Consumers’ Expectation towards Functional Foods: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

: There are various functional foods offered in the market in the forms of food and beverage. Unfortunately, not all of them survived. Many functional food products had been rejected by consumers because they did not focus on consumers’ expectation. This research has one main purpose: to investigate consumers’ expectations towards functional foods’ health benefits. Three research methods were employed; literature review, multiple interviews, and a survey. The interview data were analyzed using thematic analysis method while the survey data was assessed using Exploratory Factor Analysis. Cronbach’s Alpha and the calculation of indicator transformation index were also employed. The research identified 22 important expectations related to functional foods’ health benefits. This result is beneficial for companies in creating consumers’ oriented functional foods. It can also serve as an input for the government in establishing functional food development policy.