Articles

Consumer Preferences of Ginger, Curcumin, and Cinnamon-Based Instant Herbal Beverages during Covid-19 Pandemic

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The demand for functional beverage products has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to competition in the market, manufacturers need to innovate on product attributes. One of herbal beverages innovation is instant beverages made from ginger, curcumin, and cinnamon. This product also enriched with sugar, lemongrass and others natural ingredients. The new formulation of this beverages encourage the need for study on the level of consumer preferences for products. Thus, this study aimed to analyze the order of attributes of instant herbal beverages based on the level of consumer interest and the combination of attribute levels of the product according to consumer preferences. The results of consumer preferences were known through conjoint analysis of respondents in Yogyakarta Province, Indonesia. In this study, four attributes were used, namely packaging, taste, color, and price. The results showed that the order of attributes based on the importance values according to consumer preferences for the products were price (35.54%), taste (30.03%), color (18.39%), and packaging (16.04%). While the results of the combination of attribute levels that were most preferred by consumers are canned packaging, very strong taste, bright color, and price IDR 75,000.

The demand for functional beverage products has risen dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of market competitiveness, producers must innovate on product attributes. Instant beverages prepared from ginger, curcumin, and cinnamon are one herbal beverage innovation produced by one of herbal company in Yogyakarta.

A Comparison of Indonesian and Dutch Generation-Z Preference Shift from Global Fashion Brands to Locals after Covid-19 Pandemic

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The covid-19 pandemic which outbroke four years ago has shifted how people live, work, and shop. Governments restrictions have made people develop new habits that can be done from home. Fashion industry as one of the most influential industries in Indonesia, as well as something that was always being traded offline, becomes one of the impacted areas. The less bodily experience of fashion online shopping and more cost-conscious consumers made this industry experienced a dip especially in 2019 and 2020. However, preliminary findings suggest that this condition benefits local fashion businesses which have been operating online since before this problem emerged. Therefore, this study is conducted to investigate the post-covid-19 pandemic preferences of generation-Z consumers regarding local and global fashion brands, focusing on a cross-cultural comparison between Indonesia and the Netherlands. The research aims to understand the factors influencing Generation-Z’s fashion brand preferences and explore potential differences between the two countries. This study is done using quantitative method with online questionnaires tool distributed to a sample of generation-Z consumers from two universities in Indonesia and Netherlands. Then, the data is processed using partial least square-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM).

Results show that generation-Z of both countries prefer local fashion brands compared to global ones. The difference between the two countries is Indonesian participants emphasize the importance of brands interactivity, while the impact of it to Dutch participants is less significant. The study’s implications highlight the evolving Generation-Z consumer behavior after the pandemic especially the shift of preference to local fashion brands. Understanding these preferences can assist fashion business owners and marketing teams in tailoring their strategies to cater the current needs and values of Generation-Z consumers. Furthermore, the cross-cultural comparison sheds light for fashion business owners who are planning to expand their markets to developed countries with similar characteristics as Netherlands.

The Status of Banana Production in Tanzania; a Review of Threats and Opportunities

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The word “banana” refers to a crop that cuddles a number of species commonly known as Musa spp. In Tanzania, the crop is the fourth most important crop for food and income generation for more than 30 percent of the total population. In East Africa, Tanzania is the second banana producer after Uganda. The country has the highest world’s consumption rate between 280-500 kg per person. Despite the crop’s importance its production has declined from 18 t/ha in the 1960s to 5-7 t/ha/year in 2016. This review examined the status of banana production by identifying threats and opportunities with the aim of providing readily available resource for Researchers and Agriculture Extension Officers for better banana production. Through online resources, the review identified the challenges impeding banana production and ascertaining prevailing opportunities. Banana production in Tanzania is faced with many challenges including major pests (weevil and nematode) and diseases (fusarium wilt disease, black sigatoka, and banana xanthomonas wilt disease), poor soil fertility, moisture stress, poor management practices, lack of improved banana varieties and many social economic factors. The review identified that, since 1990s there are few introduced improved banana varieties and that most of these varieties are faced with low consumer’s acceptability. Again the country is faced with shortage of banana breeding centers that could produce desirable banana hybrid cultivars. This review also identified the lack of banana information resources and research platforms that involves all banana stakeholders, making targeting of varietal attributes to consumer preferences very difficult. Therefore, in order to improve production there must be an inter-link among different research disciplines, involving governmental and non-governmental organizations, coming together and seek solutions to current and future problems for sustainable production of banana.