Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

N.A.

No description available.

No description available.

The focus of this research was the problem of identifying the economic and demographic factors that determine household expenditure for convenience food in the United States. A major objective was to measure, for various classes of convenience food, the response of expenditures to changes in demand determinants so that food expenditure profiles can be simulated for households with different characteristics and constraints. Another major objective was to determine the effect of the meal preparer's value of time on household use of convenience food. The work of others on similar models of food demand has been extended to include analysis of the effects of the sex and employment status (market-orientation) of the meal preparer, the value of the meal preparer's time, household size, income and age-sex composition. Other factors in the models include region, race, urban setting and season. The functions were specified from a theoretical model developed from the theory of the household production function. Foods used by households as reported in the 1977-78 Nationwide Food Consumption Survey were divided into classes of nonconvenience, basic convenience, complex convenience and manufactured convenience food. Nonconvenience foods are raw, unprocessed foods or ingredient foods. Basic convenience foods are single ingredient foods with limited culinary expertise embodied, usually providing a type of preservation convenience. Complex convenience foods are multiple ingredients, highly prepared foods. Manufactured convenience foods include products which have no home prepared counterpart. For the three convenience classes, nonincome-earning female meal preparers all had positive elasticities of the value of time. Except for the basic convenience food model, the income-earning female meal preparers had positive value of time elasticities. The nonmarketoriented female meal preparers had negative elasticities of value of time in the nonconvenience class. The income elasticity for all food classes ranged from 0. 03in the nonconvenience food expenditure model to 0.08 in the complex convenience food model. The significance of statistical tests on the range of income elasticities verifies that the food categories investigated are neither inferior nor luxury goods, and that demand models for all food at home that ignore the effects of the value of time would overestimate the elasticity of expenditure with respect to income. / Ph. D.

Ph. D.

Thesis (M. Com. (Business Management)) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / The trend towards healthy eating has been gradually growing in South Africa. Health consciousness has become more apparent with customers not only wanting to consume quick and convenient meals, but also meals that are nutritionally beneficial. Although fast-food outlets have risen to the occasion by providing for this demand, there are few studies in South Africa that focus on strategic guidelines for fast-food outlets to enable strategic planning for achieving customer satisfaction and the increase in profits with healthier food options on the menu. The purpose of this study was to explore strategic guidelines for customer satisfaction with healthier diet menu items in fast-food franchising outlets in South Africa. An extensive literature review was conducted on the South African fast-food industry and customer satisfaction. The study followed a quantitative method approach, and 400 respondents were selected using the convenience sampling method. An empirical study was conducted in which data was collected from 329 customers of fast-food outlets within the Capricorn Municipality, South Africa by means of self-administered questionnaires. The findings of this study reveal that there is a general level of satisfaction amongst South African customers with the healthier food options available at fast-food outlets with areas of improvement for price, convenience and atmosphere pertaining to healthier diet meals. The study made recommendations on a variety of healthy menu items, interaction between managers and customers, price and value, extended service hours, safe parking and walking distance, cleanliness, staff appearance and dining-in feeling and provided a model on Strategic Sustainable Growth as a guideline to increasing customer satisfaction with healthier diet menu items.

The application of visible/near-infrared hyper-spectral analysis to monitor the quality of frying oil and fried breaded chicken nuggets was investigated. / Partial least squares (PLS) calibration models were developed to predict the acid value, total polar components and viscosity of heated oils with different ratios of hydrogenation. Coefficient of determination (R2) and root mean square error (RMSE) were calculated to assess the performance of each model. Results of the study demonstrated good prediction ability of the calibration models for the quality parameters with R2 values of over 0.92. / The second study was based on developing calibration models for prediction of moisture and fat contents of fried breaded chicken nuggets with different levels of moisture and fat contents. Performing the same procedure for evaluation of the PLS calibration models, results of the study demonstrated that moisture and fat contents of fried breaded chicken nuggets could be predicted with R2 values of 0.92.

