SLOVAK CONSUMERS ́ PERCEPTION OF BAKERY PRODUCTS AND THEIR OFFER IN RETAILS

Bakery products represents an important part of the diet and have an irreplaceable role in the proportion of nutrients, but their popularity in the diet of Slovak consumers continues to decline. For this reason it is necessary to address the issue of bakery products with regard to their consumption. The aim of the paper is to point out the development of consumption of bakery products in the Slovak Republic and to identify the main factors determining their purchase from the perspective of Slovak consumers. Secondary and primary data were used to meet this aim. Secondary data were obtained from the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic in order to describe trends in consumption of selected foodstuffs in the period 2009 – 2018, as well as to predict the development of consumption of wheat and durable bread by 2020. The development of consumption is influenced by a number of factors, which may include, in particular, the price of products, the existence of substitution products, changes in eating habits and preferences of Slovak consumers, consumer health restrictions, as well as the taste factor. The primary data were obtained through consumer and business-oriented research in the Slovak Republic. The results of the consumer survey showed both rationality and irrationality in consumer decisions when buying bakery products. Rational aspects in the purchase of bakery products are factors of composition and durability. Irrationality in consumer behavior when buying can be accompanied by psychological factors, which include the perception of freshness of bakery products, the perception of prices, the perception of the country of origin, as well as sensory aspects such as taste. The achieved results were confronted with the results of a retail-oriented survey. The results showed that the commercial premises, when offering bakery products, mainly take into account the freshness, price and country of origin of selected foods.


INTRODUCTION
The bakery industry belongs to the secondary processing industries (Džupina, Hodinková and Kiková, 2016). Its raw material base are products of the food industry, which process commodities of agricultural primary production (eg mill, starch). This industry is directly influenced by the quality and price of grain, which depends on prices on world markets. The basic products of the bakery industry include durable bread, common bakery products (buns, rolls etc) and fresh bread. For most people, bakery products are a daily part of their diet. The importance of bakery products in human nutrition is significant because the products are the basis of the food pyramid and have a high nutritional value (Al-Mussali and Al-Gahri, 2009; Nagyová, Sedliaková and Holienčinová, 2014; Kádek, 2018).
Hes (2009) noticed that when purchasing food, including bakery products, the consumer is influenced by the following factors. The first important aspect in the purchase of bakery products is their perceived quality and properties, which are mainly determined by sensory and health (Stávková, Stejskal  pointed out that consumers perceive quality on the basis of other subjective factors, such as the shape, appearance, color and taste of bread and pastry. For most consumers, the decisive factor is price (Kubicová and Kádeková, 2011), which affects the purchase of specific bakery products, especially in the case of fine pastries. Another factor is the country of origin (Kleinová and Lušňáková, 2011), which customers start noticing and prefer especially bakery products of Slovak origin. In the context of the country of origin, the brand is also an important factor to which consumers pay attention and choose the bakery products by specific producers or with a preferred brand name. The following factor determining the purchase of bakery products is the experience with the products, as customers prefer the bakery products with which they have a good experience. Customer automatically reaches for the bakery product he was satisfied with and does not change his mind in the store. This situation can be described as "shopping blindness".
The recommendation can be considered as another factor positively influencing the purchase of a particular bakery product and represents an independent assessment of an unbiased person, which in some cases may have a greater impact on the customer than advertising (Polakevičová, 2015). In the case of packaged bakery products, the packaging itself also affects the purchase. The packaging fulfills the communication and promotion function. The endeavor of the packaging is to attract the customer's attention, provide the customer with sufficient information about the product, its composition and thereby lead the customer to purchase. The shopping convinience and the time spent by shopping can also have a significant impact on the purchase of bakery products. The health aspect (Šedík et al., 2019) is another factor determining the purchase of food, including bakery products, as consumers increasingly pay attention to their health and healthy lifestyle (Nagyová et al., 2019) and adapt the choice of specific bakery products accordingly. In the context of the health aspect, consumers take into account the composition and nutritional value of foods (Šedík et al., 2018), and in the case of bakery products they prefer whole grain ones, which are more nutritious.
