Consumer perception of supplementing rabbit diets with seaweed to reduce antibiotic use in rabbit production in Spain

World Rabbit Sci. 32: 129-143 129 CONSUMER PERCEPTION OF SUPPLEMENTING RABBIT DIETS WITH SEAWEED TO REDUCE ANTIBIOTIC USE IN RABBIT PRODUCTION IN SPAIN Sabela Al-Soufi *, Carlota Vivero-Saavedra †, Ana María Pernas †, Marta Miranda ‡, Marta López-Alonso * *Departamento de Patoloxía Animal, Facultade de Veterinaria, Campus Terra, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 27002 Lugo, Spain. † Atoupa S. Coop. Galega Xuvenil, 27800 ViLaLba, Lugo, Spain. ‡Departamento de Anatomía, Producción Animal e Ciencias Clínicas Veterinarias, Facultade de Veterinaria, Campus Terra, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 27002 Lugo, Spain. Abstract: Rabbit meat consumption has gradually decreased in Spain and rabbit production systems face some challenges related to high mortalities caused by gastrointestinal diseases, which are difficult to control owing to limitations on antibiotic use. The inclusion of seaweeds in the rabbit diet as prebiotics can potentially reduce the need to use antibiotics, as already observed in other types of livestock. The aim of this survey was to study the rabbit meat and seaweed consumption habits of the population of a municipality in Galicia (NW Spain) and the willingness of the population to choose seaweed-fed rabbit meat over other rabbit meat, to determine whether this new product would be accepted by consumers. Rabbit meat consumption, despite being minoritarian, is more frequent in the surveyed population compared to other regions in Spain, and great importance is attached to home-produced rabbit meat. Most respondents have a positive image of rabbit meat and highlighted its nutritional value. The acceptability of seaweed-fed rabbit meat was high, as two thirds of the respondents stated that they would choose this product over other types of rabbit meat. Most respondents agreed about the environmental benefits of this feeding strategy, highlighting the reduction in antibiotic use and the higher quality of the product as benefits. Nevertheless, this strategy should be properly communicated, to guarantee its success in attracting environmentally concerned consumers. Key Words: rabbit meat, seaweed, antibiotics, consumer perception, willingness to consume. INTRODUCTION Rabbit meat is a minor but very valuable and highly appreciated product in Mediterranean countries such as Spain, Italy and France, due to its characteristic taste and its nutritional properties (high quality protein, low cholesterol and sodium, and valuable content of B group vitamins) (Cullere and Dalle Zotte, 2018). Nonetheless, rabbit production is facing a critical period caused by a large increase in mortality on farms, mainly due to the limitation on the prophylactic use of antibiotics, which makes control of some gastrointestinal diseases difficult (Solans etal., 2019). Moreover, rabbit meat consumption in Mediterranean countries has gradually decreased in recent years (Cullere and Dalle Zotte, 2018). In Spain, total consumption has dropped by 51.4% in the last 10 yr (2012-2022), and the per capita consumption in Spain is currently only 0.74 kg/year (MAPA, 2023). The main reasons for the decline in consumption are the limited availability of processed products adapted to modern types of consumption, the perception of rabbits World Rabbit Sci. 2024, 32: 129-143 https://doi.org/10.4995/wrs.2024.21157 WRSA, UPV, 2003 Cite as: Al-Soufi S., Vivero-Saavedra C., Pernas A.M., Miranda M., López-Alonso M. 2024. Consumer perception of supplementing rabbit diets with seaweed to reduce antibiotic use in rabbit production in Spain. World Rabbit Sci., 32: 129-143. https://doi.org/10.4995/wrs.2024.21157 Correspondence: M. Miranda, marta.mir[email protected]. Received February 2024- Accepted April 2024. https://doi.org/10.4995/wrs.2024.21157 World Rabbit Science Al-Soufi et al. World Rabbit Sci. 32: 129-143130 as pets, the lack of tradition of consumption and the intense taste of the meat, which some consumers do not like (Buitrago-Vera etal., 2016; Cullere and Dalle Zotte, 2018). The rabbit farming sector therefore needs support and new marketing strategies to ensure its long-term future. Dietary supplementation with marine macroalgae or seaweed has been well studied in some livestock species (Costa etal., 2021; Morais etal., 2020), especially in porcine, with very positive results on both gut health and meat quality. In rabbits, literature is scarce, although some studies have observed some benefits on gut health, both in vitro (AlSoufi etal., 2022, 2023) and in vivo (Abu Hafsa etal., 2021), due to the potential prebiotic activity of some of the polysaccharides that seaweeds contain. Seaweed is a suitable ingredient for complete animal feed, as production is very sustainable and does not require fresh water or arable land, and in addition, seaweed acts as a carbon sink (Costa etal., 2021). Seaweed production reaches very high levels in some