TOPIC

CONSUMER PREFERENCE RELATED TO STREET FOOD IN HASSAN

Introduction
Nowadays, as in many fields of life, globalization has caused differences in people’s food
consumption habits. In developing countries out-of-home consumption of foods and beverages is
rising and causing differences in consumption styles. Variable social profiles and the intensive
participation of women in working life have caused observable changes in countries’ economies
and this has been reflected in food and beverage culture. Accordingly, in recent years people in
developing countries have spent most of their disposable income on food consumption, which
has turned street foods into alternative sources of nutrition. Street foods are foods and beverages
that are sold in the street and other open public spaces and that are ready to consume, without the
need for any processing or preparation. Street foods are sold in places where sometimes people
briefly gather (on street corners, at interchanges, subway station entrances/exits, crossroads etc.)

It is thought that the places where street food are prepared, sold, and consumed provide
appropriate conditions for contamination. The poor hygiene practices of food sellers and
negative environmental conditions such as problems with the supply of clean drinking water and
the disposal of waste increase food safety hazards, which is an important public health issue.
Food safety is highly important for developed and developing countries. In today’s world,
millions of people catch diseases originated from food sources and thousands of deaths occur.
Therefore, an increase in food poisoning due to the consumption of street food is seen as a risk

Street foods are widely consumed and produced in almost all countries around the world, as a
result of nutritional trends in urban areas. Street food is preferred by consumers, especially
students, because of its delicious taste, accessibility, variety, and cheapness

In various studies street foods were frequently preferred because they offer delicious varieties of
tastes, are cheap and satisfying, easily accessible, have an important role in the preservation of
cultural and social inheritance, and are freshly prepared. Similarly, in this study the scores of
preference causes “more satisfying”, “variety”, “easily accessible”, “food preparation can be
seen”, and “reflects food culture” were high.

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In study, students consumed street foods quite frequently because of their economic and fast
service considerations, although they knew that these foods are unhealthy and have low
nutritional value. Similarly, in the present study although street food was widely consumed, the
scores of preference causes “clean and suitable for health” and “healthy” were low.

In another study it was determined that people preferred hamburgers, pizza, fried potatoes, and
meat products. As a result, easy accessibility, cheapness, traditional, variety, fast service,
practice and delicious specifications of street foods effect consumers’ preferences. But it is also
known that these foods threaten consumers’ health because of poor hygiene conditions. Because
of cross-contamination risk and lack of legal regulations for safety precautions for consumers has
a negative effect on public health. So legal obligations on street foods and vendors and self-
controlled practice and behaviours of vendors are effective in prevention of consumers’ health.

Street food accounts for a significant proportion of the daily food consumed in urban areas
and is the least expensive and most accessible means of obtaining a meal outside home.

Nevertheless, those who sell them often do not meet proper hygienic standards, leading to
food-borne illnesses.

Keeping this mind, a group of Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR)
doctoral students from the Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) took up a
study to assess whether street food vendors in Hassan comply with safe food practices and
FSSAI guidelines.

“On an average, 40 percent of people in hassan rely on street food daily. The daily
transaction is over Rs 12 lakh,”

People say that street food is tasty but not satisfied with the food vending sites. Majority of
the vendors are found too close to thoroughfares, which exposes the food to dust and
particulate matter.
The results indicate that risk and benefit perception of consumers are not only inter -
related but also responsible for their changes in attitudes towards the street foods. In the
factorial analysis, it was found that perceived benefit factors, i.e. convenience and
value, are responsible for positively influencing the attitude of consumers towards

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street food. The findings indicate that reducing risk perception and increasing benefit
perception will positively change the patron’s attitude.

