An Analysis of Tamil Nadu Income-Based Consumption Patterns and Consumer Behaviour for Jaggery and Khandsari Sugar: A Review

Purpose and Objectives: Markets such as Coimbatore, Tiruppur and Erode district Cooperative Jaggery Marketing Federation (CTEDCJMF), Selur Farmers Sugarcane Products Market (Farmers jaggery market), Pilikalpalayam and Chitthode jaggery market exclusively for jaggery and khandsari sugar, coconut and palm sugar.

Methodology: Snowball sampling method was used for the data collection and also producers, visiting the market also enrolled in the study. Totally 30 producers of each sugar, 60 middlemens and 120 consumers who purchased sugar through the identified marketing channels were interviewed for the study. The data collected were analyzed to determine the cost and returns for three types of sugar. The price spread at various marketing levels, trader concentration ratios, and consumer buying behavior towards alternate forms of sugar were also examined. Principal component analysis was used to identify factors influencing consumer purchases of alternate forms of sugar.

Key Findings: The results of the sample respondents showed that sample respondents of jaggery and khandsari sugar producers, majority of the sample respondents were aged between 31-40 years (33.33%) followed by 26.67 percent in the category of 20-30 years, about 23.33 per cent of the sample respondents in the producer category were aged above 50 years, followed by 16.67 per cent aged between 41-50 years.

Implications: Hence, the demand for coconut sugar is very low, so promotional efforts should be made to popularize its health benefits among consumers. In the case of jaggery and khandsari sugar, product modification into cube form (similar to white sugar cubes) will increase market preference and acceptability.