Consumption of Heirloom Rice in Baguio City and La Trinidad, Benguet.

Abstract

The study aimed to document the consumption of heirloom rice in Baguio City and La Trinidad, Benguet. It was conducted from December 2015 to January 2016 at Baguio City and La Trinidad, Benguet with 180 respondents. Especially the study aimed to identify the socio demographic profile of the respondents, factors that influence their consumption, their sources of heirloom rice and their consumption practices. The results revealed that majority of the consumers are young adults to adults ages from 20-59, self-employed, married, women, from Benguet and with an average monthly income of 5,000 to 20,000. The consumption of heirloom rice is affected by the preference of the family. All the family members are consumers for a long period of time. Consumers bought heirloom rice from rice outlets, supermarkets and heirloom rice producers while non-buyers got it from their relatives or friends. The non-consumers of heirloom rice were influence by the unavailability of product in the market especially in La Trinidad and the premium price of the product. Findings showed that consumers consumes both non-glutinous and glutinous rice. For non-glutinous rice, they consume It every meal as plain and some mixed it with commercial varieties while for glutinous rice, they consume it occasionally specially during snack time prepared as snack or dessert and as wine. Moreover, results showed that the average volume of consumption per week is below five kilograms for both glutinous and non-glutinous rice.