consumer needs, importance perception, food products, consumption types, covid-19 pandemic.
With the number of products are increasing on market shelves as well as the opening of several food product businesses, it becomes important to understand what the consumer seeks. With the aim of making this knowledge more widespread, this work was proposed in order to evaluate the perception of factors importance for a food product from the point of view of the supplier, the pre and post pandemic consumer. For this purpose, a survey was used as a research method due to the ease of listening to a large number of participants. The object of study was pizza, separated into three forms of consumption: frozen pizza, delivery pizza, restaurant pizza. The questionnaire was divided into three sectors that assessed the consumer's profile, behavior and preferences. First, the suppliers indicated what they thought was important for their consumer, and then the questionnaire was carried out with consumer, before the pandemic with 1185 respondents, and after the pandemic, with the reopening of restaurants, 802 responses. From the comparison of the findings, it was possible to notice that the suppliers do not know their consumers so well, which can lead to dissatisfaction and a decrease in customer loyalty. In addition, it was possible to observe that the consumption pattern changed after the pandemic with a significant increase in the purchase of delivery products and a decrease in visits to restaurants. Another important factor was the difference in consumer satisfaction, which decreased for all types of consumption, showing that the consumer has become more demanding or suppliers have lowered the level of product quality. Regarding the perception of the importance of the factors, it was possible to analyze the increase in the importance of factors related to health, weight, and more natural products, in addition the price and convenience factor became more relevant for delivery and frozen products. In addition, the price factor became more important for the product consumed in restaurants after the pandemic. With this work, it was possible to assist pizza suppliers in creating more appealing products to consumers, increasing sales and optimizing business profitability. Furthermore, with a better understanding of consumer needs, it is possible to improve waste management, impacting the reduction of waste expenses and enhancing the environmental management of the business. Moreover, based on the results, it can be observed that the covid-19 pandemic has not only had an economic impact but also a social one, with an increase in delivery purchases and a consequent decrease in dining out. It was also noted that customer satisfaction decreased significantly, highlighting greater consumer
demands. Through this work, it was possible to observe the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on food market. It was important to understand how consumers adapted and responded to the imposed changes and restrictions. Studies on this topic can provide valuable information for dealing with future crises and ensuring the profitability of suppliers even in times of crisis.