1 Introduction

The processing and consumption of indigenous value-added products made from fruits such as African wild medlar, marula, orange monkey fruit and wild sour plum are steeped in indigenous knowledge that has been passed from one generation to the next [1]. These fruits are mostly used by rural communities, particularly in the Lowveld areas of South Africa like Bushbuckridge (Mpumalanga), as raw materials for the processing of value-added products such as alcoholic beverages, jam, juice, and nuts/dried fruits [2]. Despite the claim that these products are rich in nutrients, vitamins and energy, they are still relatively underutilised due to low consumer awareness and poor distribution, thus their availability at mainstream retailers remain low to non-existent [3]. According to [4], achieving food security at an affordable price can aid in the eradication of poverty in most developing nations, including South Africa, and help in addressing sustainable development goals (no-poverty and Zero-hunger). Furthermore [3], states that one way to start addressing this problem is to introduce indigenous fruit value-added products such as alcohol, jam, juice and nuts for commercial purposes—a topic that has not been researched enough. However, some value-added products, such as marula alcohol and jam, are already popular in the lowveld region of South Africa, since they are celebrated annually in an event called the Marula festival. Problems such as the lack of reliable data on consumers’ perceptions and willingness to pay for indigenous fruit value-added products remain major challenges in South Africa, particularly in Lowveld regions like Bushbuckridge. The commercialisation potential of these value-added products remains extremely low to non-existent in South African communities, notwithstanding its abundance, particularly in rural and semi-rural communities, despite the rapidly growing levels of unemployment [3]. Due to insufficient information on consumers’ perception and willingness to pay, the commercialisation of indigenous fruit value-added products (particularly in areas such as Bushbuckridge) remains a challenge because there is no information on factors such as target market, pricing and demand that may affect product performance [4]. To investigate the problem of low usage, the study explored consumers’ perceptions on indigenous fruit value-added products in Bushbuckridge with the goal of accelerating commercialisation efforts to address sustainable development initiatives (no-poverty and Zero-hunger).

2 Materials and methods

2.1 Study area

The study was conducted in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa (Fig. 1). The vegetation in the study area is classified as bushveld, where most indigenous fruit grow and are used as raw materials to create value-added products [1].

Fig. 1
figure 1

Map of the study area [5]

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The data was collected by means of a questionnaire at four commercial shopping centres in the study area (namely Bushbuckridge Complex, Acornhoek Mall, Mkhuhlu Plaza and Thulamahashe Mall), since these areas cover the north, east, south and west of Bushbuckridge Local Municipality, where most indigenous fruits grow. A sample of 382 was obtained from a population size of 85 000. A proportionate sampling technique was used to determine the samples for each of the four study areas in Table 1.

Table 1 Population and sample framework
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Furthermore, a random sampling technique was used to select the participants who constituted the samples for the four study areas. Fully completed questionnaires were collected; the data was coded and captured in the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 28; and then analysed.

2.2 Specific model used

The consumers’ perceptions of indigenous fruit value-added products were measured using a five-point Likert scale. This scale measured the responses based on how they perceived indigenous fruit value-added products, where 1 = Strongly disagree (SDA), 2 = Disagree (D), 3 = Average (AVE), 4 = Agree (A) and 5 = Strongly agree (SA). A mean score of each variable was constructed based on questions measuring the perceptions. Other questions related to how the consumers’ perceptions on indigenous fruit value-added products were assessed according to the following domains: affordability, availability, accessibility and uses. A “Strongly agree” score on the scale indicated a positive perception and a “Strongly disagree” score indicated a negative perception on indigenous fruit value-added products.

Furthermore, principal component analysis (PCA) was used to rank a small number of variables that could account for the variability found in relatively many variables, not including all the original variables in the analysis. This method allowed for new variables representing the underlying or latent variables of the data set of statements, which are referred to as the factors that best describe the ideas depicting indigenous fruit value-added products according to the perceptions of the respondents.

Criteria such as eigen values greater than one and cumulative variance are explained by increasing the number of factors included in the factor model; and the interpretability of extracted factors is used to guide the choice of the appropriate number of factors to be included in the model of choice or best fit model. Varimax with Kaiser’s normalisation is used to improve the relationship of the initial variables and the extracted component.

