Ethnic community preferences in East Java Indonesia to types of food daily consumed (case study during the Covid-19 pandemic)

Abstract

Abstract At the beginning of 2020, due to Covid-19, the world was facing a global health and socio-economic crisis. The same thing happened in Indonesia. Social restrictions impact many things, including education, health, access to essential services, and food availability. In the Covid-19 pandemic situation, access to food availability faces problems. On the other hand, it requires sufficient and nutritious consumption. This condition needs to be known about the level of public preference for the menu eaten during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in East Java, Indonesia. Consumer preference is a person’s choice of likes or dislikes for food to be consumed from various existing product choices. All information relating to consumer needs and desires can be identified by examining consumer preferences. This is very important not only for households but also for culinary businesses in the country in responding to the increased demand for food produced, especially for daily food menus, to produce food products that meet consumer requirements and necessities. This study aims to determine the ethnic preferences of East Java, Indonesia, for the type of daily food during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research was conducted in 2020 in East Java, Indonesia, when the COVID-19 pandemic occurred using an online survey method using a questionnaire filled out by respondents, as many as 400 respondents. Respondents were grouped by ethnicity in East Java, Indonesia. It appears that the preference of the people of East Java for the consumption of the staple food rice, the Javanese is 71%, the Mataraman is 86%, the Osing ethnic is 84%, and the Pendalungan is 59%. The preference for side dishes fried by the Mataraman ethnic is 22%, Osing is 20%, Pendalungan is 15%, and Javanese is 10%. As for the side dishes, stir-fried, steamed, grilled, gravy, and coconut milk, the Osing ethnic is 24%, Pendalungan and Mataraman are 18% each, Javanese is 17%, and Madura is 11%. The preferences of the vegetable menu are very diverse among various ethnicities in East Java. Vegetables combined with processed raw and cooked show the highest Osing ethnic 44%, Mataraman 39%, Pendalungan 34%, Madurese 31%, and Javanese ethnic 25%. Vegetables with cooked preparations have the highest Pendalungan rate of 40%, Osing 36%, Madurese 31%, Javanese 27% and Mataraman 23%. Vegetables with transparent processing and saute ed are the highest for the Mataraman and Madurese ethnicities, respectively, 38%, Javanese 29%, Pendalungan 26%, and Osing 20%. This study concluded that during the COVID-19 pandemic in East Java, Indonesia, preferences for the consumption of food menus varied and were influenced by ethnicity.