Analysis of the demand for Taiwanese guava in the city of Matagalpa, Nicaragua, 2020

Abstract

This research aims to learn more about the changes in the consumption habits of the Nicaraguan population with respect to Taiwanese guava. The main focus of this research is consumption rather than production. It was possible to confirm that in Nicaragua the Taiwanese guava was introduced in Nicaragua in 2007 by the Technical Mission of China Taiwan. According to the information reviewed, it seems that the objective was to establish areas of this fruit as a source of diversification of agro-exportable commodities, an alternative to climate change, generation of jobs and creation of production and income alternatives for national producers and diversification of the national diet from the nutritional and medicinal point of view for consumers. The main objective was to evaluate, based on changes in tastes and preferences, the consumption pattern of Taiwanese guava in Nicaragua and, more specifically, in the city of Matagalpa, department of Matagalpa. Given the little information available from secondary sources to achieve the proposed objective, this study resorted to acquiring information from primary sources. For this purpose, a questionnaire was designed with 14 questions between socio-economic and consumption patterns of Taiwanese guava. The questionnaire was sent to 175 people via WhatsApp, of which 32 responses were collected in a period of 6 hours. After data collection, it was processed and analyzed. Data were tabulated in Excel ® and statistical analysis was performed in R software.

The results show that the respondents are mostly men (22), teachers and students (50%) and from the office sector, they receive salaries in line with the national averages, but have levels of education above the national average. This socio-economic characteristic should be taken into account when weighing how representative the answers are of the national and local average to the questions about guava consumption. The majority of those surveyed have consumed from 1 to 20 guavas in the last six months (72%) compared to a minority who have not (28%). Most consumed it fresh, followed by juice, and in jam. Most have maintained their consumption or have increased it since they started consuming it. In addition, most bought the guavas at prices between C$ 10 and C$ 20 per unit. The majority expressed that a good substitute for guava can be apple, mango, pears and jocotes, all these fruits in a green state. Most expressed that taste was the main reason for consuming Taiwanese guavas. Finally, the majority of consumers give a high degree of preference to Taiwanese guava among the fruits they consume.