This study aims to find out various dimensions of the risk and benefit perceptions of the
consumers of street food vendors. It will identify the reasons which affect consumer’s
attitude and consumption patterns towards street foods, which bring about change s in
their behavioral intentions (repurchase intention and word of mouth intention)

Consumer behavior: Consumers are the clients who buy the products or services. Their
buying behavior is individualistic and is dependent on the customer and his environment, be
it their income, perceptions, fads and fancies, social status, culture etc. So, there is every
necessity for the marketers to clearly understand the decision making and consumer buying
behavior. Loudon and Delia Bitta define consumer behavior as the decision making process
and physical activity involved in acquiring, evaluating, using and disposing of goods and
services (Baker, 2000). The buying decision of the consumer starts with an internal desire or
an intention. Then, he gathers data in this regard and searches for the available options to
decide on the final solution, considering the various factors. The marketers need to
understand the psychological condition of the consumers, their decision process and come to
terms with the fact that friends, family and surroundings play an important role in such
decisions.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Besides being unhygienic, the problem was the street hawkers parked their stalls that
blocked the traffic on the footpath. The local authority tried to solve this problem by moving
the street food market into some places, and some place vehicles were not allowed.
However, it was not successful because it was inconvenient for consumers, then the street
food market would move back to the original location. “The local authority used to organize
street food to be in one location/ centralized that customers can walk around, but the number
of consumers decreased because it was inconvenient, so the street food market returned to
the place which existed today.”

The respondents agreed that food practices of vendors were not hygienic. The opinions of
respondents were showing as follow: “They use low quality utensils which were not food
grade plastic container; some vendor used paint can filled with water for the cooking

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“They used inappropriate container, such as, plastic bag or foam cup to contain the hot food,
some vendor used the reused paper which another side was visible ink.”

Thus, this study will enhance the managerial, local authority or local government
understands the culture of street food province by learning the consumption patterns. The
co-operation among the consumers, street vendors and local authority is the most important
to solve street food problem today.It is hoped that future studies will examine consumers’
concerned when purchasing street food.

. Two important factors that should be considered, first, the location of street food,the
location of street hawkers should not intervene with the urban development however it
should be convenient for consumers as well. The authorities can apply the concept of this
situation to find the place that is appropriate for entrepreneur, and do not “pollute”

) urban environmental, as the same time, there is convenient for consumers, or create
strategies to encourage consumers to go to the new location, the traffic congestion and “dirt”

Objective of the study

 T o a n a l ys e s c o n s u m e r ’ s e x p e c t a t i o n f r o m t h e s t r e e t f o o d v e n d o r s .
To study preferences of youngster
 To study consumer behaviour
 To study the hygiene factor maintained in street food
 To study class of people who prefer street food over restaurant food.
 To analyze where youngsters get satisfaction.
 To study the mind sets of youngsters.
 To study which area is more preferred by youngsters for street food.
 To understand consumers preference towards street food .
 To understand factors influencing consumer’s perception towards street food.

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Methodology

Research Methodology’ is adapted for this project work .The present study is descriptive
in nature, as it seeks to discover ideas and insight to bring out new relationship. Research
design is flexible enough to provide opportunity for considering d i f f e r e n t a s p e c t s
o f p r o b l e m u n d e r s t u d y. I t h e l p s i n b r i n g i n g i n t o f o c u s s o m e i n h e r e n t
weakness in enterprise regarding which in depth study can be conducted by management.
Exploratory research is investigation of relationships among variables without
knowing why they are studied. It borders on an idle curiosity approach, differing
from it only in that the i n v e s t i g a t o r t h i n k s t h e r e m a y b e a p a y o f f i n t h e
a p p l i c a t i o n s o m e w h e r e i n t h e f o r e s t o f questions.

This chapter presents the methodology that the researcher used to conduct the study. It has
outlined the research design, target population, sampling technique, data collection and data
analysis.

Research Design
This is a descriptive study with causal study.
Independent variables: environment, peer influence, parental supervision, economic well being,
culture and wellbeing. Dependent variable: situation or circumstances, stability, psychological
study.in simple words, hypothesis consists pre-assumptions.

