Abstract:
Food tourism is a rapidly growing segment in the hospitality and tourism industry with great
potential. Further, its exponential growth has resulted in exploring the niche market for organic foods
in the restaurant industry. At present, it has become a trend to consume organically grown foods at
„dine-in‟ in restaurants. But, contradictory ideas exist in the literature regarding organic and
conventional food consumptions. Based on the identified research gap, the objectives of the study
were aimed to identify the demand for organic food consumption in restaurants from the restaurant
managers‟ perspective in Sri Lanka, to examine the promotional strategies used for organic foods in
restaurants, and to identify the limitations of promoting organic foods. Primary data were collected
from 18 restaurant managers in casual dining restaurants in the Western Province of Sri Lanka, which
are registered at Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority and also operated in the Western
Province of Sri Lanka. The purposive sampling technique was used to formulate the sample and
semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. Under the qualitative research approach,
collected data were transcribed and analyzed by using the content analysis method. The findings of
the study revealed that there is a growing demand for organic food consumption by customers and
they are highly attentive to consume organic products when they „dine-in‟ in restaurants. Further, the
study explored that the demographics and the perceptions of the consumers to consume healthy have
impacted to consume organically. Therefore, restaurant managers are also willing to promote organic
foods in their daily food operations in restaurants. But, it was revealed that organic promotional
strategies are complicated to be performed specifically due to the limited access in restaurants to
expand the organic theme in their daily food operations. Therefore, the recommendations of the study
have exposed the potential to expand organic food production in the restaurant industry under the
government's concerns and restaurant managers are also recommended to be engaged in delivering
healthy consumption patterns by enhancing organic dining-in within the industry. The study will
further provide the significance of developing a sustainable environment in the Sri Lankan restaurant
industry.
Keywords: Dining-in Organically; Organic Food Consumption; Qualitative Content Analysis;
Restaurant Managers
