Abstract
Despite the known health benefits and the potential for substituting less environmentally
sustainable consumed foods such as meat, the current intake of
pulses in developed countries remains less than recommended. Barriers are
related to sensory characteristics and lack of knowledge about preparation, while
drivers of environmental benefits are intangible. The aim of this study was to
investigate the effect of additional information about health or environmental
benefits of pulses on the acceptance of novel pulse-based products from chickpeas,
black beans, and faba beans. Perceptions of these pulse-based spreads in a
blind and informed stage were assessed with 202 consumers in urban and suburban
areas of Denmark. In general, the familiar chickpea spread followed by the
relatively most unfamiliar black bean spread was liked the most. Only for these
two products, additional information increased hedonic perception, regardless
of the context (health or environmental benefits). If consumers did not like the
spread, as found for the faba bean spread, providing additional information did
not significantly alter this perception. Participants’ preferences and willingness
to pay (WTP) in a discrete choice experiment corresponded to hedonic scores,
whereas providing additional information increased the WTP. These findings
suggest that extrinsic cues such as health or environmental benefits may only
be useful in products with an acceptable baseline taste profile. Moreover, black
beans might be investigated as a promising source for further product development
due to their acceptance by consumers besides being the comparably most
unfamiliar pulse type.