Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
highly processed organic foods and long-distance transportation and would rather know where
they can buy fresh local produce and minimally processed dry goods.
Most organic food consumers are not, of course, so committed. They do not change their
shopping habits readily and will substitute conventional products for organic whenever the
latter are not available or affordable at their regular shopping outlets. Nevertheless, increas-
ing sales to this group may represent one of the easier growth paths for the organic industry.
These buyers do not need to be convinced of the merits of organic food. They already purchase
it. All that needs to be done is to convince them to purchase more of it. In order to promote
organic products to this group the organic industry needs to address a range of issues
including:
1 Pricing: retail price premiums remain considerably higher in most national markets than
most consumers are willing to pay. Addressing this will remove a major barrier to organic
food sales among less committed consumers.
2 Visibility: most food purchasing decisions are based on habit (Pearson 2000). Varying
habitual patterns and developing new shopping habits is strongly influenced by the visibil-
ity of alternatives. Although introducing organic foods to major retail chains certainly has
increased their visibility, the appearance and layout of product displays also is critical. The
most influential area to display products is where buyers enter the retail outlet, at the ends
of aisles, and/or at eye level. Even where this is not possible, it is important that displays
identify organic products in some prominent manner.
3 Labelling: as well as reducing the visibility of organic foods, inconsistent and inadequate
labelling reduces consumer confidence and trust in the integrity of organic claims (Lockie
et
al
. 2002). National and international harmonisation or certified organic labels would be
welcomed by most consumers if not by the certifying bodies who compete for farmers'
business.
4 Availability: the supply and quality of organic products must be consistent enough that
buyers are not tempted to substitute them for conventional products. There may be circum-
stances in which the organic industry is better served by a strategy of targeting a few key
products than by attempting to provide a complete product range. Research has shown, for
example, that a few fresh fruit and vegetables account for most of the expenditure, suggest-
ing that the organic industry could have the greatest impact on its overall sales by targeting
the top-selling items (Pearson 2000).
As stated above, there are relatively few Western consumers who state that they would not,
under any circumstances, buy organic food. The barriers raised against organic consumption
by members of this group typically focus, again, on pricing and availability (Pearson 2002).
This group is clearly the least likely to bypass major retailers and make use of specialty food
stores, home delivery services and so on. Given this, an obvious strategy to encourage members
of this group to purchase organic foods is to sell them at the same price as conventional foods.
At least one British supermarket chain has done this (selling some organic products at below
cost) in order to increase the profile of its concern for the environment (Hutchins and Green-
halgh 1995). However, it is likely also that many strictly conventional food consumers see little
intrinsic value in the organic label and are unlikely to purchase any organic food that does not
possess the same visible quality attributes as conventional competitors (e.g. visual appearance,
smell) even if it is no more expensive. This suggests that it is necessary to promote to this group
the benefits of organic products, a strategy that may encourage them to accept a higher price
because they believe that the positive attributes of organic products such as health, taste and
environmental sustainability increase its value.
