Browsing by Author "Rathnayaka, S.D."

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    Analysis of Consumption Patterns of Probiotic Incorporated Fermented Dairy Products in Sri Lanka
    (Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2021) Hanouf, M.H.M.; Rathnayaka, S.D.; Abesinghe, A.M.N.L.
    Probiotic dairy foods are considered as one of the major functional food substances in the world. Consumers have been more health conscious in recent years, and as a result, they are seeking more information on how to live a healthy life consuming good food. Probiotic and probiotic products are having the possibility to attract those health-conscious consumers because of their health promoting effects and lower cost. To our knowledge there are no studies that analyze the consumer demand for probiotic fermented dairy products in Sri Lanka. This study focused on analyzing the consumer knowledge, attitudes, socio-demographic and economic factors that affect the consumption pattern of probiotic fermented dairy products in Sri Lanka. A total of 405 households from all nine provinces in Sri Lanka were surveyed with an online questionnaire. According to the results, 46% of the respondents have awareness of probiotics. Probiotic consumption was categorized into 4 levels as not at all, low, medium, and high based on the probiotic consumption per week. The study showed that 53% of the respondents belongs to low-level consumption category, 27% have medium level consumption, 9% are in high-level consumption category and 11% of the responders never consumed probiotic incorporated dairy products. An ordered logistic regression model was employed to analyze the relationships between probiotic consumption level and the number of demographics, socio- economic characteristics of consumers such as gender, age, marital status, household size, presence of children, household income, locality, education level, attitudes on health and nutrition aspects, attitude on sensory aspects, advertisement aspects and poor availability of probiotic dairy products. The results reveal that probiotic consumption level is significantly and positively influenced by gender, marital status, household income, advertisements, and consumer‟s attitude on health and negatively influenced by household size and poor availability. Findings of this study give useful information to producers for their production and marketing strategies which are most suitable to fit with the demand characteristics and consumer expectations. Keywords: Probiotic; Dairy Products; Consumption Patterns; Ordered Logistic Regression; Sri Lanka
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    Analysis of Household Determinants of Demand for Food Away-from-Home (FAFH) in the Urban Sector of Sri Lanka
    (Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2021) Induruwage, N.D.; Rathnayaka, S.D.
    Food consumption in Asia has undergone significant changes over the past two decades. This change in consumption patterns can be attributed to the rapid economic and income growth, urbanization, modernization of marketing infrastructures, the emergence of processed food companies, the spreading of multinational fast food service providers, increased female labour force participation. One of the biggest changes in food consumption patterns in Sri Lanka is the increased consumption of food away from home (FAFH). Nutritionists, economists, public health officials, and policymakers are concerned that consumption of more FAFH, relative to food at home (FAH) likely to contribute to food-related chronic diseases in humans. This study aims to investigate the demand characteristics of FAFH consumption in Sri Lanka with special reference to the urban sector. Data were collected from the Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) 2016, conducted by the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS) in Sri Lanka. The theoretical model of this study is derived from Becker‟s Household Production Theory. Factors influencing households‟ decisions to consume food away from home and how much to spend on these food items were analyzed using Cragg's double hurdle model. According to the results, income, household size, all adult members engaging in a job, being single have positive and significant effects on the household‟s expenditure on FAFH. However, household head‟s age, and education level have significant negative effects on away from home food consumption expenditure. Further, estimations of the first hurdle model reveal that the household head‟s age, family size, and household head‟s education level negatively and significantly affect the FAFH consumption decisions. Accordingly, younger households, less educated households, and all working households have a greater preference for convenience than other households as illustrated in their expenditure patterns on food away from home. Getting richer will also lead to a higher level of FAFH expenditure. Educating consumers about healthful FAFH choices could have a significant payoff, especially if self-control is impaired when eating away from home. Keywords: Urbanization; Income growth; Health; Consumption; Food away from home; Double Hurdle Model