Agriculture & Food, Volume 3, 2015

Abstract: It is difficult to imagine distributing food without packaging in today's food system. Traditionally, food packaging fulfills the function of isolating the product from adverse effects of external environment factors, including physical, chemical and biological contamination. Currently the information on the importance of food packaging on food choices from Latvian consumer point of view has been little studied, therefore the aim of this research was to identify how much of an influence packaging type and material has on consumer food choices, the determining factors when making food choices, as well as consumer awareness on the importance and innovation of packaging materials. A questionnaire was carried out in order to ascertain consumers' knowledge and understanding. The survey included a total of 600 respondents who answered a total of 13 questions. This research analyses Latvian consumer perception of the current market situation in the food packaging sector and the importance of food packaging, as well as consumer attitudes towards the introduction of new innovative packaging. The results show that Latvian consumers are aware of the role of food packaging in terms of product safety but they lack information on the significance of innovative packaging and packaging types; consumers would like to learn more about interaction between packaging materials and products, which in the future could affect their food choices.