A recent review proposed a role for multi-functional food or supplement products in priming the gut to support both digestive and systemic health. Accordingly, we designed and eva-luated the effect of a multi-functional gastrointestinal (GI) primer supplement on participant-reported measures for digestive health, quality-of-life (e.g., energy/vitality and general health), and reasons for satiation (e.g., attitudes towards food and eating). In this single-arm clinical trial, 68 participants with mild digestive symptoms consumed the GI primer supplement daily for 14 days. Digestive symptoms were evaluated daily from baseline (Day 0) through Day 14. At baseline and Day 14, participants reported their stool consistency, reasons for satiation, and quality-of-life measures using validated questionnaires. At Day 14, participants reported significant improvements in all (13/13) digestive symptom parameters (p-values < 0.05) and an increase in % of stools with normal consistencies. There were significant improvements (p-values < 0.05) in energy/vitality and general health, and in specific attitudes towards food and eating (e.g., physical satisfaction, planned amount, decreased eating priority, decreased food appeal, and self-consciousness). Results suggest the GI primer supplement promotes digestive health, improves quality of life, and impacts attitudes towards food/eating. This study provides preliminary support for the gut priming hypothesis through which multi-functional digestive products may improve GI health.

Food is one of the basic needs of the human being. It is required for the normal functioning of the body parts and for a healthy growth. Consumer interest in ready-to-eat (RTE) snack and ready-toserve (RTS) food is growing due to their convenience, value, attractive appearance, taste and texture. This paper discusses the relationship between food perception, preferences and food choice. First, we aim to identify and point out what factors affect our food perception, preferences and thereby try to explain the many reasons for differing food choice and preferences. The underlying reasons might come from different sources, and this paper focuses on trying to fully grasp this complexity. Researcher illustrates the variation of factors affecting our ready to eat food preferences. Second, researcher aim to give a general overview over factors affecting ready to eat food choice and the actual decision making process used for food preference and choice. Third, researcher provides a brief discussion regarding the connection between food preferences and food choice. Finally, we conclude by stating that further insight is needed in areas such as cultural, historical and demographic factors.

The liberalization of trade and India's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) have brought about significant changes in India's agricultural trade and food processing industry. This study aims to evaluate the export competitiveness of processed food products from India by analyzing their comparative advantage and export potential over a specified time period. The study utilizes secondary data from sources such as the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), and International Trade Centre (ITC) for the analysis. The selection of processed food products is based on the major processed food products exported by food processing industries in Gujarat. Analytical tools employed are compound annual growth rate (CAGR), revealed comparative advantage (RCA), and nominal protection coefficient (NPC). These tools help assess growth rates, comparative advantage, and competitiveness of the selected commodities with the data on export potential Provided by ITC. The study highlights the export potential and unrealized potential of processed foods which is more than 7.9 billion dollars and 4.5 billion dollars respectively. Among the selected commodities the food preparations with HS code 210690 are observed to have the highest potential. The analysis identifies the largest unrealized potential was in countries such as the United States, Saudi Arabia, China, and UAE for many of the selected processed food products. It was also observed in the export performance of selected processed foods for the last 10 years, with notable growth rates observed in miscellaneous preparations and bread, pastry, and other baked foods. This study concludes by highlighting the Potential of selected food products and also shows the presence of competitive advantage of selected foods in the USA, UAE, UK, Australia, and Saudi Arabia. It highlights the opportunities for manufacturers to expand their exports, capitalize on untapped market potential, and enhance their business growth.

In India, eating out is part of the culture. Street food, in particular, has been popular not only among young people but also for different age groups. The street food mainly comprises of unorganized sector which is served on the streets without any formal establishment. Due to its popularity and low entry barriers, the street food market is competitive in Gujarat. Understanding the consumers demand about the food they want and giving them what they want becomes critical for the success of street food vendors. Thus, this descriptive quantitative study aims to “assess the consumers’ perception towards street foods in Anand – Vidhyanagar” in Gujarat state of India. Quantitative method was used for the study and 275 questionnaires that were conveniently distributed to the people who are consuming street food near Anand – Vidhyanagar area of Gujarat state and collected for further analysis. The data were analyzed using SPSS and it was found that consumers have very positive perception towards street food. The study revealed that about 39.3 percent of the consumers took street foods 2 to 3 times per week. Panipuri was found to be the most preferred choice of street food by the sample respondents. It was also found that taste of the food was the most important reason for consumption of street food, followed by convenient and easy accessibility of such foods and their inexpensive prices.The study indicated that about one fourth of the consumers were unsatisfied with the cleanliness of the vending area.

