The Healthy Eater’s Idea and Related Behavior of a Healthy Diet—A Case Study with Kombucha Drinkers

Abstract

Consumers’ demand for ‘healthy’ food is growing at a fast pace. Beverages are one of the fastest-growing segments in the healthy food market. Kombucha is a product with a rapid market growth and is considered a ‘healthy beverage’. Kombucha drinkers (n = 296) in the contiguous United States (U.S.) were targeted to investigate differences in the various consumer segments regarding the healthy eater’s behavior, namely—(1) healthy diet stage-of-change attitudes, (2) healthy eating criteria, and (3) label information usage. An online survey questionnaire was used as a data collection tool. The data were analyzed via chi-square tests and multiple correspondence analysis (MCA). The majority of kombucha consumers were health-conscious and kombucha fitted into their view of a healthy diet. The female, older, western U.S. residents, and higher-educated consumers were more likely to take action and maintain a healthier diet. Healthy eaters’ idea of a healthy diet was very similar to that of the general population. Kombucha consumers focused mainly on sugar/calories and natural/organic ingredients. Additional investigations to expand the understanding of the healthy eater’s behavior with actual kombucha samples are needed in the future.