primary consumer

This term is a technical designation used in ecology and biology to describe the first level of heterotrophs in a food web. It carries a neutral, scientific connotation and is strictly used within the context of trophic levels to distinguish herbivores from producers (plants) and secondary consumers (carnivores).

In academic writing, it is often contrasted with the term apex predator to illustrate the flow of energy from the bottom to the top of an ecosystem. It is not used in a commercial or economic sense to describe a person who buys a product first.