In recent years, farmers’ markets have become one of the most popular places for alimentary shopping. People searching for the alternative and healthier products often choose farmers’ markets instead of shopping centres. However, farmers’ markets face the same or even tougher competition than the conventional shopping places: farmers not only compete with powerful shopping chains, they have to compete among each other for every single customer. Therefore, customer loyalty becomes inevitable in this industry. Knowing the factors that lead customers to switch to another vendor becomes very important for consumer retention. The aim of the research is to determine the factors influencing customer switching behaviour in farmers’ markets in Lithuania. In order to reach the aim, the research was conducted in several stages: 1) the expert evaluation was provided to determine the factors influencing the customer switching behaviour that would be relevant to the industry; 2) a questionnaire survey regarding latter factors was provided; 3) the influence of the factors on customer switching behaviour regarding the different states of customer loyalty was assessed.

Increasing competition among health care service providers for pets and constantly growing requirements for the veterinary service quality, force veterinary service providers to search for some possibilities to remain competitive in the market in order to meet both customer needs and expectations, and animal needs best. The aim of the research is – having identified the choice motives for animal health care service, to enumerate the factors, influencing the choice of veterinary service. In order to find the pet keepers’ approach concerning the factors, influencing the choice of veterinary service, a pilot research was completed. According to the gained primary data results in the research, it was found that the key factors, influencing the choice of veterinary service are as follows: the service quality of health care, the recommendation of the person responsible for animal care and the price for the delivered service.

Pulses (Fabaceae) are an excellent source of nutrients with protein content equal to the protein of meats. Regularly choosing such meat alternatives as pulses can help minimize the amount of saturated fat and increase the amount of fibre in the diet. New pulse products could benefit vegetarians and people struggling with new diet changes. The aim of this study was to determine pulse consumption patterns of Latvian adults. An 11 question survey was developed on an online survey website www.visidati.lv to analyse consumer attitudes towards pulse consumption in Latvia. The questionnaire was completed by 780 respondents from September to December 2013. During the Baltics food industry fair ‘Riga Food 2013’ five question survey was carried out after vegetarian bean spread tasting. The questions were related to pulse consumption and preference; five questions survey consisted of overall preference and quality determination of the product. The results show that the majority of Latvian omnivore adults consume pulses about once a week or less; while pulse intake in vegetarian adults is significantly higher (p is less than 0.05). Latvian adults prefer green peas (Pisum sativum L.), navy and broad beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), lentils (Lens culinaris Medik.), chickpeas (Cicer arietinum L.) and maple peas (Pisum sativum L. var. arvense). Overall preference of vegetarian bean spread with sun-dried tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is ‘like very much’ (4.5 – 4.6) and most of the respondents would purchase this product if it was available in a store.

Celiac disease is an autoimmune enteropathy disease, triggered in genetically susceptible individuals by ingested gluten from wheat (Triticum), rye (Secale cereale), barley (Hordeum vulgare) and other closely related cereal grains. The only way of the effective daily treatment is a strict gluten-free diet. From the investigation of products available in the local market, it was found that Latvian producers do not offer gluten-free products. The aim of this research was to study a celiac patient’s attitude to gluten-free product quality and availability in the Latvian market and purchasing habits. The survey was designed using website www.visidati.lv, and a questionnaire was sent to people suffering from celiac disease. The respondents were asked to fill in the questionnaire from the beginning of December 2010 till the end of July 2011. The questionnaire was performed with 131 celiac patients, respondents were from all Latvian regions and they answered 15 questions. One of the most important questions was aimed to find out consumers’ opinion about quality of gluten-free products, consumption patterns of gluten-free products, and, moreover, their interest in products made in Latvia. Respondents were asked to name gluten-free products they mainly buy and give specific purchase locations, evaluate the quality of products and necessity for products produced in Latvia. The results of questionnaire show that the consumers are satisfied with the quality of gluten-free flour, flour blends and pasta, but are not satisfied with the quality of bread and confectionery available in the Latvian markets.

Sherbet with crunchy peanut chips could be classified as milk pomade. It is one of popular sweets in Latvia produced by Joint-stock Company Laima, which is one of the oldest producers of sweets in the Baltic States. Freshly made sherbet is soft and savoury but after several days’ storage at the open air gradually hardens, the product loses eye appeal, taste and becomes unmarketable. This problem limits the shelf life, so sherbet with crunchy peanut chips can be marketed only at the local market. The target of this study was to clarify the situation on the market in Latvia and to examine an issue of Latvian consumers’ awareness of milk pomade sweets – sherbet quality indicators, packaging and its presentation to consumers, as well as the sherbet market expandability. A questionnaire was developed – 800 respondents answered on the 14 questions – how well-recognized the milk pomade sweet – sherbet is, what the main features for this kind of sweets selection by consumers are, which quality indices are important for consumers. One of most important questions was to get know the consumers opinion about sweets, mainly sherbet possible packaging kind and the market turnover. Summarizing the questionnaire data, the response from consumers in Latvia was heartening – they like milk pomade candies. As a primary quality defect the hardness of sherbet was mentioned. Eliminating this main failing of quality, the demand of sherbet on the market could rise, as well the product marketing opportunities will grow.

