Nowadays, the highly processed status and the extensive list of ingredients attributed to some processed plant-based foods may hinder their acceptance. Thus, there is a need for plant-based foods made through minimal processing technologies with reduced reliance on additives and heavy processing methods. Besides promoting health, these new technologies and resulting food products would support the food system to be more sustainable.

In the Sustain-a-bite project, the team from the Bern University of Applied Sciences (BFH) is committed together with partners from the Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto (UPORTO), the University of Vaasa (UVA) and the National Institute of Research and Development for Food Bioresources (IBA) to exploring consumers’ perceptions and attitudes towards innovative minimally processed plant-based foods.

Through qualitative interviews with 46 omnivores and flexitarians in Switzerland, Finland, Portugal, and Romania, we will be able to begin to uncover consumers’ perceptions and expectations around these topics.

The analyses are ongoing but here are some initial findings:

Aiming to validate the findings on Europeans’ perceptions and acceptance towards minimally processed plant-based foods, our team will launch a comprehensive survey next, that will cover eight European countries with a large sample.

Stay tuned to learn more about consumers’ perceptions towards ‘Sustain-a-Bite’ innovations.