The individual factors determining the purchase of bakery products can be taken into account with regard to the rationality and irrationality in consumer behavior in the choice of bakery products. Horská et al. (2009) combines the first approach with the rationality of consumer behavior. The purpose of this behavior is to maximize satisfaction or performance. Consumer behavior is characterized by prudence, awareness, experience, and the evaluation of alternatives (Rovný et al., 2010). In the case of purchasing bakery products, consumers compare the types of bakery products, composition, method of production or prices. The second approach is linked to the irrationality of consumer decisions. Karpińska and Krakowiak (2014) include uncertainty, risk, limited time and access to information as factors limiting optimal purchasing choices. Consumer behavior is characterized by unpredictability, emotionality, impulsiveness or subconsciousness (Komárková, Rymeš and Vysekalová, 1998). A relatively high share of impulses and emotions is also recorded when purchasing bakery products. Purchasing decisions are influenced by several factors, including cultural, social, psychological and personal (Géci, Nagyová and Rybanská, 2017). The behavior of consumers buying bakery products is mainly influenced by psychological factors, which may be decisive in repurchasing a particular bakery product. The motivational aspect as a psychological factor may be to search for and purchase higher quality bakery products which are the basis of the food pyramid and their consumption positively affects the health of consumers due to the high nutritional value. Perception is another factor. Consumers perceive incentives and objects in bakery shops. Retailers should therefore be aware of the elements that raise or question the confidence of potential customers and should seek to understand in detail how trust affects the perception of a particular bakery product.
Personality of the consumer can also influence the choice of specific bakery products. Different types of personality choose bakery products from different perspectives, eg. depending on the type of flour, production method, aroma, color, taste. The last factor is the emotions that affect consumers, and can change depending on the experience with purchased bakery products (Horská and Berčík, 2017; Rybanská, Nagyová and Košičiarová, 2014).

Scientific hypothesis
The aim of the paper is to point out the consumption of bakery products in the conditions of the Slovak Republic and to identify the main determinants affecting consumption from the perspective of the Slovak consumer. In the context of the set aim, the following hypotheses related to consumer and retails research were formulated as well.
Hypothesis 1: We assume that Slovak consumers evaluate the factors affecting the purchase and subsequent consumption of bakery products differently.
Hypothesis 2: We assume that there is a correlation between consumers' knowledge of the parbaked bakery produts in retails that are sold as the fresh baked ones and the perception of the difference in taste between parbaked and fresh baked bakery products.
Hypothesis 3: We assume that Slovak consumers perceive prices of different types of bakery products differently.
Hypothesis 4: We assume that retails assess criteria for supplier selection differently.

MATERIAL AND METHODOLOGY
The stated aim of the paper was achieved by using and processing secondary and primary data. Secondary data were obtained from the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic. The obtained secondary data became the basis for calculating the average growth coefficient (k') and predicting the development of the consumption of bakery products by 2020 using the determination coefficient R 2 .
Another source of primary data was information obtained through a survey in retails. The aim of the survey was to identify the range of bakery products offer, how they approach the factors that determine consumers when purchasing bakery products, and the criteria that are decisive in selecting a particular supplier of finished bakery products, bakery ingredients or frozen semifinished products. The survey of retails was carried out on a sample of 107 stores in the Slovak Republic in 2018. Retails were divided according to the size of sales area (up to 400 m 2 81.3%; 400 -2500 m 2 15.9% and more than 2500 m 2 2.8%) and geographic location (western Slovakia 72.9%; central Slovakia 14.0% and eastern Slovakia 13.1%).

Statistical analysis
The collected data were processed by using Microsoft Excel and subsequently evaluated in the statistical program XL Stat. The formulated hypotheses were tested by applying the following statistical tests: -Chi square contingency test, -Cramer´s coefficient, -Friedman's test, -Nemenyi method.
In hypothesis testing, if p value is lower than significant level, in case of XL Stat software by Addinsoft (version 2019.3.2), it is 0.05, the null hypothesis was rejected and alternative hypothesis was confirmed.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The development of consumption of bakery products was monitored in the period 2009 -2018. Bread consumption in the Slovak Republic in the analyzed period was at a stable level with an average annual decline of 2.1%. In the past, Slovaks could not imagine a day without a piece of bread, but at present its popularity is gradually decreasing. While approximately twenty years ago every Slovak consumed about 50 kg of bread per year, today we consume these bakery products in smaller quantities at 35 kg of bread per person per year. The trend of bread consumption development can be expressed through a linear function with the following parameters (1): Based on the chosen linear function, it is possible to predict the evolution of bread consumption in the future, while the consumption trend is expected to decrease and in 2020 bread consumption should be at the level of 33 kg per person per year. In this context, it is important to point out the reasons for the relatively low consumption of bread, which may be affected by rising bread prices, consumer health constraints, a fairly wide assortment of plain and fine bread, a change in consumers' lifestyle, as well as various myths and falsities about bread (Eglite and Kunkulberga, 2017).
