Packed with health benefits and nutritional value, quinoa has been a popular functional food in the Andean region of South America for centuries, and plays a vital role in preventing malnutrition in developing areas.
However, as the demand for the ancient Inca grain has soared globally over the past decade, the price tag has seen a similar spike.
Now, new research out of the University of New England (UNE) and Peru's Universidad del Pacífico (UP) shows this premium price tag could be having an effect on the types of people who are choosing to add quinoa to their shopping trolleys.
We found higher household income, more years of education, practicing exercise regularly and a positive sensory appeal were more likely to increase monthly expenditure on quinoa.
“To our knowledge, this is the first study that explores the potential influences of consumer characteristics on expenditure on quinoa, versus what people spend on traditional staple items, such as rice, pasta and potato,” says UNE Business School's Dr L. Emilio Morales, Senior Lecturer in Agricultural Economics and Value Chains (Agribusiness), who co-authored the study alongside UP's Professor Angie Higuchi.
“What we found was that the expenditure on quinoa fluctuates according to the socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents. We found higher household income, more years of education, practicing exercise regularly and a positive sensory appeal were more likely to increase monthly expenditure on quinoa.”
The study was conducted in Modern Metropolitan Lima, Peru, which is known for its high quinoa production. The researchers randomly selected consumers in areas close to markets, supermarkets and food stores, gaining insights into their spending habits and socio-demographic characteristics.
Their findings revealed many people perceived quinoa to be a premium item that was not accessible to low-income earners, seeing them turn to less nutritious alternatives like rice, pasta or potato.
With this possibly leading to negative health outcomes, and also limiting the potential market, the researchers believe there needs to be a change in tact when marketing quinoa to show that it can in fact be an affordable option when mixed with other foods.
Considering these results, governments and the food industry could run campaigns to promote regular quinoa intake for the whole population, emphasising its good taste when mixed with other products.
“Quinoa is not something that needs to be consumed by itself, rather, it’s very tasty when mixed with cheaper staples, or included in things like bread, cookies and salads. Considering these results, governments and the food industry could run campaigns to promote regular quinoa intake for the whole population, emphasising its good taste when mixed with other products.
“In addition, governments could subsidise quinoa among low-income families, allowing all citizens to improve their diets and benefit from its nutritional and health properties.”
While this study provides valuable insights for the industry, Dr Morales and Dr Higuchi say there is room for further research.
“Future studies could analyse data from other areas, given the data used in this study only represents the population of Modern Metropolitan Lima. In addition, future studies could explore the effects of beliefs about other functional foods to outline potential substitution effects on how much is spent between categories."
The full study has been published in the Journal of Sensory Studies, and can be read here.
