Why consumer should patronize organic food

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Why the Consumers Should Patronize Organic Food
In the last couple of decades, the food industry has rapidly developed and resulted in revolutionizing approaches to production, processing, and distribution of various types of foods. People started eating smarter by filtering what they consume, selecting the most nutritious, healthy, or just tasty foods, and reducing those that might result in diseases, such as cancer, obesity, ulcer, etc. The movements of vegetarians and vegans are becoming more and more popular. The humans reached the level of development in the context of evolution when they struggle to prevent aging and live longer and healthier life. It is no longer needed to hunt for a piece of meat and the deficit of food products is over on the majority of the planet. Thus, it’s time to choose what to consume. Nevertheless, the abundance of food produce is available at the expense of reducing the price of food production and adding a lot of chemicals to make the products more attractive and make them last longer. Consequently, the amount of organic food is smaller and more expensive in relation to the rest of food products that contain pesticides, fertilizers, and other chemicals harmful to our health. This research paper will aim at exploring how to increase the production and reach more equitable sales, as well as the distribution of organic produce by means of customer education, farming reform, and high-quality analysis of the market.

Although healthy lifestyle and diet are gaining more and more popularity, there is still no distinct understanding of what organic food is. People often confuse it with locally produced food and just wholesome products, such as fruit and vegetables, as unfortunately, a tomato or an apple is not necessarily organic as it might still contain harmful chemicals. The problem of confusions still exists partially due to the marketing trap. The gigantic brands selling food products are still trying to put the labels “green”, “organic”, “all natural”, “sugarfree”, etc, on their goods while it might not always be true. The same products might still contain maple syrup, lactose, sugar powder, saccharose, dextrin, honey, etc., which are just different types of sugar. As a result, people have a false perception of what is organic: “17% of the people incorrectly believed that foods labeled “organic” were also grown locally. Another 23% falsely believe that local produce is grown organically. 40% of consumers think “organic” food is more nutritious than conventional food, while 29% believe that “local” products are more nutritious than their imported equivalents.”(Goldberg, Time.com). Therefore, it is essential to eliminate the problem of confusion and create a clear definition of organic products in people’s minds.
First of all, let us define what organic food actually is and distinguish it from non-organic one. Organic food qualifies to be so if the methods used to produce it comply with the internationally recognized standards and norms of organic farming based on biodiversity, and ecological balance:
“The USDA qualifies produce as organic if no synthetic pesticides, chemical fertilizers, antibiotics, growth hormones, or genetically modified organisms (GMO) are used. Pest control and crop nutrients must be managed through natural physical, mechanical and biological controls. When producing organic meat, eggs, and dairy, for instance, farmers must provide non-GMO livestock with year-round outdoor access.” ((Goldberg, Time.com)
It is important to distinguish organic from locally produced food. “Local” food means produce that was made in the locality of 200-400 miles depending on the country or state standards and it can be produced using conventional methods, that is adding growth hormones, pesticides, etc. Thus “local” food is not necessarily organic. A distinctive feature of organic food is that it is highly nutritious: “The nutritional quality of organic food is superior to that of conventional food, as it contains more antioxidants, vitamin C and dry nutrients (iron, manganese, phosphorus). Also, organic agriculture causes less environmental deterioration than conventional agriculture, as it prevents soil quality, biodiversity and the nitrate rate” (Berges and Monier-Dilhan, 3). At first sight, these basic facts about organic produce should be enough for people to get attracted, however, this is not necessarily true. Some potential clients do not trust the information about organic food, perceive this word as a marketing strategy, and have doubts about the origin of the product. It is hard to check the credibility of the producer and make sure that the product was actually produced without pesticides and complies with the norms as the seller might just use a fancy word to add up a couple of dollars to the receipt. Others just do not know where to purchase organic food as they are used to shopping at the supermarkets and are not aware of other locations whether this type of food might be sold or don’t have time to go elsewhere. Some buyers just don’t see the big difference between organic and conventional food except the price. Thus, they are not ready to pay 20% more for the same type of apples that are visually the same as those in a neighbor basket just because they are labeled as organic. The lack of awareness of the organic group of products should be eliminated by discussing the issue in the media, periodicals, and blogs. The topic should be promoted by the opinion leaders and bloggers to spread correct information about organic products among the target audience and attract more potential customers. Additionally, being educated about healthy and organic meal choices will aid people in leading a healthy lifestyle, keeping to a nutritious diet and become less prone to consuming junk food.
The second issue stresses the importance of finding out why some customers are willing to pay a premium price for organic food. This data is vital for the stakeholders, both medium-sized organic food production companies and small-scale farmers, as well as marketing departments in order to know what is in demand, what production plans should be prepared, what and how will be solved, etc. Moreover, knowing the customers will help to make the reasonable price for organic production and increase sales.
