Marketing of the autochthonous dried cheese in Zagreb region

The demand for specific, value added food products is constantlyincreasing. In order to prepare such products for the market it is necessary to understand consumers’ attitudes and preferences towards food products. Dried cheese, one of the traditional products of wider Zagreb region is produced nowadays exclusively on the family farms without proper control of the used inputs and final product, and without any marketing activities. It is possible to add value and to increase the control of dried cheese production bydeveloping county brand of the cheese. The introduction of county brand of dried cheese in the market requires very good preparation in terms of fulfilling consumers’ needs and wishes. In this paper the results of the consumer survey are presented and could be used for the determination of the technological parameters of production and especially for marketing of the cheese and its distribution. The results showed that majority of the consumers prefer harder, compact, bright yellow cheese, with less intensive odour, packed in transparent plastic foil. Certain number of the respondents confused dried cheese with other cheeses sold in the market and therefore it is necessary to educate consumers about dried cheese and its characteristics compared to other cheeses.