature with the analysis of FAPs away-from-home consumption by using a large representative sample of EU28 consumers. The study is also relevant with respect to the extensive list of determinants that include factors related to the attitudes of respondents to FAPs and socio-demographic characteristics.

Keywords: Fishery and aquaculture products; Frequency of consumption; Heteroscedastic ordered probit model; Marginal effects; Residents' away-from-home consumption behaviour.