regions of Spain, e.g. Galicia (NW Spain) (García Tasende and Peteiro, 2015). Seaweed-producing companies sustainably harvest or cultivate seaweed for human consumption in these regions, generating tonnes of discards that could potentially be revalorised if used for animal feed, in a circular-economy approach (Al-Soufi etal., 2022). The inclusion of seaweed in rabbit feed has also proven to have some benefits on rabbit meat quality (Rossi etal., 2020) without any negative impact on the sensory properties of the meat (unpublished results). Therefore, consumer acceptability regarding the objective characteristics of this product should be positive, and this feeding strategy could also be used as a marketing tool to attract consumers and increase rabbit meat consumption. However, as far as we know, no previous studies have addressed consumer perception and acceptability of seaweed-fed rabbit meat or the willingness of consumers to choose this type of product. Consumers are generally concerned about animal welfare and sustainable livestock production systems and also demand functional food with adequate nutritional properties (Gunnarsson and Thulin, 2023), and they are therefore expected to accept these types of products. Nevertheless, consumption of rabbit meat is more dependent on some societal factors than consumption of other types of meat, which is in fact one of the main causes for the decrease in consumption (Petracci etal., 2018). This makes it difficult to predict consumer response to different strategies. Galicia is a suitable place to address this question, as the region is a top producer of marine macroalgae and is also one of the main rabbit meat producing regions in Spain (3rd position). Although the Atlantic diet is widely consumed in Galicia —with pork and beef being the main types of meat consumed— rabbits have traditionally been raised by smallholders as a complementary source of meat and manure (Botana and Novas, 2023). Although rabbit farming has gradually been industrialised and professionalised, rearing rabbits for home consumption is still very important in Galicia (MAPA, 2020; Botana and Novas, 2023). This sociohistorical feature, together with the food traditions in the area, must be considered in order to understand consumption habits and the willingness of individuals to consume new products (Fernández, 2008; Petracci etal., 2018). This study was conducted within a broader research project investigating the use of seaweed products in rabbit feed within intensive production systems, in order to improve rabbit gut health and reduce antibiotic use in rabbit production. The specific objective of the present study was to determine the willingness of consumers to buy seaweed-fed rabbit meat. In addition, rabbit meat and seaweed consumption habits were studied in relation to consumer perception of this novel product. The main interest was to determine whether the feeding strategy could be used as a marketing tool to increase rabbit meat consumption. MATERIAL AND METHODS Interview design This study adopted a quantitative method. Data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire specifically designed for the study (Table 1). The questionnaire was divided into the following sections: 1) sociodemographic characteristics of respondents; 2) general consumption habits; 3) rabbit meat consumption habits; 4) seaweed consumption habits; and 5) willingness to buy seaweed-fed rabbit meat. Consumer perCeption of seaweed-fed rabbit meat World Rabbit Sci. 32: 129-143 131 Research location and sample selection The study was carried out in the municipality of Lugo (NW Spain), which is a medium-sized town of 97 211 inhabitants. It is a territory organised around an urban area —the city of Lugo— surrounded by small rural settlements, and it also borders other rural municipalities. The questionnaire was administered to inhabitants over 18 yr old, selected by non-probabilistic quota sampling based on gender and age in order to achieve a distribution representative of the population (Table 2). The sample size was calculated by applying an expected error of 5% and a confidence level of 95%, assuming that p=q=0.5. This yielded a sample size of n=383. Table 1: Questions included in the survey. Sections Questions Type of Question Sociodemographic characteristics of respondents - Do you live in Lugo? - What gender do you identify with? - What age range are you in? - Who do you live with? - Indicate your educational level - Indicate your annual income range -Close-Yes/No -Close-Various options -Close-Various options -Close-Various options -Close-Various options -Close-Various options General consumption habits - Choose the type of establishment where you usually shop (most frequent) - Choose the type of establishment where you usually shop (second most frequent) - What are the factors that most influence you when purchasing a product? - How would you describe your diet? - How often do you consume meat? -Close-Various options -Close-Various options - Close-Various