A Case Study of Consumer Preference towards Foxtail Millet Products

Millets are ancient Super grains and the reservoirs of nutrition for a better health. Millets are the important food and fodder crops in semi-arid regions and are predominantly gaining more importance in a world in the recent years. Foxtail millet is one of the important minor millet, it has higher quantities of protein, fat and fibre compared to other major cereals. It is also a rich source of calcium and iron. The amino acid profile is balanced and the dietary fibre content is very high compared to other major cereals. The higher quantity of dietary fibre is helpful in the management of diabetes. These properties of the foxtail millet made the present consumers attracted towards the consumption of millets. The Consumer behaviour as an area for exploration as always been interesting and important due to rapidly changing consumers’ taste and preferences, perception, attributes etc. The major factors considered while purchasing millet products were it was consumed as staple food by default. Seasonal consumption was more i.e., during festival season and malt consumption was more during the summer season. Nutritional content was another factor which is influencing the purchaser because of the health consciousness of the consumers and they had some awareness about the nutritional benefits. Most of the consumers purchase the millet products on monthly basis and remaining purchase them fortnightly or whenever needed.