Edible oils are main constituent of human diet. Production figures of oils crops and oils provide information not about only production patterns but consumption patterns too. Knowing this information helps industry as well educators in focusing on important oil crops and oils. It was found in this study that world is dominated only by few oil crops and oils. Further it was discovered that only handful of countries contribute to bulk of oil crops and oils.

Consumer behavior in the world of marketing is very necessary to judge for the success of the product. The aim of this study is to analyze the behavior of consumers towards selected ready to eat food products of selected cities in Gujarat. Total samples of 400 respondents from different 4 cities were selected for the study. Indian cooking and lifestyle has undergone tremendous changes in the last few years. Some of the factors contribute this change are Liberalization, Dual income, nuclear families, innovative kitchen applications, changing food habits, etc. Long working hours during the weekdays and weekends that are always spent with kids, preferably outside the house gives them very little time to cook. These factors are a major cause to make ready to eat food products an essential component in the daily lives of people. Greatly changing food habits and a greater demand for readymade food products have led to the growth of food processing industries. There is a greater demand for ready-to-eat food products and the major reasons for the same are convenient usage, easy availability, less time consumed and better taste. The present investigation made an attempt to analyze the consumer response towards ready-to-eat food products in different cities of Gujarat. Majority of the respondents were aware of Parle-G, Lays, Frooti and Amul brands in case of biscuits, chips fruit juice and ice creams accordingly. Television was the major source for getting information about various brands in all the four products.

Over the last decade consumers’ health consciousness is becoming an important factor driving the agro food market. Health food products have entered the global markets with force in the past years and rapidly gained market share. Consequently, the food industry has reacted to this trend by developing a growing variety of new products with health-related claims and images, including health foods, organic and functional foods that are selected by consumers for their health-promoting properties. Currently, the health foods products are performing well, in terms of innovation and market penetration. Different researches conclude that a better understanding of consumers' awareness of health foods and its determinants are key success factors for market orientation and development and for successfully negotiating market opportunities. The research proposes a survey of 200 Indian consumers in order to understand awareness towards health foods, with particular reference to different type of health food available in the market like natural food, organic food, whole food, probiotics, designer food, functional food, through the implementation of a data analysis. The main aim of this paper is to know awareness about health foods and different activities by companies to create awareness about health food products which is indications that may contribute to better strategic and tactical marketing decisions. The findings of this study are also important for government bodies and other food companies interested in designing public health programs and for creating new health food in the market.

Purpose – Liberalization of trade, globalization and development in food science and technology has resulted in an increase in trade and consumption of pre-packaged foods. Reading food labelling information is important to assist in making informed choices of food. This study determined level of awareness on pre-packaged food labelling information among consumers in Anand city of Gujarat, India, their perception on the importance of such information and various factors influencing in reading and using food labels. Design/methodology/approach – A semi structured questionnaire was used to collect information from consumers who were found purchasing prepackaged foods in selected modern format retail stores. The obtained data were computed to determine relationships and associations between various factors and the use of food labelling information among consumers in the area of study. Findings – Study revealed that 86.7 per cent of the study participants reported to read labeling information prior purchase of pre-packaged foods. However, only a third of respondents were very much informed about food labelling and computed awareness scores. It was observed that level of education and gender difference had statistically significant association with awareness scores and perception of importance of food labelling. 83.3 per cent of respondents mentioned price of food as the factor for motivating them to read food label before purchase of the food item. Practical implications – Deliberate efforts may be needed to improve food labelling, provide education to consumers to raise their awareness on importance of reading and use of food labelling information to make an informed choice of the food. Originality/value – Determines level of awareness about labelling information among consumers of pre-packaged food products.

In recent years, the adoption of mobile phones has been exceptionally rapid in many part of the world, and especially in India where cellular phones are nowadays almost as common as wrist watches. While mobile phone usage is rather an unexamined genre in academic literature, this study attempts to investigate consumer purchasing motives in cellular phone markets. This paper surveyed 190 consumers and look at their motives to purchase new mobile phones on one hand and factors affecting operator choice on the other. The result indicate that while price and properties were the most influential fac- tors affecting the purchase of a new mobile phone, price , audibility and friends' operator were regarded as the most important in the choice of the mobile phone operator. This paper concludes with a discussion of contributions and proposes ideas for future studies in this area.