options (can choose 3) -Close-Various options -Close-Various options Rabbit meat consumption habits - How often do you consume rabbit meat? - Where do you usually buy rabbit meat? - What positive properties can you highlight about rabbit meat? - What negative properties can you highlight about rabbit meat? -Close-Various options -Close-Various options - Close-Various options (multiple choice) - Close-Various options (multiple choice) Seaweed consumption habits - How often do you consume seaweed? - If you have never tried seaweed, would you be willing to try it? - Where do you usually consume seaweed? - What positive properties do you highlight about seaweed? - What negative properties do you highlight about seaweed? -Close-Various options -Close-Yes/No -Close-Various options - Close-Various options (multiple choice) - Close-Various options (multiple choice) Willingness to buy rabbit meat fed with seaweed - Read the following statement: rabbits were fattened with feed containing seaweed with the aim of reducing the need to use antibiotics in its production. Taking this factor into account, would you choose this meat over other rabbit meat products with similar characteristics but that were not fed this way? - Why not? - Would knowing that these rabbits received this diet make you consume more rabbit meat? - Why not? - From your point of view, what benefits would there be to fattening rabbits with feed containing seaweed? - Indicate how closely you agree with the following statements: “The inclusion of seaweed in rabbit diets would…”: “…improve the meat quality”. “…provide environmental benefits”. “…improve their health”. - Close-Yes/No/No influence - Open (just for “No” answer in the previous question) - Close-Yes/No/Don´t know - Open (just for “No” answer in the previous question) -Open - Close-Agree/Don´t know what to say/ Disagree Al-Soufi et al. World Rabbit Sci. 32: 129-143132 Data collection In total, 383 people completed the questionnaire, which was administered using two methods: a) computer-assisted web interviewing (CAWI) and b) face-to-face interviews. Initially, the methodology was designed to administer the questionnaire only online. However, the difficulty in obtaining responses from inhabitants over 65 yr old (owing to the digital divide) led us to carry out face-to-face interviews. The questionnaires were administered between March and June 2023. Statistical analysis Different analyses were performed. On the one hand, we employed univariate analysis to describe the data using basic statistics and frequency distributions. On the other, based on the frequencies of consumption of rabbit meat and seaweed of respondents, we identified three different types of consumers, creating two new variables: “profile of rabbit meat consumer” and “profile of seaweed consumer”. Both were elaborated with the following categories: a) nonconsumer (never consumed either); b) sporadic consumer (consumed them “sporadically” or “several times a year”); and c) regular consumer (consumed them “at least once a week”, “once every two weeks” or “at least once a month”). To investigate the dependency relationships of these two new variables with others, we performed cross-tabulation with Chi-squared test, used to evaluate hypotheses about the relationship of two categorical variables (Hernández Sampieri etal., 2014). The level of statistical significance was set at P<0.05. This test was also performed to investigate the dependency relationship between the willingness of respondents to consume seaweed-fed rabbit meat with other variables. Data were analysed using Jamovi (version 2.3.21.0). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Sociodemographic characteristics and general consumption habits The sociodemographic characteristics of the respondents (Table 3) were homogeneous regarding gender and age due to the sampling quotas, and income level and educational level were representative of all sectors of the population. Most of the respondents had similar consumption habits (Table 4), as they mainly shopped in supermarkets, specialist shops or local markets. Regarding the factors Table 2: Sampling by quota based on gender and age. Age (yr) Gender TotalWomen Men 18-30 29 24 53 (13.7%) 31-64 123 102 226 (58.9%) 65 or more 57 48 105 (27.4%) Total 209 (54.6%) 174 (45.4%) 383 Table 3: Sociodemographic characteristics of respondents. N Gender Woman 209 Man 174 Gender-diverse 0 Age (years) 18-30 53 31-64 226 >65 105 Monthly income (Euros) Up to 999 24 1000 to 1499 73 1500 to 1999 60 2000 to 2500 80 2500 to 2999 39 3000 or more 100 NA 7 With whom do you live Family 205 Alone 54 Friends 14 Partner 108 Others 2 Educational level No studies 8 Primary Studies 33 Compulsory Secondary Education 59 Vocational training 74 University degree 209 Consumer perCeption of seaweed-fed rabbit meat World Rabbit Sci. 32: 129-143 133 that most influenced the consumers, a wide range of answers were given, but most people appeared to be concerned about the product quality, its origin and its