Czech J. Anim. Sci., 2024, 69(10):419-429 | DOI: 10.17221/123/2024-CJAS

A survey on rabbit meat perception and consumption in seven countriesOriginal Paper

Katalin Szendrő ORCID...¹, Antonella Dalle Zotte², Nikoletta Fülöp¹, Mónika Zita Nagy¹

¹ Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics, Kaposvár Campus, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Kaposvár, Hungary

² Department of Animal Medicine, Production and Health, University of Padova, Padova, Italy

The aim of the study was to examine the rabbit consumption habits and opinions of people living in countries that regularly consume rabbit meat. Snowball sampling of data collection was used, a total of 1 860 error-free questionnaires were evaluated. Most of the completed questionnaires came from Hungary, Italy, Spain, China, Poland, France and Mexico. It is to note that 21.3% of respondents have not yet consumed rabbit meat: China (32.1%), Hungary (24.7%), Poland (22.4%), and France (4.8%). The main reasons for not consuming rabbit meat were emotional reasons (22.3%), it does not fit their dietary habits (15.7%). There are 28.7% of respondents who consume rabbit meat once or twice a year, 18.6% less often and 21.9% monthly. It was most often (weekly and monthly) consumed in Spain (25.3% and 36.8%), in Italy (15.3% and 36.2%), in France (1.6% and 38.7%, respectively). Men, aged 40 to 59, secondary school graduates, and those having a higher income eat rabbit meat more often than other groups. The highest scores (near to 4.5 on a 1-5 scale) were given for the health aspects of rabbit meat, such as high protein, omega-3 fatty acids and vitamins, and low fat and cholesterol contents. In order to encourage the consumption of rabbit meat, different marketing campaigns should be carried out in each country, depending on the standard of living, production intensity (large-scale or small-scale) and place of purchase (supermarket or local market). It is paramount to make the younger generation aware of the excellent and health-protective properties of rabbit meat.

Keywords: attitude; consumer; food; opinion; Oryctolagus cuniculus

Received: July 25, 2024; Accepted: September 20, 2024; Prepublished online: October 24, 2024; Published: October 31, 2024  Show citation