Wheat bakery products consumption was slightly increasing in the period under review, ranging from 28.2 kg to 29.4 kg, which represents an average annual growth rate of 0.5%. This implies a relatively stable development of wheat bread consumption, with the highest decrease in consumption being recorded in 2013 at 27.8 kg and an increase in consumption was recorded in 2017 to the level of 30.6 kg per person per year (Figure 1). We assume that by 2020 the consumption of wheat bread will slightly decrease to 29 kg per person per year. The development of the consumption of wheat bakeryproducts is positively influenced by the increasing popularity of fine pastries, among which we can include sweet buns, donuts, peelers, or modern croissants and muffins, with various fillings, toppings which feed and satisfy the appetite for sweet, at any time of the day. On the other hand, consumption is negatively influenced by several factors, which include rising prices of selected bakery products, consumer orientation towards cheaper substitutes, change of eating habits and preferences of Slovak consumers (Kubicová and Predanocyová, 2018).
The last category of bakery products, the consumption of which we monitored, is durable bread. The development of durable bakery products consumption in the monitored period 2009 -2018 was accompanied by an upward trend with an average annual growth of 1.1%. The lowest consumption of durable bakery products was recorded in 2009 and 2010, when it was 85.8 kg per person per year and the highest consumption was recorded in 2013 -2015 and amounted to 9.8 kg per person per year. The trend of the development of the consumption of durable bakery products for the period under review can be described by the cubic function, which acquires the following parameters (2): qt = 8.1+ 0.5695 * t -0.0731 * t 2 + 0.0029 * t 3 (2) R 2 = 0.4833 On the basis of the selected cubic function it is possible to predict the development of the consumption of durable bakery products in the future. By 2020, consumption of selected bakery products is expected to decline slightly to 9.5 kg per person per year. Relatively high consumption of durable bakery products can be caused by several factors, such as consumer orientation towards sweet and salty bakery products, which is readily available in stores and in packaged form, changes in preferences of Slovak consumers, taste of pastries, longer durability and the possibility of storage. The development of consumption of a given type of bread can be negatively affected by the price and wide range of substitution products (Kubicová, 2008;Nagyová et al., 2012).
Analysis of the development of consumption of individual types of bakery products showed that the consumption conditioned by the purchase of the given bakery products is influenced by a number of factors. For this reason, a questionnaire survey was carried out to identify the main factors determining the purchase and consumption of bakery products. The consumer survey for consumers of bakery products focused on the shopping behavior in the bakery products market. Based on the results of the research can be concluded that all addressed consumers buy bakery products, with the preference of fresh bakery products (99.4%) and durable bakery products (19.7%), as well as frozen bakery products that consumers bake and finish in domestic environment (18.6%). Furthermore, the obtained results show that the most preferred fresh bakery products are common bakery products such as rolls, buns etc. (82.3%), bread (70.6%) and fine pastry (35.4%). When purchasing food, including bread, fine pastry and other bakery products, consumers make choices based on a number of criteria. We selected following ones: freshness, price, durability, composition, country of origin and taste. These were assessed by consumers involved in the questionnaire survey on the importance scale on a scale from 1 to 6, where 1 was the most important factor and 6 the least important factor. The results of the consumer survey showed (Figure 2) that the most important factors for consumers are freshness (88.9%), taste (64.3%), price (48.5%), durability (37.3%), composition (36.1%) and country of origin (25.9%). In connection with the evaluation of individual factors influencing the choice of bakery products by consumers, we found differences in the evaluation of these criteria among respondents. Based on the applied Friedman´s test, can be identified differences in factor evaluation, confirmed by a statistical calculation of the p-value (<0.0001), which is lower than the alpha significance level (0.05). By using the Nemenyi method and based on the data in Table 1, we conclude that freshness is the most important criterion in the selection of bakery products (Group A), another group of important factors is flavor (Group B) followed by price (Group C). Next group of factors consisted of composition and durability (group D) and the last group of factors is the country of origin (group E). From the obtained results is possible to identify the rationality and irrationality in purchasing the selected type of food. Rational aspects in the purchase of bakery products are factors as composition and durability. The irrationality of consumers' purchasing behavior can be accompanied by psychological factors, which include the perception of freshness of bakery products, perception of the prices, perception of the country of origin, as well as sensory aspects such as taste. On a scale from 1 to 5, respondents rated the prices of bread, common bakery products (such as rolls, buns etc), fine pastry and durable bakery products, where 1 was representing very low prices and 5 very high prices. In the context of the question, we assumed that there was a difference between consumer perception of prices and the different types of bakery products and we confirmed our assumption by calculating the Friedman test (p-value = <0.0001). Based on the results of the questionnaire survey ( Figure 4) can be concluded that most consumers perceive prices of fresh and durable bakery products as reasonable to high. Gul et al. (2017) found that the prices of bakery products are acceptable to consumers and consumers consider bakery products as reasonable and practice food from the point of nutritional importance. For consumers, the price perception is important from a psychological point of view. On the other hand, bread, fine pastry and common bakery products are included in the basic foodstuffs needed for nutrition of the population, which means that if the price of selected foodstuffs increases, their quantity will not change at all or only to a small extent. However, in the context of the above, it is important to note that consumers may tend to look for cheaper products within the range of bakery products, especially durable ones. The last psychological factor that is important for Slovak consumers when purchasing bakery products is the country of origin. Slovak consumers strongly perceive the country of origin when buying bakery products, especially with regard to fresh bakery products where they assume Slovak origin (Nagyová et al, 2012). Consumers involved in the survey prefer the following bakery producers: Penam, a. s., Topoľčianske pekárne a cukrárne a.s., Vamex, a. s., Pekáreň Hochel, s. r. o., Lebeco, s. r. o., pekáreň Čierny  o., bakeries of retails Tesco, Billa, Lidl, Kaufland and local and regional bakeries. Gluten-free bakery products are particularly preferred from producers OLZ, Schär and JORDA´NS.