Source of data collection

The data was collected from both primary and secondary sources.
Primary sources:-
➢Questionnaire

Secondary sources:-
➢Websites
➢Magazine
➢Company record

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Sample size: total sample size of our survey is 100
Sample unit: selected area is Hassan

Analysis of data:
Statistical tools like regression, co-relation etc. will be used for analysis purpose

LIMITATION OF STUDY

 Time is very short for research, so this is very difficult to get the knowledge about
everything.
 Since the filling of questionnaire and interviews need special attention so may be the
employees are less interested in entertaining.
 The information was collected through the questionnaire is subject to willingness of the
respondent to respond.

Scope of the study:

1. This Study will be helpful for potential investors in street food sectors.

2. This Study will useful for street food vendors to improve the sales of street food items as
well as customer satisfaction.

3. This Study highlight the initiatives taken by the Government of India to develop skills of
street food vendors under the scheme of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY)
and Hunar Se RozgarTak (HSRT) short training programmes are regularly running in
Hassan, Karnataka.

4. This Study gives the direction to empower the youth from among the economically
weaker section in urban areas of Hassan.

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Literature Review:

Grace P. Perdigon (1986) in his study "Street Vendors of Readyto-Eat Food: As a Source of
Income and Food for Low Income Groups", mentioned that the daily net income of the food
vendors ranged from a low P.10 per day to as higher than P.500 per day. Street vending was found
to be a 39 source of family meals. Majority of the vendors were married. They were income earners
and food provider. The vending places were congested and pothered. The vending operation were
assisted by their kin or some hired workers. The vendors sold food every day of the week, putting
in 12 or more hours of work per day. The working capital was taken from the operator's personal
savings or sari ling sikap

Ma Patrocinio E. de Guzman et al., (1987) in their article "Street Foods in the Philippines
Health, Nutrition, Management and Livelihood Aspects", revealed that the initial capital
investment of most street food business come from loans from relatives, friends or money
lenders. The daily operating expenses range from P.10 to P 1000. The schedule of street food
business vary with the size of operation and appeared to vary with the location of the service and
the type of food sold. Some of them operated for 24 hours. They appeared to be mostly migrants
from the provinces. Simple foods are served in street food services. These include fried and
boiled snacks and other packed snacks, beverages soups, ices, native cakes, grilled items,
sandwiches, fish, cooked vegetables, eggs, fruits and bakery products. They prepare the street
foods in their homes. They just transported these to the place or street. They used to serve in
china plates with stainless steel spoons and forks. Glass tumblers were used for serving water.
Use of plastic plates and tumblers was not found. Storing of foods was not commonly done in
Street food stalls. Street foods were handled with bare hands and unclean utensils, serving of
food directly from the cooking pot, using of plastic wrappers and improper grooming among
food handlers were observed. Cleanliness of food preparation and service area were also not
properly maintained
Vashit P.D., (1990) in his article "In formal sector - A Tool for Poverty Eradication",
analyses that the importance, definition and the problems of informal sector. In a developing
country like India, where the pressure of population is overall on the increase, the
development of the informal sector can go a long way in employment generation and
consequent eradication of poverty. The author puts forth a few suggestions for promoting

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this sector. The sector needs strong support from the government in terms of product
promotion programme, entrepreneurial development, subsidies and incentives.

Friedman, Michelle and Hambridge (1991) in their article "The Informal Sector, Gender
and Development", emphasizes that the conception of work - (used in much research) has
made it possible to overlook unpaid work done by women, simply by considering it as a part
of the household's repetitive task. Such gender bias based on the assumption that men alone
are household breadwinners, was also expressed in the use and equate methodology to
collect information not capturing "a multitude of small irregular ways in which women often
contribute to domestic incomes". Not only the researcher but male and female informants
also failed to recognize the importance of women's work and thus the significance of their
contributions to the economy of the poor has continually been underestimated. We examine
here the structural factors which eventually determine women's work in the informal sector,
and which refer to the overall social, economic and political conditions that exist in a
particular society at a certain historical movement.