freshness, and although price was also an important factor, it was not considered as important as quality. The frequent consumption of local, seasonal, fresh and low processed products is considered a characteristic feature of the traditional Galician diet, i.e. the so-called Atlantic diet (Trabazo etal., 2019). The Atlantic diet is also characterised by moderate meat consumption —especially pork and beef— among other products (Trabazo et al., 2019). Most people surveyed consumed meat two or three times a week, while a substantial proportion consumed meat every or almost every day. Low meat consumption was quite frequent, as almost one quarter of respondents consumed meat only once a week or less. Profile of rabbit meat consumers Based on the frequency of rabbit meat consumption, the main types of consumers were sporadic consumers (41.3%), followed closely by regular consumers (38.6%). Non-consumers of rabbit meat accounted for 18.0% and vegetarians represented 2.1% of respondents. Regarding the sociodemographic characteristics of rabbit meat consumers (Figure 1), no significant differences were observed in relation to gender or income level. However, rabbit meat consumption differed significantly depending on the age of the respondents (P<0.001). In this respect, consumption of rabbit meat was significantly higher in people older than 65 yr, while both young (18-30) and middle-aged respondents (31-64 yr old) were predominantly sporadic consumers. Non-consumers of rabbit meat were more frequent in the middle-aged group than in the young group, although vegetarians were predominantly young people. Regular consumers were more common in people between 31-64yr than in the younger participants. As expected, people who consumed more meat in general also consumed more rabbit meat (P<0.001). Regarding the most frequent place of purchase of rabbit meat (Figure 1), both sporadic and regular consumers had different preferences (P<0.001), which help to explain the different types of consumption. Supermarkets were the most common place of purchase in both groups. Table 4: General consumption habits of respondents % Type of establishment where you usually shop (most frequent) Supermarket/hypermarket 83.8 Specialised shops 12.3 Local market 1.6 Organic grocery 1.6 Local grocery shop 0.5 No answer 0.3 Type of establishment were you usually shop (2nd most frequent) Supermarket/hypermarket 24.8 Specialised shops 39.4 Local market 12.0 Organic grocery 5.7 Local grocery shop 5.2 I always buy at the same type of establishment 12.3 Self-supply 0.3 No answer 0.3 Factors that most influence you when purchasing a product? 1 Quality 32.0 Price 20.7 Local production 18.2 Fresh product 17.7 Sustainable production 5.52 Establishment 2.48 Brand 1.80 Others 1.58 How would you describe your diet? 1 I try to eat everything in a balanced way 57.4 I look for food with a low cholesterol content 8.4 I look for food with a healthy fatty acid profile 11.7 High in protein 6.5 Low content of salt 9.3 Vegetarian diet 1.8 I include prebiotics and probiotics in my diet 2.1 Others 2.8 How often do you consume meat? Every/almost every day 17.5 Two or three times a week 58.7 Once a week 18.8 Once or twice a month 2.9 Less than once a month 0.3 Never 1.8 1 multiple responses. Al-Soufi et al. World Rabbit Sci. 32: 129-143134 Nevertheless, one third of rabbit meat consumers did not buy rabbit meat but raised rabbits themselves (or their relatives did). This type of purchase was almost equal in all age groups, and it was not directly linked to elderly people as might have been expected. The frequency of rabbit meat consumption determined in the present study differed from that reported for the whole of Spain, as non-consumers and regular consumers were less frequent, while a higher proportion of the population consumed the meat sporadically. Escribá-Pérez etal. (2017) studied the consumption of different types of meat in Spain (whole territory) among the meat consuming population (age 25-75yr) and observed that 34.6% of these people did not consume rabbit meat, whereas regular consumers accounted for about 50% of the population. Another study conducted in Spain (Buitrago-Vera etal., 2016) reported similar proportions of rabbit meat consumption (38% of non-consumers, 49% regular consumers). Nevertheless, both studies included the whole territory of Spain, which is very diverse and therefore some differences in findings are expected. Lugo is a small municipality (approx. 