Title: Assessing product concept of a chocolate formulated with vegetal extracts

Authors: Wlisses Bonelá Fontoura; Gisele De Lorena Diniz Chaves; Leonardo Da Silva Arrieche

Addresses: Federal University of Espírito Santo, Brazil ' Federal University of Espírito Santo, Brazil ' Federal University of Espírito Santo, Brazil

Abstract: The food industry, especially chocolate and cocoa products, undergoes intense competition and evolution, which demands the development of new food products. However, the success of a new product depends on accurate identification of customer needs to achieve market acceptance. Therefore, this study aims to assess the product concept of a chocolate formulated with vegetal extracts, macadamia nuts in this case, which is lactose free and contains no animal ingredients. The city of São Mateus, located in the State of Espirito Santo, is the second-largest producer of macadamia nuts in Brazil; thus, due to its prominence in macadamia nut production, we decided to use this city to examine the influence of regional appeal in accepting this new product (macadamia chocolate). For this research, data were collected from buyers in three different local supermarkets. The data collected in the area were statistically analysed for variables of interest. Based on this data, we demonstrate the characteristics of potential consumers of this new product and provide an analysis of the consumers' personal characteristics as a function of the acceptance of this product.

Keywords: product development; concept testing; chocolate; macadamia.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBIR.2017.085777

International Journal of Business Innovation and Research, 2017 Vol.14 No.1, pp.1 - 17

Received: 07 Mar 2015
Accepted: 12 Jun 2015
Published online: 14 Aug 2017 *

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