The Organic Food Market: Opportunities and Challenges - Organic Food and Agriculture: New Trends and Developments in the Social Sciences - page 82

buying in supermarkets rely on organic labels and brands. Consumers purchasing in
specialty store trust the store itself, the sales persons' advices, the products' traceability
(transparency of the supply chain) and to a much lesser extent some organic labels they
know. Hence, communication on the products' quality and traceability, advices and
information provided by store managers and sales persons (and store reputation) could
increase consumers' trust in OF. For consumers purchasing from producers and farm
markets, traceability is the main element of trust. Further, close and direct communication
and relations between farmers and consumers would help maintaining and/or increasing
trust as well as feedback on product quality and taste. In accordance with our results in
terms of most used and trusted sources of information, these consumers subscribe to health
and wellness magazines and read topics on the subject (Zepeda and Deal, 2009). Last,
brands are not a major factor that Canadian consumers can yet base their trust on. Finally,
the issue of certification labels and related trust arises for the majority of consumers when
considering imports of organic products, as other countries are indeed perceived as not
meeting the same organic certification requirements as Canada. Imports also raise the issues
of product quality, traceability and food mileage.
9.3 Growth perspectives and sustainability
Based on the supply side interviews, growth perspectives are directly linked to the
challenges expressed by the respondents: maintaining and increasing consumers' trust in OF
and in their distribution systems, and adapting their offer to new trends in OF demand.
Results from the consumer survey also highlight two main new trends in consumer
demand: food mileage and local foods. These new trends are more noticeable for OF
consumers making their purchases in specialty stores and local markets rather than in
supermarkets.
While sales of organically certified products have grown, the sector has to face new market
entrants making green and ethical claims. In other words, the organic sector faces the
challenge of an increasing number of other standards and brands competing for green and
ethical segments in the consumer market. Zander and Hamm (2010) highlighted the interest
of some OF consumers in several ethical concerns such as animal welfare, preservation of
biodiversity, fair prices for farmers and local supply chains. But as shown by our results,
only some ethical concerns are being actually considered by OF consumers, mainly hardcore
consumers. Further, organic food is not yet frequently associated in regular consumers'
mind with ecological and social sustainability.
The regular consumer is committed to personal health and being health conscious, sees the
absence of chemical and pesticides on organic food as a reputation for quality. The hardcore
consumer is committed to the environment, but is also concerned by the evolution of
“industrial organic” and sees the locally grown foods and the development of local food
systems as an alternative for a more sustainable food system. A new term has even emerged,
“beyond organic”, to describe the importance of other qualities than the ones defining what
organic is. Food mileage, reliance on local resources and environmentally sustainable food
production on top of health concerns are what makes the added value of these “beyond
organic” products for hardcore consumers.
To recapitulate, the OF market is growing and new product lines are emerging and being
marketed. We are moving slowly from a situation of exclusivity to a situation where all
consumers in the market are targeted. Hardcore consumers are looking for “fair trade