Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, the scientific journal of the Mendel University in Brno, Czech Republic

One of the global problems of our time is food waste that is most significant at the household level. There is a lack of research that focus on the food-wasting behavior of the main breadwinner groups in society, generations Y and X. To fill this gap, the purpose of this study is to analyse the factors that influence the food-wasting behavior of these groups. From data of a representative sample of 1,665 respondents by using structural equation modeling it is shown that the intention of reducing food waste is positively influenced by attitudes, health-, price and environmental consciousness, planning routines and ecological motives. The results show that influences from the immediate environment and the media are not effective, therefore programs dealing with the future of the Earth, children and sustainability, which strengthen environmental and ecological awareness and planning routines in generations X and Y are recommended.

Honey is becoming increasingly popular among consumers for its health and nutritional benefits as well as several other functions. The survey identifies four main dimensions of honey-purchasing motivation: medical benefits of honey consumption, dietary quality, cosmetics and sweetener. There are very limited empirical analysis of the aspects of honey consumption. The present study contributes to fill this knowledge gap through a qualitative study of consumer perceptions, preferences and attitudes towards honey among Hungarian consumers through 86 in-depth interviews. The study identifies different consumer segments, which are also willing to pay premium prices for the Hungarian or local honey. Quality cues are defined by search attributes of the product (colour, taste, aroma, thickness), and ethical attributes (warranties, brand name, country-of-origin).

The study investigates the impact of negative economic changes on Hungarian consumption habits on a representative sample of 1,000 people during the post-COVID period, which we interpreted as the period after December 2021. The quantitative research shows that a significant part of the population was affected by the unexpected effects of the economic environment. The change in purchasing habits was driven by the search for promotions and value for money products. Regarding the place of purchase, the research showed that the share of online shoppers did not increase for the 12 product categories surveyed, while the role of discounters in offline purchases increased. The survey highlighted that a third of the population cannot afford to make large purchases, while at the same time avoiding loans. Two-thirds of the population's view of the future is quite pessimistic. In consumption attitudes, the first priority is the aforementioned “discounting”, while the second priority is saving money on packaging. Hungarians tend to save more on electricity and heating. Finally, the result of our cluster analysis is that we have been able to distinguish five consumer groups that are able to describe the main consumer attitudes in the post-Covid crisis period. The defined clusters are the following: Resistant, Bargain hunter, Conscious, Rationing and What you can afford is what you can get.

Honey has beneficial physiological effects, it is a valuable agricultural export product and widely used worldwide as food and medicine also. The primary aim of this present study is to demonstrate the honey production and trade of the EU member states known as Visegrad Four between 2000 and 2018. Also an objective of this article is the calculation of the actual comparative advantages of the Visegrad Four in foreign trade in natural honey using the RCA (relative comparative advantages) indices. During the research and analysis, different international and EU Databases were used. Secondary data used in the analysis derive from the reports of National Apiculture Programmes, the European Commission and the European Committee and from the databases of Faostat, Trademap and the United Nations Comtrade Database. V4 countries account for about 25% of the total EU apiculture sector, and the cooperation of Visegrad Four countries in the field of beekeeping could make a major contribution to the competitiveness of the sector. Examining the import and export data, using RCA indices it was proved that Hungary has a comparative advantage in terms of natural honey, however the competitiveness of the beekeeping sector in the region depends on the common performance of all four countries. Due to the stability of the sector and the positive externalities, authors suggest the further support of the apiary in the region.

A méhészet a gazdaság bruttó termelési értékéhez való hozzájárulásán, az ökológiai egyensúly fenntartásán és a biológiai sokféleség megőrzésén túl, Magyarországon több, mint húsz ezer család megélhetését biztosítja kiegészítő vagy fő jövedelemforrásként, így az ágazat közvetve hozzájárul a vidék népességmegtartó képességéhez. A méhészet fontos pillére a nemzeti fejlődésnek, a biodiverzitás megőrzésében is meghatározó szerepe van. Mindezek ellenére a méhészeti ágazat helyzetével kapcsolatban kevés információ áll a rendelkezésünkre, mind közgazdasági és termelési tényezők, mind értékesítési adatok tekintetében, amelyek hátrányosan érintik a szektor szereplőit az ágazati problémák feltárása és fejlesztési lehetőségei tekintetében. Jelen tanulmány célja a hazai méztermelés helyzetének és változásának bemutatása 2000 és 2017 között.