Wild Boar Meat as a Sustainable Substitute for Pork: A Mixed Methods Approach

Karolina Macháčková, Jiří Zelený, Daniel Lang and Zbyněk Vinš
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Karolina Macháčková: Department of Forestry and Wood Economics, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, 165 00 Prague, Czech Republic
Jiří Zelený: Department of Hotel Management, Institute of Hospitality Management, 182 00 Prague, Czech Republic
Daniel Lang: Department of Languages, Institute of Hospitality Management, 182 00 Prague, Czech Republic
Zbyněk Vinš: Department of Hotel Management, Institute of Hospitality Management, 182 00 Prague, Czech Republic

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 5, 1-21

Abstract: Sensory analysis is unusual in sustainability research, although it can offer a neoteric aspect of nature and wild animals’ perception. The study’s objective was to identify consumers’ attitudes towards plant and animal products from wild and conventional foods and put these findings into a broader social context. A blind sensory evaluation with 80 semi-trained assessors was used, segmented by gender, age, education, income, place of origin, family status, number of children, and willingness to pay. Wild boar ( Sus scrofa ) was chosen as an example of an overpopulated animal species occurring in the wild, which could be considered a partial substitute for pork. Statistical testing in these blind evaluations proved that wild boar meat is not considered less tasty. Therefore, wild boar meat could represent a partial substitute, complementing pork, on which consumers are willing to spend the same amount of money. Despite the mostly indifferent sensory evaluation, focus group responses showed considerable barriers to wild food. This paper concludes that possible educational and popularizing procedures are presented, including forest pedagogy, eliminating consumers’ prejudices. A mixed-methods approach within quantitative and qualitative methodology was chosen.

Keywords: consumer panel; focus groups; forest pedagogy; sensory evaluation; nutritional properties; willingness to pay (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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