| Abstract | A large number of new products, including food products, are placed on the market every day. However, the market success of these products mostly depends on whether and to what extent consumers are ready to accept the new product (Tomić and Cerjak, 2014).
On the EU market, as well as in Croatia, new food products from the Novel Food category can be found every day. The term novel food is defined by EC Regulation (258/97) and includes food that is new on the market or was not consumed to a significant extent in the EU before 1997, food that is traditionally eaten outside the EU and new technologies in food production, and new ingredients used in food preparation (Mancini et al., 2019).
One of the new trends on the EU food market is entomophagy, i.e. the consumption of insects, which is considered something modern (Caparros Megido et al., 2014). This category also includes food based on insects, whether they are whole insects or processed parts (e.g. "flour"). Traditionally, insects are consumed in various parts of the world (Asia, Africa, South America) and it is estimated that over 2 billion people around the world use insects in their diet every day (Jongema, 2017). Such practice was not known in Western countries (EU, USA) until now.
The main potential of insect-based food lies in the social and personal benefits of consuming insects as food. Insects are considered a food rich in crude proteins, fats, unsaturated fatty acids omega-3 and omega-6, minerals and vitamins (Jansson and Berggren, 2015; Ramos-Elorduy et al., 1997) and their consumption can bring personal benefits to the consumer. Social benefits are manifested in the ecological aspect of insect production. Production areas, food and water consumption, and the generation of greenhouse gases in the production of insects are significantly smaller per unit of protein compared to today's livestock production (Jansson and Berggren, 2015).
Regardless of the possible benefits, consumers in Western countries are skeptical about the consumption of insect-based foods, mainly due to psychological and cultural barriers related to the consumption of insects, which make it difficult to introduce such foods to the market. Although people around the world have been using insects in their diet since time
immemorial, in the last few years the potential of insects as food is slowly being discovered in Western countries as well. Nevertheless, although the acceptance of insect-based food in the EU is slow (Deroy et al., 2015), in the last few years such food is becoming more and more popular and in some countries it can even be found in supermarkets (Mancini et al., 2019).
There are numerous advantages that insects provide as food, but they still do not have a significant place on the shelves of EU stores (Mancini et al., 2019). Insect-based food is not yet available for sale in Croatia, and before its introduction to the market, it is necessary to examine how willing consumers are to consume and buy such food.
This work aims to investigate the potential of the Croatian market for the introduction of products containing insects, and to examine the point of view and attitudes of young consumers towards such food. |
