Background: Maize is the major food staple in East and Southern Africa, where food-processing industries are emerging fast. New low-cost extrusion cookers allow small enterprises to enter the market for processed cereals, including instant, fortified, and flavored products. Objective: Assess consumers’ interest and preferences for the new products. Methods: Consumers (n = 220) in Eldoret, Kenya, were invited to evaluate 4 new cereal products: (1) sifted maize flour mixed with sorghum, (2) instant sifted mixed flour, (3) instant whole flour, and (4) instant whole flour fortified with natural ingredients and to compare them to conventional sifted maize flour, using 2 preparations: stiff porridge (ugali) and soft porridge (uji). These were followed by economic experiments to estimate consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for the new products and traits. Results: For ugali, consumers preferred conventional sifted maize flour, while for uji, they appreciated the new products, especially sifted mixed flour (with sorghum) and instant whole mixed flour. Fortification with food-to-food sources was not appreciated, especially for ugali. Comparing WTP for the traits with their production cost showed that mixed, whole, and instant flours were economical, but not fortification. Maize/sorghum mixtures realized a benefit of 24% over conventional maize flour, whole meal 11%, and instant mixtures 5%. Conclusions: There is a potential market for improved cereal products in Kenya, but more for uji than for ugali, especially with instant, mixed, and whole flour. Acceptable and affordable products, fortified with other foods that are locally available, however, still need to be developed, especially for ugali.

中文翻译：

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肯尼亚埃尔多雷特消费者对食品到食品强化的速食谷物产品的接受度和支付意愿

背景：玉米是东非和南部非洲的主要主食，那里的食品加工业正在迅速崛起。新型低成本挤压蒸煮机使小型企业能够进入加工谷物市场，包括速食、强化和调味产品。目标：评估消费者对新产品的兴趣和偏好。方法：肯尼亚埃尔多雷特的消费者（n = 220）受邀对 4 种新谷物产品进行评估：（1）高粱混合过筛的玉米粉，（2）即食过筛混合面粉，（3）即食全粉，以及（4 ) 用天然成分强化的速溶全粉，并将它们与常规过筛的玉米粉进行比较，使用两种制剂：硬粥 (ugali) 和软粥 (uji)。随后进行了经济实验，以估计消费者对新产品和新特性的支付意愿 (WTP)。结果：对于乌加利，消费者更喜欢传统的过筛玉米粉，而对于宇治，他们欣赏新产品，尤其是过筛混合面粉（含高粱）和速溶全混合面粉。食物对食物来源的强化不受欢迎，尤其是对于乌加利。将 WTP 的特性与其生产成本进行比较表明，混合面粉、全面粉和速溶面粉是经济的，但不是强化面粉。玉米/高粱混合物比传统玉米粉高 24%，全麦粉 11%，速溶混合物 5%。结论：在肯尼亚，改良谷物产品有潜在市场，但 uji 比 ugali 多，尤其是速溶、混合和全麦面粉。然而，仍然需要开发可接受且负担得起的产品，并添加当地可用的其他食品，尤其是乌加利。