Analyzing awareness and acceptance pattern of dehydrated fruits and vegetables for institutional and domestic buyers in Uttarakhand

The study was principally focused upon the food processing industry in general and the dehydrated fruits and vegetables in particular. The area of the study was Dehradun and Rudrapur city which are among the most industrialized and fast developing areas of Uttarakhand. It commenced with identifying the institutional and domestic consumers of dehydrated fruits and vegetables in the area. The institutional consumer comprised of the institutions such as hotels, restaurants and some popular food chain. They constituted bulk buyers who purchased it for commercial purposes. The domestic consumers constituted the vegetarian population which consume fresh fruits and vegetables on daily basis. The main aim of the study was to analyze the competition in domestic market among the companies producing dehydrated fruits and vegetables. We also attempted to study and analyze the consumer behavior which involves the consumer awareness level, the consumer acceptance level as well as consumer acceptance pattern regarding dehydrated fruits and vegetables. The study concluded the fact that the acceptance as well as consumption level of dehydrated fruits and vegetables are still at the stage infancy. It was also observed that currently it has higher acceptability within the institutional buyer category as compared to the domestic population which still believes in ‘fresh is healthy’. It was also pointed out the fact that the formal and informal gathering like parties, conferences, festivals, marriage ceremonies etc are the most powerful source of awareness and hence should be promoted at both the levels.