Emerging Trends in Consumer Preferences: Leveraging Products Derived from Food Industry By-Products

This study explores market opportunities for sustainable products, using functional wafers with added malt-used grains, a by-product of the fermentation industry, as a case study.Unlike other research focused on the use of by-products in food, this study adopts an integrated approach, evaluating both consumer acceptability, by identifying factors influencing purchasing decisions, and economic viability reflected from the generated added value and the application of a circular business model.The methodology combined physicochemical, sensory analysis with a quantitative approach based on questionnaires administered to a sample of 133 respondents and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), thus providing a comprehensive assessment of the product's impact.Consumers value sustainability (45%), nutritional value (30%) and the story of the product (25%).Furthermore, 79% of participants expressed willingness to recommend functional wafers, confirming the high consumer interest in sustainable products and suggesting their commercial potential.The contribution of this study lies in identifying an opportunity for wafer manufacturers to diversify their product portfolios and differentiate in the market through marketing strategies focused on sustainability, nutrition, and local origin, thus supporting the circular economy and reducing food waste.