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Tre Gear 1994
Tre Gear 1994
Gemma C. Harper, Aikaterini Makatouni, (2002),"Consumer perception of organic food production and farm animal welfare",
British Food Journal, Vol. 104 Iss 3/4/5 pp. 287-299 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/00070700210425723
Raffaele Zanoli, Simona Naspetti, (2002),"Consumer motivations in the purchase of organic food: A means-end approach",
British Food Journal, Vol. 104 Iss 8 pp. 643-653 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/00070700210425930
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Results of recent surveys suggest that factors (1) concern for health, concern for the environment,
which motivate people to buy or avoid organic perception of good taste and perception of novelty
produce are complex. constitute the main reasons why consumers buy
organic foods;
(2) expense, unappetizing appearance, lack of
availability and lack of genuine interest are the
principal reasons preventing individuals from
purchasing organic foods;
outlet.
give the matter any thought (Figure 3). Taste 1 per cent Expense
32 per cent
60
awareness and knowledge of the term organic. In both
cases, the term was defined satisfactorily.
40
29
20 Among non-buyers,
7
relative expense was most
0
Organic Non-buyer Unaware
commonly cited
buyer of term
Buyer 33 11 43 1 3 41 28 16
Non-buyer 45 60 99 9 7 100 64 44
x2=12.84 x2=5.369 x2=0.004 x2=0.251
p>0.001 p>0.05 p>0.05 p>0.005
Figure 4. Percentage Wastage of Organic Produce between Supermarkets and Wholefood Shops
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Percentage Percentage
> 50 3 > 50 19
> 25 16 > 25 38
< 25 42 < 25 35
Negligible 32 Negligible 8
No response 7 No response 0
0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100
Percentage Percentage
Wholefood stores Supermarkets
responses of managers of wholefood shops compared In the retailer survey, supermarkets were generally found
with supermarkets. In wholefood shops, managers were to incur greater costs when stocking organic foods and
of the opinion that concern over personal health (41 per suffered higher levels of wastage compared with whole
cent) and concern over family health (45 per cent) were food shops (Figure 4). Yet supermarkets did, however,
the main reasons for buying, while only 10 per cent present a more extensive and consistent range of fresh
highlighted concern for the environment. Supermarket organic produce in comparison with smaller retailers
managers estimated that concern about environmental (Figure 5).
damage to the countryside by conventional farming was
an important reason for purchase (30 per cent) together In terms of opinion of the market, most retailers were
with concerns about personal (27 per cent) and family optimistic about the future for sales of organic produce
health (27 per cent). Neither supermarket nor wholefood and believe the higher price of organic food was the single
shop managers believed that the supposedly less most important barrier to market expansion (Figure 6).
attractive appearance (less uniform) of organic food acted
as a disincentive to purchase. A small proportion (13 per
cent) of supermarket managers indicated that in their Discussion and Conclusions
opinion customers believed organic food had an improved The research found that 29 per cent of the general public
taste over conventionally grown food. bought organic foods at some time, a proportion which is
24 BRITISH FOOD JOURNAL 96,4
Percentage Percentage
Wide 55 Wide 65
Average 9 Average 20
Limited 15 Limited 14
None 21 None 1
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0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100
Percentage Percentage
Wholefood stores Supermarkets
smaller than that found by Dent[4] and by the Henley Organic produce was commonly perceived by the general
Centre[3]. public to be a healthy and environmentally friendly
option. There appeared little evidence to support the
The methodology of these various surveys, however, is often held view that misshapen or non-uniform size of
incompatible and so too are the sample sizes. While the organic produce was a disincentive to purchase. Some
current survey appears to indicate that the proportion of evidence is provided that at least some purchasers of
organic buyers in the general public has decreased organic produce believe that the taste of the food was
somewhat, supporting the findings of Mintel[2], this enhanced over conventionally grown products. The
finding can only be a tentative conclusion. perception of organic food being expensive was
Figure 6. Opinions Expressed by Wholefood and Supermarket Respondents on Price as a Market Barrier and the Future Market
Prospects for Organic Food
(a) (b)
Percentage Percentage
Yes 65 Yes 54
No 35 No 11
No response 2 No response 35
Supermarkets Supermarkets
Yes 79 Yes 62
No 21 No 7
No response 50 No response 27
0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100
Percentage Percentage
High price is a market barrier? Optimistic about future for organic food?
THE DEMAND FOR ORGANICALLY-GROWN PRODUCE 25
widespread and this could be a disincentive to purchase. be lower than supermarkets, could perhaps concentrate
Certainly, proportionately more people with higher their efforts on increasing the range of organic products
disposable income purchased organic food than in other on the shelves. It should be noted that such outlets tend to
socio-economic groups. There was also some evidence to stock a much narrower range of fresh organic products
suggest that more people would buy organic produce if than supermarkets do. Partly because of the strategy of
the price differential was lower. Such evidence should be stocking fresh organic produce, supermarkets tend to
assessed with care, however, because of the obvious incur substantially more wastage than in wholefood
difficulty relating to the reliability of asking questions shops. In a marketing strategy, therefore, supermarkets
about what actions might be taken in totally different could consider ways of reducing wastage levels and
circumstances to those experienced to date. generally bringing down the premiums on organic foods
without compromising the range of organic products that
they offer.
A. Tregear and J.B. Dent are from the Institute of Ecology and Resource Management, University of Edinburgh, and M.J.
McGregor is from the Rural Resource Management Department, Scottish Agricultural College, Edinburgh.
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