Therefore, this study adopted the principal component formula used by [6] as follows:

The first principal component (\({{\varvec{P}}{\varvec{C}}}_{{\varvec{n}}})\) was computed as:

$${\text{PC}}_{{\text{n}}} \, = \,{\text{f}}\left( {{\text{a}}_{{{\text{ni}}}} {\text{X}}_{{\text{i}}} ,...{\text{a}}_{{1{\text{k}}}} {\text{X}}_{{\text{k}}} } \right)$$
(1)

where \(\text{PC}\) represents the principal component,

\(\text{n}\) is the number of principal components greater than 1,

\({\text{a}}_{1\text{k}}\) is the regression coefficient for the \({\text{k}}^{\text{th}}\) variable and known as the eigenvector of the covariance matrix between variables, and

\({\text{X}}_{\text{k}}\) represents the value of the \({\text{k}}^{\text{th}}\)

If the number of principal components, \(\text{n}\), is greater than 1, then each of the principal components will take the form of a continuous variable or quantity related to the products of the values of the constituent variables and their respective weightings or component loading [6,7,8]. Thus, the formula for the principal component obtained by adding the products is expressed as:

$${\text{PC}}_{1} \, = \,{\text{a}}_{11} {\text{X}}_{1} \, + \,{\text{a}}_{12} {\text{X}}_{2} \, + \, \ldots \, + \,{\text{a}}_{{1{\text{k}}}} {\text{X}}_{{\text{k}}}$$
(2)

where \({\text{PC}}_{1}\) represents the first component

\({\text{X}}_{1}\) and \({\text{X}}_{2}\) are the first and second independent variables until \({\text{X}}_{\text{k}}\)

\({\text{a}}_{11}\) and \({\text{a}}_{12}\) are the component loadings of the variables \({\text{X}}_{1}\) and \({\text{X}}_{2}\)

The eigenvalues are used to determine the number of principal components. Thus, this study considered eigenvalues that would be equal to or greater than 1.

3 Results and discussion

3.1 Consumers who purchased value-added products of different indigenous fruits

Figure 2 depicts the consumers who purchased indigenous fruit value-added products in the study area. Four different types of common indigenous fruit (marula, wild sour plum, orange monkey and wild medlar) value-added products from the study area are identified in Fig. 2 and Table 2. From the study population, 96.4% of the consumers indicated that they had purchased marula value-added fruit products; about 32.3% had purchased wild sour plum; 30.2% had purchased orange monkey fruit and 26.8% had purchased African medlar fruit. The results showed that marula value-added fruit products were the most common and more consumed value-added fruit products. This was caused due to the fact that they were easily recognised even on the streets of the study area. The marula trees and their products are celebrated each year during the ripe/harvest seasons, making awareness of their important roles in communities in the form of a festival. Consumers are more inclined to pay for a product when they understand its unique benefits [9] and others believe in paying for the products that are locally linked to their social values [10]. This means that a consumer who is more willing to pay for a product can do so for various reasons, including product popularity and social practices [11]. Furthermore, since more people were aware of and purchased the indigenous fruit value-added products, less money would likely be spent on promotions because the products were well-known locally, which would likely increase the product performance and maximise profits [12]. However, specific marketing strategies should be considered to ensure broader customer satisfaction and increased market share.

Fig. 2
figure 2

Consumers who purchased value-added products of different indigenous fruit

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Table 2 Various indigenous fruits used as raw material for value-added products creation in Bushbuckridge local municipality
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3.2 Consumers’ perception of indigenous fruit value-added products

The Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) measure and Bartlett’s test in Table 3 show the model fitness information. It revealed a KMO measure of sampling adequacy of 0.645 with 36 degrees of freedom, which was significant at (p < 0.001). According to the rule of thumb, a KMO measure of sampling adequacy of more than 0.5 is desirable. Hence, PCA was considered an appropriate technique for further analysis to determine the consumers’ perceptions on indigenous fruit value-added products.

Table 3 KMO measure and Bartlett’s test
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Regarding accessibility, the results in Table 3 indicate that 32.8% of the sample agreed that indigenous fruit value-added products were accessible and 22.7% strongly agreed. Customers who were unsure about the accessibility of these products had the lowest proportion at 8.1%, while those who disagreed and strongly disagreed were about 19.3% and 17.2%, respectively. According to [20], it is imperative that accessibility be taken into consideration when planning to introduce a specific product in the market [12]. Sellers may extend their audience and boost product growth while optimising profit by putting their products in the hands of customers [9]. The variation between the complete inaccessibility (8.1%) and accessibility (32.8%) of indigenous fruit value-added products was 24.7%. Accessible products allow customers to interact fully with the brand, which fosters customer loyalty, favourable word-of-mouth referrals and a larger client base—all of which contribute to the goal of maximising profits [21]. The findings of this study demonstrate that even though there was fair market accessibility to indigenous fruit value-added products, more work needs to be done to improve market accessibility for these products to enhance market share and ultimately maximise profit.

