"Amongst other things, the purpose of the study is to discover what motivates people to eat seafood, and makes them vote out seafood to the advantage of other products", says Scientist Pirjo Honkanen at Fiskeriforskning.
A lot of information
She is one of several scientists at different research institutes in Europe who are working with the study, which is taking place in Poland, Denmark, Belgium, The Netherlands and Spain.
One thousand people have been selected in each of the countries.
"The consumers have answered a comprehensive questionnaire, and there will therefore also be large amounts of information. We are now analysing the results. The knowledge is necessary to understand the consumers' food habits and how we can increase seafood consumption", says Honkanen.
Several studies
The research is a part of SEAFOODplus, the largest research programme on seafood ever carried out by the EU. The total budget is around 205 MNOK. Fiskeriforskning is greatly involved in the programme, where 70 research institutes are participating.
"The knowledge we gain will also be used in other studies that will be conducted within SEAFOODplus. The background information we have about buying habits and taste will allow us to design products that can be tested by the consumers, amongst other things, says Pirjo Honkanen."
