Food products placement during COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has entirely changed the patterns of behavior in the market. Physical distance, quarantine measures, safety and security protocols, and shortages along the entire supply chain, have particularly affected the placement of food products. In this regard, the paper aims to define the impact of various indicators on the placement of food products during the COVID-19 pandemic. An empirical study was conducted on a sample of 248 final consumers. The survey was conducted during the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the territory of the Republic of Serbia (February - April 2021). An online questionnaire was created and forwarded to consumers to e-mail addresses from the collected databases of trade companies covering the domestic market. The analysis was performed specifically for four groups of essential food products in a pandemic: meat and meat products, fruit and vegetables, milk and dairy products, cereals, and cereal products. The method of structural modeling (SEM) or path analysis was applied to test the first group of research hypotheses on the impact of indicators on the placement of food products. Multiple regression analysis was used to examine the correlation between subcategories of food products. The results showed a statistically significant impact of indicators such as safety and security standards, hygiene, product freshness, nutritional composition, and product quality. The impact of these indicators differs significantly depending on the analyzed product group. The obtained results indicate to the supply chain management which negative impacts need to be minimized to ensure timely placement of food products and more efficiently meet the needs of final consumers in a pandemic. Guidelines for future research are listed in the paper.