Published in Scientific Papers. Series "Management, Economic Engineering in Agriculture and rural development", Vol. 24 ISSUE 2
Written by Gergana BALIEVA

With the constantly growing world population the need for securing sufficient and safe food resources has also raised greatly. Examining the new pattern in consumers' behavior influenced by the Covid- 9 pandemic with a shift towards online trade in foodstuffs, , the present study aimed to investigate the consumers' perceptions on various aspects of food safety based on their experience in internet shopping. Based on an anonymous questionnaire among 470 Bulgarians the survey found that the main problems the respondents encountered through online food shopping were related to quality discrepancy ( 8.9%), damaged package ( 8.5%) and unknown origin of the product ( 2.3%). As important indicators of the safety of the product bought the respondents pointed out labels with expiry date ( 9. %), intact package ( 3.2%) and temperature at delivery ( 3.2%). In conclusion, online purchase food products were considered safe for the consumers' health as stated by half of the respondents whose perceptions on food safety were significantly dependent (p<0.05) on their experience in e-trade during and after the Covid- 9 epidemic.

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