The aim of the paper is to show the general trend of consumption in the Baltic countries. The member states of the European Union attach great importance to the well-being, health and the promotion of healthy lifestyle. In order to be able to make decisions on the future plan of action, COBEREN (Consumer Behaviour Erasmus Network) carried out a project with an aim of studying the food consumption habits in the European Union countries. The obtained results show the consumer habits of each participating state, although not on the regional level. This study will look at the consumption habits in the Baltic countries and find out the nature of consumption in those three states. The statistical method – analysis of variance – was used to analyse the COBEREN data. The main conclusion is that consumers of the Baltic countries do not differ greatly in their consumption habits.

Consumer decision making is one of the most relevant topics in marketing. Therefore, organizations endeavour to create products in a way that correspond to their customers’ needs and preferences. The emerging worldwide interest in healthy lifestyle and organic products could become the key success factor for food producing organizations. The article aims to determine the product attributes affecting consumer’s choice of a milk product in Lithuania. The method of Conjoint analysis was chosen for the research. The research was provided as a repetition of the same research, done in 2009. According to the principles of the Conjoint analysis, six attributes of milk were named: ‘Country of origin’, ‘Naturalness’, ‘Package size’, ‘Package type’, ‘Richness’, and ‘Price’. Each of the attributes was divided into several levels. While analyzing the structure of milk market in 2014, four market segments were distinguished: ‘Irrationally price concerned’, ‘Rationally price concerned’, ‘Ethnocentric ecologists’, and ‘Richness concerned’. Such segments like ‘Ethnocentric’, ‘Price-and-Richness concerned’ or ‘Ethnocentric price-concerned’ have disappeared from the market during the five-year period. According to research results, following suggestions were made for the companies dealing with the milk market in Lithuania: first of all, a company has to make a decision about the segment to work with; afterwards, based on the results of conjoint analysis (conditional utilities of attributes levels), optimal propositions for every particular segment have to be composed.

Nowadays the demand for fast and easy-to-make meals is ever increasing. This type of food is an essential dietary component of a large section of people in developed countries. Given the economic importance of ready-to-eat meals there is a need for a better understanding of the factors that determine their consumption. The aim of this research was to determine consumer attitudes towards the introduction of ready-to-eat meal (MRE) sets in the Latvian market. A survey was performed to determine the Latvian citizens’ attitudes towards the introduction of this type of quick-tomake, ready-to-eat products into the market of Latvia. The survey included a total of 800 respondents who answered 14 questions which were related to the interest in MRE sets that can be prepared (warmed up etc.) in less than 10 minutes and taste like home-cooked food, and the types of MRE sets these consumers would like to purchase. The demand forecast for MRE sets in the Latvian market is rather high as 67% of the respondents expressed a desire to purchase these products; the development and implementation of MRE sets is topical. The results show that the highest rated MRE set the respondents, a total of 77.1%, expressed a desire to purchase, was chicken fillet with vegetables. No significant differences in terms of liking were observed between chicken fillet with vegetables and chicken fillet with rice, the second highest rated MRE set by 73.9% of the respondents (p is greater than 0.05).

Food consumption becomes an increasingly important topic considering global and local environmental problems as well as health issues and wellbeing of nations in general. Also in Latvia people are becoming more aware of importance of food and its direct and indirect impact on their everyday life. Therefore it is very important to evaluate sustainable aspects of food consumption and look for the barriers and drivers in order to form more sustainable consumption patterns which are based on information, knowledge and consciousness. The aim of the study is to investigate the perspective of sustainable food consumption in Latvia. The tasks of the study are: 1. to review present food consumption patterns from sustainability perspective; 2. to elucidate consumers’ understandings, attitudes and behaviour towards sustainable food consumption. The empirical research was based on the online survey with a sample of 82 women in the age group from 19-35. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the results of the questionnaire and data obtained from Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia. The results of the study indicate the gap between positive attitudes towards sustainable food and stated purchasing behaviour. There is an obvious perspective of growth of sustainable food market if we increase the awareness of consumers regarding sustainable consumption issues.

Given the intensive competition in almost all the business sectors, customer loyalty research is gaining its popularity among marketers as well as among scholars. The aim of this research was to determine the differences in loyalty to grocery retailer between urban and rural consumers. In order to reveal the differences, questionnaire research was provided and differences between Lithuanian urban and rural customer loyalties were determined. The research results indicated the existence of statistically significant differences between the loyalties of Lithuanian urban and rural regarding their mostly visited grocery retailers in terms of their attitudes and repeat patronage behaviour. Moreover, based on the neo-behaviouristic approach, considering attitudinal and behavioural measures, all kinds of loyalties were observed stronger in the urban areas of Lithuania. The assumption was made that there might be an effect of limited-choice condition. Affected by the latter condition, rural citizens tend to seek for variety more than the urban ones. Consequently, considering the rural citizens’ evaluations, it can be stated that their loyalty is undermanaged, resulting in a very low amounts of truly loyal customers. Therefore, for the grocery retailers it was recommended to revise their customer loyalty schemes based on the point of residence of their consumers. In such a way the higher possibility of meeting consumer needs might be achieved.