100 000 inhabitants), like many others in Galicia and Spain (58% of the cities in Spain have less than 100 000 inhabitants, Montero-Vicente etal. (2018), which are still closely linked to rural areas and therefore to livestock production systems. This fact might affect the consumption habits and could explain the lower number of non-consumers of rabbit meat. In other Mediterranean countries like Italy, where rabbit meat is part of the gastronomic tradition, consumption was similar to that in the whole of Spain, as around 30% of the population does not consume this meat, whereas 38% are regular consumers (Crovato etal., 2022). Similar consumption rates to those obtained in the present study were reported in France (Gomant and Beddiar, 2018), as only 20% of the population did not consume rabbit meat. In other countries such as Romania (Petrescu and Petrescu-Mag, 2018) and Hungary (Bodnar and Horvath, 2008), consumption was low and mostly sporadic. In Spain and in most mentioned countries, consumption of rabbit meat was higher in middle-aged or elderly people than in younger people (Escribá-Pérez etal., 2017; Szendrő etal., 2020). Figure 1: Profile of rabbit meat consumers considering different sociodemographic and consumption habits. 1Only rabbit meat consumers. Consumer perCeption of seaweed-fed rabbit meat World Rabbit Sci. 32: 129-143 135 The place of purchase of rabbit meat varies widely between countries and regions: supermarkets are preferred in countries like Italy (Crovato etal., 2022) or Romania (Petrescu and Petrescu-Mag, 2018), whereas in Hungary most consumers buy the meat directly from the farmer or produce the meat themselves (Bodnar and Horvath, 2008). In Spain, most rabbit meat consumers buy rabbit meat in local butcher shops (46.6%) or in supermarkets (33.3%), while people who rear rabbits or buy the meat directly from farms account for only 4.8% (Buitrago-Vera etal., 2016), although in some butcher shops the meat comes directly from producers or from the butchers themselves. In our study, the number of rabbit meat consumers whose families still breed rabbits themselves was remarkable, and therefore the availability of the meat is very important in relation to maintaining consumption. Family farming (smallholding) is very important in Galicia —the region of Spain with the largest area of family farming spaces (MAPA, 2022)— and generates an alternative economy and home consumption that may not be contemplated in the official indicators of this meat and probably others. This type of supply of some products like rabbit meat is likely to occur in other similar small municipalities in Galicia and in Spain, whose close contact with rural areas may encourage consumption of this type of meat. The findings show the importance of informal food distribution networks produced by older relatives who live in the countryside and who provide food to their descendants living in the city (Botana and Novas, 2023), in relation to rabbit meat and also to vegetables. A high proportion of the population rely on the supply of rabbit meat from their family and habitually consume rabbit meat. There therefore appears to be an opportunity to attract these niche consumers to buy a high quality product that would enable them to maintain their rabbit meat consumption if they cease to have this family supply in the future. Figure 2: Positive and negative characteristics of rabbit meat highlighted by (all) respondents and by type of rabbit meat consumer. Al-Soufi et al. World Rabbit Sci. 32: 129-143136 Positive and negative characteristics of rabbit meat When respondents were asked which positive and negative characteristics of rabbit meat they would highlight (Figure 2), most of them appeared to have a very positive image of this product. They especially highlighted its nutritional value (healthy fatty acids, good quality protein, antioxidants, low cholesterol content, etc.) and half of them did not highlight any negative property of rabbit meat. The perception of rabbit meat differed significantly between types of consumers (Figure 2). Most habitual and sporadic consumers appreciated the nutritional value and taste of rabbit meat, while most non-consumers did not report any positive property of meat. The same applied to the negative properties of rabbit meat, as most habitual consumers did not highlight any, while some sporadic consumers though of rabbits as pets, did not know how to prepare the meat or disliked its texture. Many non-consumers viewed rabbits as pets, although others did not highlight any negative properties or they disliked the intense taste of the meat. These results are consistent with those of previous surveys conducted in Spain and other European countries, where rabbit meat is considered a healthy, “low fat” tasty meat (Buitrago-Vera etal., 2016; Montero-Vicente etal., 2018; Petrescu and Petrescu-Mag, 2018), although a lack of information about the nutritional properties of rabbit meat was also observed in previous studies (Szendrő etal., 2020; Gunnarsson and Thulin, 2023). Promoting the nutritional value of the meat has been proposed by numerous authors in order to enhance consumption (Cullere and Dalle Zotte, 2018; Petracci etal., 2018; Petraci and Cavani, 2013; Gunnarsson and Thulin, 2023), not only among healthconscious consumers and consumers who need to maintain a low-sodium or low cholesterol diet, but among meat consumers in general. Although half of the respondents did not report any negative attributes of rabbit meat, the other half reported several disadvantages of this meat. A