Konsumenter om jordgubbar

Swedish strawberries, being essential in the celebration of Midsummer and the solstice, hold a strong market position. During the summer season the domestic products have a market share of seventy per cent and meet import competition mainly from Belgium and Germany. A study of some 400 consumers was carried out in 2009 in three different locations in southern Sweden, with the aim of finding out more about purchases, attitudes and views on quality criteria and the length of the season. Over 90 per cent of the respondents stated that they, or someone in their household, had bought strawberries by late June and more than 80 per cent claimed that they bought mostly Swedish berries. Attitudes towards Swedish and Belgian or German strawberries were explored through opinions on different statements about quality criteria, ranging from 1 to 5. The domestic products got high opinions and were considered sweet, fine, tasty and of high quality, and relatively long-lasting, and not sour or watery. The ranking was more favourable than for the imported strawberries, which got marks near the middle. About a fifth of the respondents had no opinion of Belgian or German strawberries. The consumers may, thus, be described as unaware of rather than negative towards imported strawberries. As for the development of the taste a greater number of respondents believed that taste had improved over the last five years than who believed it had declined: an opinion that was more pronounced for the domestic products. Some 80 per cent of these consumers stated that they bought mainly Swedish strawberries during the season, which was defined as starting in mid-June and ending some time between mid-July and late August; a time when there are few strawberries on the market. Two thirds were content with this season, while one third wished it was longer. Statistical analyses showed only slight differences in the results depending on background variables like age, gender and location.