Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Analysis of Production and Consumption of Organic Products in South Africa
http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/58356
Trust is a 'credence attribute' which is not directly observable by consumers. Enhancing
consumers trust about the labels of organic products can be achieved through among others,
effective communication strategies on the traceability of organic products and ensuring
compliance and adherence by retailers selling organic products to the certification standards
and availability of information on the organic status of products. Some of the reasons advanced
in the study to increase consumers trust for organic products is to:
purchase from specific shops that sell organic
check for organic certification label
practice own organic farming
In South Africa, food retailers have the largest share of the organic industry [49]. Similarly,
most products are sold through the export market due to the higher revenue from exports.
Irwin [50] says that South Africa has a favourable position for expansion in the domestic market
as a result of the following developments in the organic sector over the past few years:
establishment of separate organic section in major retail stores
national regulation/standards for organic products
establishment of South Africa organic certification bodies
formation of South African organic associations.
Food purchasing is an important part of food behaviours. In this study the apportioning,
explicitly or tacitly, of the responsibility of household food shopping depends on a number of
factors as food purchasing is an important part of food behaviours. This responsibility was
closely shared among various members of the household with majority of the consumers being
responsible for the decision making of organic food demand and purchase. The general finding
in the study was that most consumers shop in supermarkets, grocery stores and spaza (ki‐
osks) shops. The majority of consumers who shop in supermarkets reported that local shops
do not provide the services people demand and that food choice and quality are limited. This
is coupled with discount promotions common with supermarkets and variety of products. The
findings from this study are consistent with findings from the Food Safety Agency [51] that
state that a vast majority (92%) of consumers continue to use supermarkets for most of their
food shopping. However, local shops play an important role in 'top-up' shopping, being used
by 75% consumers for some of their food purchases.
Commonly consumed organic products included fresh vegetables, fresh fruits, meat/meat
products and milk/ milk products. However, the general trend in Figure 5 and Figure 6 shows
that there are marked increases in the future demand of all organic products. This augurs well
for the growth of the organic industry in the Eastern Cape and in South Africa in General. The
findings of this study are consistent with [52] who stated that a study by Pick-n-Pay, one of
the major national retail supermarket chains and supporter of the development of the retail
organic market in South Africa, on the performance and trends of fresh organic produce
showed that fresh produce completely dominated the sales.
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