Flavoured oils virtually paired with culinary preparations: Exploratory survey on preferences and willingness to try and buy

Inrecent decades, theconcept offood pairing hasgained importance across various aspects ofgastronomic science. Flavoured oilsserve asanexcellent case forexploring food pairing with specific culinary preparations. Simultaneously, asconsumers increasingly prioritize sustainability infood production, thesearch foringredients that areboth sustainable andappealing hasbecome essential forboth producers andconsumers. This study investigates thewillingness totry(WTT) andbuy(WTB) three oilsflavoured with by-products from food production andexplores consumers’ preferences toward pairing these oilswith different culinary preparations, all within avirtual context. Thedataset wasanalysed through Cochran’sQtesttoexamine CATA (Check-All-That-Apply) data, with the objective ofidentifying theculinary preparations most frequently associated with each ofthethree oiltypes. Subsequently, sixOLS(Ordinary Least Squares) models were implemented -twoforeach oil:oneforWTT and oneforWTB -todetermine thedrivers influencing each willingness. Theexploratory survey, conducted with 333 Italian consumers, revealed keyinsights: first, how consumers pairthese oilswith various culinary preparations, offering valuable directions forpractical sensory analysis, andsecond, highlight thefactors thatmost influence WTT andWTB oilsflavoured with agri-food by-products.