Parthasarthy. G., (1996) in his article "Unorganized Sector and Structural Adjustment"
addresses the issues of relative efficiency of the organized and the unorganized sectors, the
exploitation of unorganized sector by the organized, and the big gap between the profession
and the performance in relation to public support to the unorganized sector. This study also
focuses on the adverse implications of structural adjustment for the unorganized sector and
Street food vendors, the unprotected and neglected workers who sit and toil on the platform
or near waste disposal place to sell their food product.

Navin Chandra (1996) in his paper "The Organizing Question and the Unorganized Labour
Organizing Unorganized Workers", points out that over 90 percent of the workforce lack the
power of organization. The unorganized sector constitutes 91.5 percent while the organized
labour comprises 8.5 percent of the labour force. The author has also points out that 95.8
percent of the female labour force is employed in the unorganized sector, only 4.2 percent of
the female force is employed in the organized sector. He examines various models in
economic theory and their implications for unionization.

Abdussalam M., (1996) in his report "Essential Safety Requirements for Street Vended
Foods", studied about in the hygienic handling of street vended foods and the attention to

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containers of pastes, sauces and other food activities, monitoring them for pathogen growth
and visible deterioration of water used for drinking and preparation of beverages. Water
used for this purpose should be potable water. Water used for washing utensils, food and
hands should be safe and should not be reused. Ice to be used in beverages and food should
be prepared from potable water and should be transported and stored in a hygienic manner.
Foods to be eaten, raw should be prepared with special attention to cleanliness. Preparing
and processing of food are to avoid direct and indirect contact between raw and cooked or
prepared food which will be consumed without further heating. The vehicle used for
transport should be clean and should not carry animals. Prepared food should be kept at a
temperature of at least 60°C to prevent microbial growth. Handling of cooked foods should
be kept to a minimum to reduce the likelihood of introducing pathogens. Vending units
should be designed and constructed so that they are easily cleaned and maintained.
Equipment, utensils and other containers should be made of materials which do not release
toxin or hazardous chemicals into food and beverages. Raw meat, poultry or fish should be
handled carefully; their preparation should be carried out using separate equipment and
utensils. Food handlers should be educated to wear clean and proper clothing according to
prevailing local standards. Food handlers should wash their hands with soap and water after
engaging in any activities that are likely to introduce biological, chemical or physical
hazards. Food should be prepared and sold in a clean well-lit place protected from strong
sun, dust, rain and wind.

Jeemol Unni (1998) in his article "Wages and Employment in the Unorganized Sector
Issues in Wage Policy", analyses the wages and employment scenario in the unorganized
sector with seven sections. The study analyses the development of polices for the protection
of unorganized sector workers in India in the context of International Labour Organizations
and its recommendations. Trend in wages in the organized and unorganized sectors in seven
states of India is also undertaken for analysis. A study of wages in the unorganized sector is
also undertaken in Ahmedabad city as also a study of prescribed minimum wages in
Gujarat. The intensity of employment and incomes in organized and unorganized sectors,
the issues concerning of home workers and piece rate wages, and the need for meaningful
wage policy were also emphasized by the author.

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Kakar D.A., and Udipi S.A., (1998) in their article "Microbiological Quality of Fried Ready-to-
Eat Foods Sold in Mumbai City", studied about 3 varieties of ready-to-eat fried foods sold at
railway stalls, small shops and street vendors in Mumbai city were examined for microbiological
safety. Samosa from street vendors showed higher counts of all organisms but only the counts of
total faecal coliforms were statistically significant and Batatawada from Street vendors also
showed higher counts. But the difference was not significant

Mohan B.E. et al., (1999) in their article "Surveying Vendors of Street Food" analyses the
safety of the Street vended food. The vendors have good knowledge of food safety and cholera
but persist in unsafe practices. Around 87 percentage of the vendors used stored water, usually in
wide mouthed vessels prone to contamination. Data for public health planning and intervention
can be gathered rapidly with this method of surveying street vendors.

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