EVALUATION OF THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON THE CHANGE OF FOOD CHOICE IN HO CHI MINH CITY

Abstract

The study was conducted to assess the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on the change in food choice motivation of people in Ho Chi Minh City. The cross-sectional research method is used based on surveying through a questionnaire of 8 food choice motivations before and during the COVID-19 epidemic of 309 people in Ho Chi Minh City, survey age was 18 years of age or older. The research results show that there was a change in the food choice motivation of people in Ho Chi Minh City before and during the COVID-19 epidemic. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, motives were ranked in descending order of importance as follows: health, sensory, convenience, natural ingredients, control, mood. During the COVID-19 pandemic, motives were ranked in descending order of importance as follows: health, natural ingredients, feel, mood, control, convenience. This shows that the COVID-19 epidemic has affected the sense of food choice of Ho Chi Minh City people in the direction of health promotion, specifically people are more interested in natural ingredients of food. instead of before translation they pay more attention to the sensory value of food. For women, compared to during the epidemic, the factors of convenience, perception, familiarity and control were assessed to be less important than before the epidemic (p < 0.05). Similar to men, convenience, sensory perception, familiarity and food prices were assessed as less important than before the epidemic (p < 0.05). In general, this change also brings positive things.