Price war affects the ribs taste - forskning.no

crispy crackling on Christmas Eve ribba? Fit with fat? Lucky accessory?

What you answer depends not only on taste, but also how much you’ve given ribba and what you know about it.

Margrethe Hersleth (left) and Valérie Lengard Almli are afraid ribs place on Christmas Eve menu if it continues to be as cheap. (Photo: Kjell J. Merok, Nofima)

Tastes as expected

– food’s origin is important for the taste experience, says Margrethe Hersleth, senior scientist at Nofima.

It’s all about the expectations you have for the meat – or fish, for that matter – that is the centerpiece of the Christmas Eve plate.

– If we have positive expectations, it draws huge experience in the right direction. There are many studies on this, and the tendency is that we like the food better if we know anything about it, says Hersleth.

In the world of dirt cheap ribs are therefore easy to deduce that we pick up from the freezer counter because of the price, not taste as good as fresh meat at full price. At least we do not think that it tastes just as good.

– That everything depends on what you are passionate about. But if I were to get hold of the ribs I want and I know a bit more about, so I would not put so much appreciate it as I had to buy instead, says Hersleth.

• Read more: Tradition and culture behind the Christmas food

pay more for traditional food

Currently, rib eating stable. In return, we get a sense that it does not taste as good when it’s so cheap. (Photo: Matprat.no)

Last year completed Margrethe Hersleth and Valérie Lengard Almli a survey on traditional dishes, and found that Norwegian consumers’ attitudes toward this food is closely linked to the price.

consequence is that if rib-price war continues year after year, so the jokes for the whole Christmas ribba, they believe.

– Norwegian consumers have higher willingness to pay for food products that are traditional and eaten rare. Is not food animals, it can also lose its status as the traditional term, says Valérie Lengard Almli.

grocery chains selling ribs at a loss in December to lure customers into the store.

result is that it is harder to sell ribs at regular price before and after the Christmas rush. Consumers also believe that pork is not worth more than 29.90 euros a kilo.

– Ribbed may disappear

– In the long term this could mean that the pork ribs disappear as Christmas and being replaced by other foods, warns Hersleth.

She looks at grocery chains’ price dumping as an attack on Norwegian culture. It is important for the chains to get people into the store than to preserve traditions and culture.

price of traditional products related to image and exclusivity. This is important for many consumers.

Hersleth see the outline of a small reaction to cheap meat:

– We’re very different. Some might be even more anxious to know where the food they buy comes from. Local food gets more publicity in our community.

increase in sales of local food beats out Christmas food too and the food halls in Oslo and Ås demand before Christmas.

– Many of us will pay a little more for food. But then there are some who are very driven by price, and someone who has poor economy, says Margrethe Hersleth.

• Read more: Want to traditional party

Stable Christmas Eve

Pinnekjøtt is much more expensive than the ribs, and is becoming a little more popular as Christmas Eve dinner they last 10-12 years. (Photo: Matprat.no)

So far there is nothing to suggest that sink to 29.90 for a kilo displaced neither of pinnekjøtt to 329.90 or Christmas cod to 199.90.

Analyst Gunnar Thoen at Mimi’s for eggs and meat says that the numbers have been fairly stable over many years.

– For ribs sold in the grocery store, I have the impression that the volume is quite stable, says Thoen.

The only clear trend is that more and more ribs are sold pre-marinated or pre-seasoned.

– Every year, right after Christmas, we ask people what they ate for dinner Christmas Eve. When we see the development over time, so are the ribs and lamb ribs as instructed.

Around 55 percent have eaten ribs for dinner Christmas Eve the last 10-12 years. Pinnekjøtt may have increased by a few percentage points, and last year ate 33 percent lamb ribs, he said.

• Read more: Christmas: The great delusion

Reference:

Valérie Lengard Almlia, Wim Verbeke, Filiep Vanhonacker, Tormod Naes, Margrethe Hersleth, General image and attribute perceptions of traditional food in six European countries, Food Quality and Preference , 2011, doi: 10.1016 / j.foodqual.2010.08.008. Summary