Purpose: – The purpose of this paper is to measure the relative degree of rejection or reluctance to try new foods of the Mexican consumers.Design/methodology/approach: – To measure the degree of acceptance or rejection that individuals have for foods that are unusual in their diets, a phobia scale was used to new foods developed by Pliner and Hobden (1992) Food Neophobia Scale (FNS). The authors also distinguished between individuals’ predisposition to taste new foods, “neo-phobic” (lower bias) and “neo-philic” (predisposition). Additionally social and demographic variables such as age, gender, monthly income level and marital status to discuss relations with the FNS scale were incorporated.Findings: – The results have shown that Mexican consumers show relatively low levels of phobia toward new foods, but there may be differences in accordance with the characteristics of the environment, the proximity of another culture or urbanization level have a significant influence on consumer attitudes.Originality/value: – In Mexico the development of new foods has increased, in a recent study 83 percent of respondents indicated they are interested in buying new foods on the market. Studies of novel foods phobia have been made in various international contexts, in Mexico, however, the exploration and understanding of consumer attitudes toward foods that are unusual in their diets is incipient. This study represents one of the first contributions in this regard and more so to focus specifically on the Mexican consumer.

The paper examines the retail price structure of saffron currently marketed in the Spanish market, with special emphasis on the assessment of the region of origin and its certification as tools of differentiation. The motivation lies on the search for effective marketing tools for Jiloca saffron (Aragón) that in turn may contribute to preserve this traditional agricultural sector threatened by progressive abandonment. An hedonic price regression is estimated for this purpose, where the functional form is empirically determined. The prices and product characteristics have been collected from labels of saffron references either found on the shelves of representative retail shops in the main city of Aragon (Zaragoza) or on the internet shopping services that the main Spanish distribution chains offer. Results show that higher prices are attached for saffron distributed at supermarkets and Gourmet shops, marketed in threads, packaged in glass, and which carries a brand owned by a processor specialized in the processing and marketing of saffron. Currently, the recognition of Jiloca origin does not carry a premium, contrary to what happens to La Mancha, whilst the Protected Designation of Origin reinforces the economic value of La Mancha origin.

The jalapeño pepper is one of the best-known and most commonly consumed chili peppers in Mexico; its consumption is a tradition that dates to the first migrations of Europeans to the country. With time, its demand has increased, although in recent years its consumption presented a stabilization and stagnation. This work aimed to determine the preferences of Mexican consumers for jalapeño pepper, taking as a reference quality attributes and motivations that influence their purchasing and consumption habits, under the hypothesis that consumers in each region seek a certain type of jalapeño pepper based on specific quality attributes. In total, 1200 surveys were carried out in five regions of the country. The analysis of the information was performed using the ANOVA test, correspondence analysis, and multidimensional scaling. The main results of this study show that although there is a tendency towards frequent consumption, each purchase weighs less than 500 g. In the same way, the physical appearance of the product is fundamental at the time of purchase, in addition to other attributes such as flavor, color, and size, which are highly valued by consumers. Although there are similar consumption patterns, purchasing behaviors change by region, which can serve as a basis and spearhead for the development of differentiated strategies in the production and marketing of the product.

Historically, Mexico has distinguished itself by its strong participation in exports to the US market; however, the pork sector’s main destination is the Asian market, particularly Japan. Hence, this document aims to show the competitive position of Mexican pork in Japan during the period of 2000–2020, particularly by using Mexico, the United States, Canada, Denmark, and Chile as selected countries and considering these as the leading purveyors in the supply chain to the Japanese market. To achieve the proposed objective, a competitiveness analysis is developed through the Comparative Export Advantage methodology, strengthening it through the Constant Market Share (CMS). The results convey the growing competitiveness that Mexico is gaining in pork trade for the Japanese market, as well as globally. In addition, this research suggests that Mexican pork producers take the necessary steps toward increasing their level of competitiveness.

The paper examines consumers’ attitudes towards new food by means of the Food Neophobia Scale (FNS). Among the new food trends, ethnic food, that is, food specific to a country or culture, is becoming more present in Spain boosted by immigration. The FNS allows the identification of consumers’ profiles with more and less propensity to consume new foodstuffs, and we evaluate these profiles in relation to consumption and purchase habits of ethnic food. The results constitute a first step onto the insight of the potential of the ethnic food market in Spain.