Consumer Buying Tendencies and Knowledge about Bread in Portugal

Bread is a pivotal food in many cultures around the world. Besides energy, it provides some nutritional benefits, being an important source of dietary fibres and vitamins. Hence, this research work aimed to understand the purchasing habits and the level of knowledge about bread in the centre of Portugal, as well as in what way those haits might be influenced by sociodemographic variables. The study was conducted by means of a questionnaire, which included sections aimed at getting information about demographic variables, buying habits and knowledge about bread. The sample consisted of 500 respondents and the data was collected by direct interviewing after informed consent. The study was approved for human subjects and was conducted according to all ethical guidelines. The results showed that in most cases the respondents buy bread from specialized shops (pastries and bakeries: 61%). It was also observed that the vast majority of respondents (70%) answered correctly to at least half of the questions aimed to understand their knowledge about bread. Hence, these results indicated that there is a positive degree of knowledge about bread and its benefits among the respondents. Bread has been a basic food for many centuries and some myths about its consumption could have a negative impact on its position on the present diets. Therefore, the results obtained in this work are encouraging and show that bread is regarded as a staple food, with benefits for a healthy diet. Furthermore, the results may also be used to improve the education about the benefits of whole grains as compared to refined grains. The whiter breads, made with refined grains have lead the bread consumption in the past decades, a trend that should be reverted.

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