The psychological factors determining the purchase of bakery products, such as perception of freshness, perception of price and perception of the country of origin, may also be influenced by the amount of information available to consumers. Consumers obtain this information most often in stores (44.1%), where they also buy bakery products most often, and are interested in information including the composition, origin, coloring of the bread, production process, additives, production process, baking parbaked products, date of bakery production, time of baking fresh bakery products or reasons for price changes.    Perception of taste difference between parbaked bakery produts and fresh baked ones Imperception of taste difference between parbaked bakery produts and fresh baked ones Respondents who know about baking parbaked bakery products that are sold as the fresh baked ones Respondents who do not know about baking parbaked bakery products that are sold as the fresh baled ones The obtained information then influences the perception of freshness, country of origin and prices of specifically selected bakery products by Slovak consumers. We confronted the results of the consumer survey with the results of a retail-oriented survey. The aim of the retail survey, which also includes bakery products, was to identify the types of offered bakery products, how they approach the factors that determine consumers when purchasing bakery products and the criteria that determine the specific supplier of bakery products, bakery ingredients or frozen semi-finished products (parbaked ones). All retails involved in our survey offer bakery products, with 98.1% of the operations offering fresh bakery products, 73.8% durable bakery products and 45.8% parbaked bakery products.
As the fresh bakery products are the most preferred by consumers, we found out what kinds of these products select retails to their offer. Based on the results of the survey can be concluded that all retails offer bread, while common bakery products are available in 96.3% of retails, and 83.2% of them included in the assortment of fresh bakery products also fine pastry. Retails are trying to adapt to Slovak consumers, as fresh bread and pastries are still an essential part of the day and according to Tovar&Predaj (2018), almost half of Slovak consumers who enjoy absolute freshness and crunchiness of bakery products go shopping for bakery products daily, including weekends.
Regarding the freshness, as an important factor in determining consumer purchasing behavior, we identified that 72% of the surveyed retails buy fresh bakery products from suppliers (bakers), 15% of retails buy raw ingredients from which they subsequently produce fresh bakery products and 13% of retails sell parbaked bakery products as the fresh ones. Consumer demand for fresh bakery products encourages retails to include bakery products that are warm and crunchy at the time of purchase. For this reason, they are increasingly focusing on parbaked products that are finished and baked in the store and arouse interest of customers with their smell, freshness and crispiness (Retail Magazin, 2016).