This study presents techniques that can be applied to optimize the quality of coated fried chicken nuggets. / Heat and mass transfer during deep fat frying of breaded chicken nugget was simultaneously modeled using the moving boundary concept. Numerical software FEMLABRTM 3.0 was used to solve the proposed model. To validate the model, experiments were conducted. Chicken nuggets were made with wheat flour based batter and breading. The samples were fried in a fryer using oil temperatures at 160, 170 and 180°C. Total frying times ranged from 90 to 300 s. A good agreement was obtained between predicted and observed results. / During the deep-frying process, the chicken nuggets samples shrank because of moisture loss and protein denaturation. Particle density and bulk volume shrinkage were analyzed at 3 different frying temperatures (160, 170 and 180°C). Particle density and shrinkage of the samples was measured using the liquid displacement technique with water. A linear relation was found for particle densities with moisture loss. The relationship between volumetric shrinkage and moisture loss was also found to be linear and the linear equation may be useful in predicting the volumetric shrinkage during frying. / In order to reduce the oil absorption of chicken nuggets during the frying process, the influence of pretreatment in microwave on the moisture and oil transfer in the coating and core layers of coated chicken nuggets were studied. Chicken nuggets pretreated in a microwave oven for 1 or 2 min were fried at 160°C for times ranging from 90 to 300 s to evaluate oil transfer. Microwave pretreatment had an important effect on moisture loss and oil uptake of chicken nuggets during deep-fat frying.

The recent increase in the number of black working women has meant that time has become an even more precious commodity in the majority of households with working women than before. Growth in women’s participation in the labour market has tended to stimulate the demand for time-saving goods and services, especially convenience foods to cope with time pressure in the preparation of meals. South African working women are moving towards the consumption of convenience foods as they become busier, managing both work and household chores, and also having more disposable income. This study aimed at gathering ideas and insight on the acceptability and use of convenience foods by black women employed by government in Mpumalanga. It investigated the consumption frequency of convenience foods in four categories, the contributing sensory attributes and the influence of resources, the socio-cultural environment and the occasion or situation on the acceptability and use of convenience foods. Food outlets used by black working women for the purchase of convenience foods were also identified. To elicit relevant information, a quantitative research design and survey techniques using structured questionnaires, with open and closed-ended questions were used to gather information. With the literature review and the objectives of the study in mind, 200 working women employed by government at the government Boulevard complex in Nelspruit formed the sample group. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences Version 9.0.1 (SPSS), a computer statistical data programme. Descriptive and inferential statistics facilitated data analysis. From the discussion and interpretation of the results of the sample survey it was clear that black working women tend to either use certain types of convenience foods in the four convenience food categories less frequent (not more than twice in a week) or to use certain types of convenience foods, frequently (3 -4 times in a week or 5 - 6 times and every day of the week). The results showed clearly that there were relatively high proportions of working women (more than 56, 5% of the respondents) who were low users of almost each type of the convenience foods in the four convenience food categories except for baked products, cereal dishes, fried/grilled/roasted meat, and fully prepared refrigerated salads in category A; meat stews and fully prepared vegetable dishes in category B; breakfast cereals, vegetable salad ingredients, instant soups and instant sauces in category C and cleaned/pealed ready to cook vegetable items, pre-cut frozen vegetables, crumbed frozen fish and crumbed frozen or refrigerated meat portions in category D. Moreover, the findings confirmed that the sensory attributes, appearance, texture, smell and taste and flavour were considered very important in the acceptability and use of convenience foods. Resources, the socio-cultural environment and occasion or situation were also seen to have had a positive influence on the acceptability and use of convenience foods by the black women employed by government in Mpumalanga who participated in the survey. The study has contributed to the limited literature on the use of convenience foods especially by black working women. Moreover, food product developers and retailers will gain insight into the provision of convenience foods relevant to the needs and desires of time pressed consumers. / Dissertation (MConsSci)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Consumer Science / unrestricted