high proportion of people think of rabbits as companion animals and do not consider them as meat production animals, as previously observed in Spain (Buitrago-Vera et al., 2016; Camps, 1996; González-Redondo and Rodríguez-Serrano, 2012) and in other countries (Gomant and Beddiar, 2018; Petracci etal., 2018; Szendrő etal., 2020; Crovato etal., 2022; Gunnarsson and Thulin, 2023). It is unlikely that this group of people will ever consume rabbit meat, since it is no longer part of their usual diet. The taste is another barrier to the consumption of rabbit meat, as some people consider the intense taste a negative rather than a positive characteristic (Cullere and Dalle Zotte, 2018). These opposing views were previously observed in Spain (Buitrago-Vera etal., 2016; Montero-Vicente etal., 2018) and some thought may be required to develop preparations in which the flavour is hidden or less predominant, so that more people would eat rabbit meat. Other obstacles to rabbit meat consumption are the lack of know-how or the lack of time required to cook the meat and also the predominant presentation or appearance of this meat and the format in which it is sold. These issues were also observed in previous studies (Crovato etal., 2022; González-Redondo and Rodríguez-Serrano, 2012; Szendrő etal., 2020), as rabbit meat is commonly sold as a whole carcass, usually with the head (Cullere and Dalle Zotte, 2018). This type of presentation is related to the traditional preparation of rabbit meat and associated with social or family meals and long cooking times (Cullere and Dalle Zotte, 2018); it is contrary to the modern types of cooking, which look for quick and easy to cook preparations, adapted to everyday life (Szendrő etal., 2020). The fact that the carcass is usually sold with the head is also a negative factor for many consumers (Petracci etal., 2018). Some actions that can be taken in order to address these problems have already begun to be developed in Spain (Camps, 1996; González-Redondo and RodríguezSerrano, 2012) and other countries (Petracci etal., 2018) in order to provide a wider variety of rabbit meat products that are better adapted to the current forms of consumption: smaller portions of the carcass that do not need long cooking times and other innovative products (Petracci etal., 2018; Gunnarsson and Thulin, 2023). In summary, the inhabitants of this municipality appear to have quite a positive image of rabbit meat, which may be related to the fact that a high portion of the population has close links with rural areas where rabbits are raised, or the rabbits are raised by their family or relatives (Botana and Novas, 2023). These findings appear to be consistent with the conclusions of Montero-Vicente etal. (2018), who observed that people living in cities in Spain with up to 100 000 inhabitants had a much more positive image of rabbit meat than people living in larger cities. These results may indicate that smaller cities and municipalities with close links to rural areas could be considered target regions for promotion of rabbit meat consumption. Consumer perCeption of seaweed-fed rabbit meat World Rabbit Sci. 32: 129-143 137 Seaweed consumption Respondents were classified into three groups in relation to seaweed consumption (Figure 3). Most respondents declared that they never consumed seaweed, while one third consumed it sporadically and very few people consumed it regularly. Differences in seaweed consumption were not related to the gender of the respondents, but some significant differences were observed regarding the age of the respondents (P<0.001). Both the young and the middle-aged groups had similar patterns of seaweed consumption, while most of the respondents aged more than 65yr were non-consumers. When respondents were invited to select the positive and negative aspects that they would highlight about seaweed (Figure 4), some barriers to their consumption were observed. Regarding the positive aspects, many respondents did not know of any, which indicates the lack of information about these novel products among consumers. Meanwhile, almost half of the respondents highlighted the nutritional value of seaweed, including the high content of healthy fatty acids, minerals, dietary fibre and antioxidants, as well as its prebiotic effects, which indicates that those people who do consume seaweed are probably aware of the associated health benefits (Figure 3). Only a few respondents highlighted the taste, which may indicate that some people would consume seaweed because of the health benefits rather than because they particularly like the taste. Previous studies pointed that the healthy and nutritious characteristics were the most important reasons for consuming seaweed (Young et al., 2022), and therefore that promotion of these attributes was the key to attracting new consumers (Losada-López etal., 2021). Figure 3: Profile of seaweed consumers in relation to different variables. Figure 4: Positive and negative aspects respondents highlighted about seaweed.