The development of food products containing offal and offal extracts could be part of the solution to the upcoming demand for animal protein. This study aimed to determine Spanish consumers’ attitudes toward offal and the development of meat products containing offal extracts. Consumers’ perceptions were evaluated by means of focus group discussions and a survey (N = 400) to validate the focus group results in various Spanish provinces. The theory of planned behavior was used to examine consumer attitudes. Results indicated that nutritional properties, environmental sustainability, and affordability were the main drivers, while sensory attributes, low frequency consumption, and perceived higher content of undesirable compounds were the main barriers. Three segments were identified according to their beliefs: those in favor of these products, those that were health and environmentally conscious, and those who were reluctant about them. The identification of these segments and their profiles demonstrated the necessity to focus efforts on providing reliable information on sensory and health-related issues to improve acceptability. Attitude was the most important predictor of behavioral intention regarding the global model, while the social component (subjective norm) was significant for two of the identified segments, emphasizing the relevance of the social component for acceptability.

Packaging is no longer a mere structural element that only aims to preserve foods, but it is also a powerful marketing tool able to affect product perception, purchase decision and consumers’ food choices. Incorporating consumers’ voices into packaging design through co-creation could maximise its impact on the market. The main goal of this exploratory study was to test the usefulness of co-creation with consumers for packaging design. For that purpose, a survey with 200 Spanish participants was conducted to find out which of the presented visual and textual packaging attributes were the most appropriate. A validation study with 40 participants using implicit (eye tracker, galvanic skin response and automatic facial expression analysis) and explicit measurements was used to test the packaging co-created by consumers against some of its possible competitors in the market. The co-creation process with consumers allowed for the identification of the visual and textual attributes, among the available options, that best fit their preferences, whereas the validation process confirmed that the packaging design co-created by consumers was equally or even preferred over the competitors. The information gathered might help designers and marketers to guide the packaging design for fish products in the Spanish market.

Co-creation is a process that directly involves different stakeholders in the idea generation phase of a new product development process. A pool of 112 new aquaculture fish product ideas was obtained by applying a combination of creative and projective techniques to the co-creation process with consumers in six focus groups conducted in three European countries (Germany, France, and Spain). The subjectivity of qualitative data analysis (e.g., focus groups) is one of its recognised disadvantages. To overcome this drawback, a combination of specialised software (i.e., Alceste), along with word frequency, co-occurrence, and context checking, was applied to provide a different approach to data analyses in qualitative studies. The method identified the most salient dimensions behind the participants’ discourse (naturalness, quality, ethics, price, and health) and inferred the importance those dimensions had for them, thus proving the existence of a correlation of 0.7 between what the participants said (frequency of mention) and what they liked the most (importance). Overall, the exploratory approach proposed is deemed useful for drawing key conclusions from qualitative research, thus offering an alternative to traditional content analysis. In future, the results obtained may be useful for selecting the co-created ideas with the greatest potential to be well received in the market.

Aquaculture can represent an alternative means of economic yield and food security. Despite this fact, consumers still have a more negative perception of farmed fish when compared with wild fish, including its sustainability. Understanding how consumers perceive sustainability is essential in building an effective strategy to encourage sustainable fish consumption. A survey with 2145 consumers was conducted in five European countries (France, Germany, Italy, Poland, and Spain) to inquire into consumers’ beliefs about the main pillars of the sustainability (environmental, social, and economic) when farmed and wild fish are compared, as well as to identify segments of consumers with similar beliefs about fish sustainability. Overall, results showed that European consumers perceived farmed fish as being more sustainable, locally obtained, providing environmental benefits, generating employment, improving human living conditions, generating rural development, and ensuring more fair fish prices than wild fish. Conversely, wild fish was perceived as ensuring animal welfare and being more organic but causing more environmental damage than farmed fish. Additionally, it seems that to effectively communicate aquaculture sustainability, it would be better to focus on single aspects of sustainability (beliefs) rather than focusing on the whole concept of sustainability. Finally, four segments of consumers were identified according to consumers’ beliefs, which were labelled accordingly: ambivalent, pro aquaculture, pro wild fish, and impartial. Results obtained may be helpful to provide each segment with tailored marketing strategies to stimulate farmed fish consumption and improve the overall image of the aquaculture sector to foster its full development in Europe.

Nougat‐type confections, made with nuts, honey or sugar, and/or egg whites, are consumed in many countries. Torró d'Agramunt is a nougat produced in northeast Spain that has been awarded the European quality label Protected Geographical Indication (PGI). When sensory descriptors are included in the PGI's operating regulations, the sensory quality of products with the label must be guaranteed. The current study established eight descriptors and reference ranges for Torró d'Agramunt, differentiating between products labeled “supreme category” (containing ≥60% nuts) from those labeled “extra category” (containing ≥46% nuts), and developed a method to train a panel of tasters to evaluate this product. Applying the method also showed that sensory analysis is useful for identifying products that are nearing their expiry date. The work conducted within this study represents a step toward the standardization of the approach to the sensory analysis of nougats and similar products.Practical Applications: Sensory analysis is a way to objectively characterize the attributes of products. Determining whether products fulfill established criteria for certain attributes is important for quality control and ensuring consumer trust. The present study aimed to devise a standardized method for the sensory analysis of nougats and similar products. The approach developed has enabled the sensory characterization of various PGI Torró d'Agramunt using the selected descriptors, making it possible to establish a sensory profile according to the percentage of nuts included in the product and to evaluate changes in the sensory profile that occur as the product approaches its expiry date. Training the panel and discussing the descriptors underlined the need for feedback between the Regulating Board, the director of the panel, and the tasters. This process resulted in a fast, feasible method that can be applied for quality control of other products or other quality labels.