ISSN 2360-798X
Abstract
Accepted 23rd November, 2015
Low fruits and vegetables (F&V) intake has been recognized as key risk factors for non-communicable diseases in sub-Saharan Africa, where the recommended intake of 146/kg/ capita per annum is not met. Recently in Nigeria there is an increase rate in consumption of F&V. The country is rated as the 9th largest producer yet there is a fierce competition between locally produced Fruit juices and the imports in the country. This is fuelled by identified great penchant for consuming imports of an average Nigeria. The study attempts to investigate the consumer preference of the processed fruit juice in the six local governments in Kano Metropolis Nigeria. A total of 18 public places were visited and 180 consumers were interviewed. The 18 public places include Learning institutions, shopping Complexes and Public offices. Result of the study reveals respondents with a mean age of 33 years (61%), high level of literacy (68.7%), low household membership (1-5 members), an average earning 1,000-100,000.00 Naira (80.9%) have high rate of consumption of citrus fruit juice. The consumers exhibited a strong affinity to locally produced citrus juice (69.2%) with a frequency of consumption of (60.5%). The imported citrus juice was preferred by (30.8%) of the respondents with a consumption frequency of (39.5%). It is discovered that preference was due to affordability and access, hence it is recommended that the quality of the juice be improved to compete favorably with imports and regulatory bodies like NAFDAC and SON be more proactive in ensuring quality of the local fruit juice.
Keywords: Consumer, preferences, Citrus Fruit, Juice, imported, Local.