Regarding buying indigenous fruit value-added products, the study results in Table 4 show that consumers who agreed on buying indigenous fruit value-added products were 27.6%, while those who strongly agreed were 24.7%; 26.8% disagreed and 16.4% strongly disagreed. The lowest level in terms of buying was consumers who were neutral at 4.4%. The values obtained in this study revealed that consumers who agreed and strongly agreed amounted to a total percentage of about 52.3%, while those who disagreed and strongly disagreed amounted to a total of about 43.2%. The variation between the consumers who agreed/strongly agreed (52.3%) and those who disagreed/strongly disagreed (43.2%) was 10.1%. The findings of the study indicate the strongest potential of indigenous fruit value-added products, with promising advantages, to penetrate the market. The findings of the study agree with the findings of [22], who alluded that consumers will always be more enthusiastic about a product when they feel good about it.

Table 4 Five-point Likert scale percentage ratings (%)
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Concerning the taste of indigenous fruit value-added products, the results in Table 4 show that the consumers who agreed (39.9%) or strongly agreed (51.6%) were a total of 91.2%, while those who disagreed (4.2%) or strongly disagreed (2.1%) were a total of 6.3%. The consumers in the neutral category were the lowest at (2.6%) compared to the other categories. According to [23], an increase in consumer preferences and tastes for a given product increases the market for it, which in turn increases the demand for that product, while a decrease in consumer tastes and preferences results in a reduced market for that product [24]. The variation between consumers who agreed/strongly agreed (91.2%) and those who disagreed/strongly disagreed (6.3%) was 84.9%. Food intake is significantly influenced by sensory pleasures derived from the taste of food, which also directly affects product performance: A food product that fulfils the sense of taste (flavour and texture) may enhance the acceptability and increase feelings of fullness and satisfaction [25]. The values obtained in this study clearly indicate that most of the consumers had personally experienced indigenous fruit value-added products through taste, as the majority (91.2%) agreed that they tasted good. These findings could be a strong suggestion that indigenous fruit value-added products have a strong potential to penetrate the market because of their high acceptability in terms of taste. These findings concur with those of [26], who found that individuals who had positive product experiences were more likely to buy the products than those who had unpleasant experiences.

In terms of colour, the results of the study in Table 4 show that the consumers who agreed/strongly agreed were total of 88.8%, while those who disagreed/strongly disagreed amounted to a total of 9.3%. The neutral category in terms of indigenous fruit value-added products’ colour was 1.8%. Although no colour was shown to increase sales more than others, it does seem that using colour psychology can affect a product's capacity to stand out from the competition [19]. The idea that a distinctive colour can either draw or repel customers from associating with a specific product is one that many consumers used as a deciding factor [20]. The variation between the consumers who agreed/strongly agreed (88.8%) regarding the attractiveness of the colour of indigenous fruit value-added products and those who disagreed/strongly disagreed (9.3%) was 79.5%. These results demonstrate higher potential market acceptance of indigenous fruit value-added products due to their colour. Moreover, these findings concur with those of [10], who reported that product performance was directly linked to its visual appearance. Product experiences are important and significantly influence the performance of products [19]. Negative product experiences drive customers away while favourable ones increase usage, encourage customer loyalty and increase net sales. Thus, it would be wise for manufacturers and sellers of indigenous fruit value-added products to consider investing in determining the optimal colours that consumers want. This will probably lead to a rise in product acceptance and sales.

3.3 Cumulative column

The extracted sums of square are the most important values for interpretation purposes when analysing principal components (PCs). The first (PC1) factor accounts for 25.2%, the second one (PC2) for 20.2% and the third one (PC3) for 13.2%, as shown in Table 4. In this case, all the remaining factors were not significant. Table 5 presents the number of principals, from which three were selected. The cumulative column indicates that extracting the three factors made it possible to explain the variation in the data.

Table 5 Variance of the cumulative column
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Principal component 1 (PC1) contributed 25.2% of the variations, with an eigenvalue of 25.2%, which implies that the consumers’ preference for buying indigenous fruit value-added products over exotic fruit value-added products was extracted and represented by factors: the taste of indigenous fruit value added products, the consumption of indigenous fruit value-added products, the nutritional valued of indigenous fruit value-added products and the medicinal value of indigenous fruit value-added products (Table 5). The coefficient for the medicinal value of indigenous fruit value-added products was negative, which implies that the consumers were less likely to prefer buying indigenous fruit value-added products over exotic fruit value-added products for medical uses. The other four factors indicated a positive correlation [28].

