Mikaela Young1, Nick Paul1, Dawn Birch1, Libby Swanepoel1
1UniSC Seaweed Research Group, University of the Sunshine Coast, QLD, Australia
Seaweed is still not commonly eaten in Western societies, despite the science detailing nutritional benefits, sustainability advantages over terrestrial crops, and economic potential. In contrast, consumers are rarely considered in contemporary seaweed research. Here we explore the motivations that drive young Australians to eat seaweed to better understand and advise seaweed aquaculture development, wild-harvest practices, industry food product development and consumer marketing strategies. An observational cross-sectional online survey with 1,403 young (19-30 years) Australian seaweed consumers was conducted to explore these drivers. The 19-item survey incorporated closed-ended, open-ended and Likert-scale responses, and was based on validated tools developed and piloted specifically for this study. Findings were reported as descriptive statistics, utilizing Pearson’s Chi-square where appropriate. Most respondents were female (89.0%), with tertiary level education or above (57.7%), and resided in a metropolitan area (78.0%), consistent with previous literature. Seaweed was most eaten as a snack (87.7%) and in home-prepared meals (30.7%). Key advantages to consumption were flavour (89.1%), nutrient content (49.1%) and health benefits (44.6%), whilst key barriers were lack of accessibility (59.5%), unaffordable pricing (46.5%) and undesirable packaging (19.0%). Consumers reported wanting more promotion and marketing to improve their knowledge regarding seaweed, in addition to environmentally sustainable options for packaging and sourcing. Pathways to overcome barriers and to encourage greater seaweed consumption will be discussed. Most critically, improving the promotion and environmental sustainability of seaweed products is needed to improve intake amongst current and future consumers. Increased consumption could in turn drive nutritional and environmental benefits associated with seaweed.