As the price of bakery products is another important aspect for consumers when buying the bakery products, we were interested in factors that retails consider important in setting prices for selected types of food. Based on the results of the research can be stated that the pricing is mainly due to the prices of raw ingredients, especially wheat, which increased due to the unfavorable climate in our conditions, labor costs related to overnight work and last but not least the costs related to as fuel prices that continue to rise. In the light of the above, it can be stated that the prices of bakery products will have an increasing tendency that retails can not influence and future changes in consumer purchasing behavior are likely to be largely influenced by the amount of disposable income relative to the prices of bread and other bakery products.   The country of origin was identified as another factor determining the consumer's purchasing behavior to a significant extent, therefore we were interested how retails adapt the assortment to Slovak consumers. Research results proved that 98.1% of retails prefer Slovak producers of finished bakery products, raw materials or frozen semi-finished parbaked products. The range of fresh and durable bakery products is dominated by the following Slovak producers: Penam, Topec, Vamex, Oremus, Nella, Smatana, Pekáreň Coop Jednota, Hochel, bakery Chtelnica, Danubia, Vančo, Varipek, Labaš Nowaco, Danubia, Anton Antol, Slatinská pekáreň, Hapeko, Hopi, Duke, Bánov, Mlyn Pohronský Ruskov, Mive and smaller local bakeries. The assortment of frozen semi-finished parbaked products is provided mainly by Minit Dunajská Streda, Alfa R, Radoma Žilina and Ryba Košice, as well as by Polish suppliers. According to Trend (2019) and Tovar&Predaj (2019), it is possible to conclude that producers of parbaked goods are doing well, as these bakery products currently account for about 30 -40% of total baked goods consumption. In 2016, up to 43 thousand tons of parbaked bakery products were imported to Slovakia and approximately another 20 to 30 thousand tons were produced in Slovakia. Retails becomes increasingly oriented towards the purchase of parbaked bakery products, which is less costly for traders. This is also confirmed by Tovar&Predaj (2019) and highlights that if a supplier is the bakery, retailer have to order a certain amount of bakery products one day in advance, but the situation in operation is different every day. Accordingly, it may be the case that retail orders too much bread, which it does not sell or does not order enough. The popularity of parbaked bakery products is growing as it can provide hot bakery products throughout the whole day at the store. Retails oriented also on the sale of bakery products strive to meet the requirements of consumers, so they take into account different criteria when selecting suppliers of raw ingredients, finished bakery products and frozen semi-finished parbaked products. The selected criteria -freshness, price, durability, country of origin, distance, terms of payment and terms of delivery were ranked from 1 to 7, where 1 was the most important aspect in the selection of suppliers and 7 the least important aspect in the selection of suppliers. Research results proved that the most important criteria are freshness, price, durability and country of origin, which are also noticed by consumers when purchasing these foods. In the context of this question was established a hypothesis which assumed differences in the evaluation of the above mentioned criteria between individual retails. Based on the applied Friedman´s test, can be identified the differences in the criteria evaluation, confirmed by a statistical calculation of the p-value (<0.0001), which is lower than the alpha significance level (0.05).

CONCLUSION
Submitted paper focused on current issues related to the bakery industry in the Slovak Republic with a focus on the purchase and subsequent consumption of individual bakery products, as well as the identification of the main factors that determine it. We described the development trend of the bread and other bakery products consumption, which is influenced mainly by product prices, a wide range of products in retails, as well as constant changes in preferences of consumers and their purchasing behavior. The changes in consumers' eating habits are one of the most important factors affecting the consumption of selected foods. For this reason, we conducted a consumer survey. We found that the most important factors for consumers are freshness, taste, price, durability, composition and country of origin. From these factors it is possible to deduce both rationality and irrationality in the decision-making of Slovak consumers in the purchase and subsequent consumption of selected foods. Rational aspects in the purchase of bakery products are factors of composition and durability. The irrationality of consumers' purchasing behavior can be accompanied by psychological factors, which include the perception of freshness and smell of bakery products, perception of the price, perception of the country of origin, as well as sensory aspects such as taste.
Paper focused mainly on psychological factors. Consumers perceive the prices of bakery products as reasonable, which may also be due to the fact that pastries and products belong to the basic foods that the consumer is used to consuming every day. Freshness is another psychological factor that consumers perceive when purchasing the foodstuffs under review, with up to 78% of consumers being aware of the fact that retail chains fnish parbaked products in their bakeries, which are then included in the assortment of fresh bakery products. 54.5% of consumers even recognize the difference in taste between fresh bakery products and parbaked bakery products, suggesting that taste is a very important sensory aspect determining the purchase and subsequent consumption of chosen bakery products. The last identified psychological factor was the perception of the country of origin, to which consumers place a strong emphasis, as they assume Slovak origin, especially when buying fresh bakery products. We further confronted the results of the consumer survey with the results of a business-oriented survey focused on the sale of bakery products. As consumers are increasingly in demand for fresh and tasty bakery products, retail operations are encouraged to include bakery products that are warm and crunchy at the time of purchase. For this reason, they are increasingly starting to focus on parbaked bakery products that bake in their stores. Another important aspect is the price which can not be largely affected by the retials, mainly due to rising prices of raw ingredients, labor costs or transport costs. Retails offer bakery products mostly of Slovak origin due to the growing demands of consumers watching the country of origin when buying selected foods. The results also proved that the retails, when purchasing finished bakery products or bakery ingredients, take into account, in particular, the freshness, price, country of origin, durability of the bakery products as well as the distance of the suppliers.