Behind the purchasing of healthy biscuits: an analysis on consumers of the Mulino Verde sub-brand

The question that an increasing number of companies is posing itself is †œhow to effectively provide the consumer with a healthier, of better quality, and still tastier product?†� The healthy trend, in fact, is passing from a market niche to a consistent and relevant market segment. Many multi-national companies, before far from these issues, are facing the healthy challenge, because the consumers' behaviours are inexorably moving towards this direction. By reviewing the issue, the predominance of health-related reasons strongly stands out. Consumers are increasingly willing to care and focus about their own personas, making the eating habits the starting point for that. However, this choice seems, in many cases, not to permit compromises: taste is still one of the most important drivers for purchasing and consumption of food. Adding that the world is insistently moving towards a †œplastic-free era†� and, in general, towards better environmental and sustainable standards, makes the picture even more mazy. Food manufacturers, hence, face an interesting and not particularly exploited opportunity, with increasing difficulties and constraints, which continuously influence their core businesses. This study starts from these premixes: the intention has been to fully understand the main drivers of food choice, and the main frameworks that help predicting the consumers' response. Then, focusing on healthy segments was required, by analysing the drivers that better explain the consumers' purposes. Therefore, the developed and collected knowledge about this †œtrendy†� segment has been summarized in key elements, with a clear focus on the Mulino Verde sub-brand, and its characteristics. Finally, the empirical analysis has been conducted, in three steps (correlation matrix, cluster analysis and multivariate linear regression), to successfully arrive at a working predicting model.