Consumer Preferencesin Softshell Turtle Food Consumption at Restaurants in Hanoi City

This research aimedat assessing consumers’ preferences in softshell turtle food consumption and recommending solutionsto meet consumer’s demand. Results on survey of 307 consumers from 40 restaurants on consumer’s characteristics, their references in restaurantsand dish selections and their satisfaction with restaurants’ services indicated that:Softshell turtle food consumers hadmoderate and stableincome;Turtle food was used in the cases of meeting, celebrations, normally at night time;6-8 consumers came at a time by car;Majority of them used turtle food for 3-4 weeks each time;More than 88% chose green turtle with an average of 450-500 gam /person;Preferred dishes includedsoftshell turtle cooked with banana and tofu, roastedwith salt, cooked with medical herbs, steamed with lotus or salt;About38% consumerswere still unsatisfied with services provided by restaurants. The paper also recomends Solutions are therefore reccommended concentrating on middleaged consumer group, both men and women, well-organizing restaurant facilities, car parks, good human resource allocation for table and reception services, development of supply chains in softshell turtles, especially green ones, upgrading knowledge and skills of workers involved in food processing and, right price policies,ensuring sanitation and food... to fully meet consumer preferences.