November 6 (SeeNews) - Shopping experience in retail stores has become a leading factor for Bulgarians, replacing the need to find everything at one place which stood at the top of the list in the previous two years, marketing research company Nielsen has said.
Demand for high quality prepared meals and low prices were ranked second and third by importance by the Bulgarian consumers, respectively, according to a presentation prepared by Svyatoslava Svyst, managing director of Nielsen Bulgaria.
"Bulgarian shoppers are more willing than those in other Eastern European markets to pay more for products with premium attributes," Svyst said during a retail conference held in Sofia last week.
An overwhelming majority of Bulgarians, 74%, say they would like to see more GMO-free foods on the store shelves - a significantly higher share than the EU average of 46%, according to Nielsen data.
Preference for more foods with no artificial colours and flavours, as well as natural products were also on the list of Bulgarians consumers, with percentages well above the EU average. Meat, seafood and dairy products are the categories in which Bulgarians are seeking higher quality.
The presentation included data from the following reports: Nielsen Shopper Trends survey 2016, Nielsen Global Health and Ingredient-Sentiment Survey Q1 2016, Nielsen Global Survey on Premiumisation (2016).