The PC1 equation is presented below:

$${\text{PC1}}\, = \,0.{3}00\, + \,0.{3}00\, - \,0.{568}\, + \,0.{736}\, + \,0.{68}0\, + \,0.{587}$$
(3)

Principal component 2 (PC2) contributed 20.2% of the variations, with an eigenvalue of 45.3%. The significant factors included the accessibility of indigenous fruit value-added products in the market, consumers’ preference for buying indigenous fruit value-added products over exotic fruit value-added products, the taste of indigenous fruit value added products, the colour of indigenous fruit value added products, the consumption of indigenous fruit value-added products and the nutritional value of indigenous fruit value-added products. The results of the CP2 in Table 6 show that all seven coefficients were positive, indicating a positive correlation among the significant factors. This implies that if indigenous fruit value added products are more accessible in the market, it is more likely that consumers will prefer buying them over exotic fruit value-added products and the more likely it will be that consumers will enjoy their taste, the more likely it is that they will be attracted by their colour and use them for their nutritional value. These findings concur with those of [27, 28], who reported taste as one of the factors influencing consumers’ decision making.

Table 6 Rotated component matrix
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The PC2 equation is presented below:

$${\text{PC2}}\, = \,0.{116}\, + \,0.{62}0\, + \,0.{66}0\, + \,0.{798}\, + \,0.{4}0{1}\, + \,0.{299}\, + \,0.{177}$$
(4)

Principal component 3 (PC3) contributed 13.2% of the variations, with an eigenvalue of 58.5%. The results show that the factors were: the indigenous fruit value-added products’ availability in the market, their accessibility in the market, consumers’ preference to buy indigenous fruit value-added products over exotic fruit value-added products, consumption of indigenous fruit value-added products and medicinal value of indigenous fruit value-added products. This implies that the increased availability of indigenous fruit value-added products in the market brings the likelihood of an increase in the accessibility of indigenous fruit value-added products in the market, consumers’ preference for buying indigenous fruit value-added products over exotic fruit value-added products, and their consumption (Table 6).

The PC3 equation is presented below:

$${\text{PC3}}\, = \,0.{893}\, + \,0.{864}\, + \,0.{1}0{6}\, + \,0.{239}\, + \, - 0.{11}0\, + \,0.{134}$$
(5)

Scree plot

The scree plot in Fig. 3 shows the same results as those in Table 5; it illustrates the eigenvalues against the PC values or factors. To determine the PC values, we considered and kept only PCs on the slope of the graph before the eigenvalue decreased to the right of the plot [7]. Using this criterion, three PCs were retained in the analysis of this study. The grouping of the original variables was done by observing the magnitude of the factor loadings. By observing the vastness of the factor loading, we were able to categorise the variables according to consumers’ preference for buying indigenous fruit value-added products over exotic fruit value-added products, the availability of indigenous fruit value-added products in the market and their accessibility in the market.

Fig. 3
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Scree plot

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4 Conclusion

The consumption and selling of indigenous fruit value-added products have the potential to significantly contribute to the local economic development of the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality despite their low commercial availability. A high number of the respondents (96.4%) indicated that they purchase marula fruit value-added products rather than the other products (wild sour plum, orange monkey and wild medlar). This study recommends that other indigenous fruits and their value-added products should also be celebrated or be included in the indigenous fruit and their value-added products festivals. This will increase the sale and consumption of all the indigenous fruits available in the study area. About 22.7% of the participants strongly agreed and 32.8% agreed that indigenous fruit value-added products were available in the study area’s markets. This implies that consumers had access to the indigenous fruit value-added products; about 24.7% of the participants strongly agreed and 27.6% agreed to having access to the indigenous fruit value-added products. The results of the PCA showed three extracted factors (consumers’ preference for buying indigenous fruit value-added products over exotic fruit value-added products, the availability of indigenous fruit value-added products in the market, and their accessibility in the market), which implies that they were perceived as important by the consumers when it came to purchasing and using the indigenous fruit value-added products. Given that most consumers were more aware of Marula products than others, this implies that to gain market share and establish a competitive advantage for value-added products like wild sour plum, orange monkey fruit, and wild medlar, potential producers and sellers should devote more resources to product education and awareness campaigns. However, consumer perception and willingness to pay in the other regions of Lowveld and the entire Southern African region remains a limitation that should be considered, since this has the potential to unlock the broader market of these value-added products.