Let us examine purchasing motives to answer the question why people are actually buying organic food. The customers are usually purchasing organic food for two reasons. The first one demonstrates pro-social position and concern for the environment, socially regulated working conditions during which the products were produced, animal welfare, etc. The second reason is more selfish as people care exclusively about their health and are prone to purchasing high-quality products. When considering customer niche that purchases organic foods especially for the second reason, we should keep in mind that these people generally have higher than average income and hold a higher education degree (Baudry et. al., 12). There is a big difference of how and to whom the produce should be marketed depending on the type of foods and this is demonstrated very well in the research conducted by Chengyan Yue and Cindy Tong: “Older female consumers with lower than average education levels who shop in urban markets are the right target market to promote locally grown fresh produce, whereas younger consumers with above-average income who live in urban areas are the main target market for organic produce.” (Yue and Tong, 370). These customers value freshness, locally-grown organic food, and safety of the products in terms of eating, which should be considered by the farmers and organic food producers when launching their marketing campaigns.
Furthermore, it is worth considering the selling points provide access to organic products at right places for right customer groups. As opposed to the supermarkets that sell conventionally produced food, organic products can be sold at cooperatives where the majority of organic food lovers are concentrated. These are the best places where local farmers can sell the organic produce for the premium price. However, the selling points of organic products can be organized even in the supermarkets in the respective section marked as organic. “These direct marketing channels are the best venues for local growers to sell their products. Cooperatives are also good venues to sell locally grown products, whereas mass merchandisers and supermarkets might not be able to gain enough profits by selling locally grown fresh produce.” (Yue and Tong, 371). Wisely organized marketing channels are useful for the customers as they provide easy access to organic food and stimulates patronage of these channels.
It also should be kept in mind that the premium price serves as the major obstacle for the group of consumers that would otherwise gladly purchase organic products. The marketing strategy for the price-sensitive customers should be focused on the affordability of the fresh produce by decreasing the size of the package as an alternative. This allows the buyers still enjoy organic food for a lower price when purchasing smaller portions. The following observation mentioned in the research by Yue and Tong should serve as a useful formula for the marketers in terms of forming the price: “The average price premiums for organic, local, and organic plus local attributes of tomatoes were $0.67, $0.67, and $1.06, respectively, compared with conventional tomatoes” (Yue and Tong, 370). This is just a small example of a market research that should be conducted by the producers for each product to make an extensive data about the prices on the market and form exclusive pricing strategy.
In addition, making a comparison price report for the equivalent goods offered by the retailers, farmers, wholesalers will make it clear for all the parties whether their price is justified and consistent with the customers’ expectations. This data would allow the sellers adjust the price if needed to attract even more potential clients. The financial data is also useful for the producers as they can adjust the production methods based on it and manage their profit based on the value-added factors that result from comparing marketing and production costs. It was found that the premium price that the customers would be willing to pay for organically and locally grown goods is the same, although the production costs of these two product segments differ since the latter one does not involve as high transportation costs as the first one (Yue and Tong, 370). Thus, local farmers can get a higher profit by producing the products locally and marketing them as both local and organic food instead of just saying that it is organic.
In summary, the most obvious reason why the consumers should patronize the organic food is that because it is healthy, nutritious, and was produced without harmful chemicals. This research described the three major issues that prevent the customers from purchasing organic produce repeatedly. These are lack of awareness, lack of motivation and not understanding of consumer motives by the producers, and the premium price. Furthermore, the paper has discussed the above-mentioned issues and offered viable solutions to combat the problem and let the customers enjoy and patronize organic food. The awareness about organic food should be raised by the media, in the publications, etc. The consumer behaviors should be analyzed in order to both consumers get comfortable with patronizing organic food and knowing where to do it and the producers to increase sales and attract more potential customers. The issue of the premium price can also be resolved by means of correct product targeting, market segmentation, and attracting price-sensitive buyers with affordable small packages. All in all, the issue of patronizing organic food is actively discussed and further research is needed to uncover the myths about organic food and better explore its nature.
Works Cited
Baudry, Julia, et al. “Food Choice Motives When Purchasing in Organic and Conventional Consumer Clusters: Focus on Sustainable Concerns (The NutriNet-Santé Cohort Study).” Nutrients, vol. 9, no. 12, 2017, p. 88., doi:10.3390/nu9020088.
Bergès, F, and S Monier-Dilhan. “Do consumers buy organic food for sustainability or selfish reasons?” Jan. 2013, www.tse-fr.eu/sites/default/files/medias/doc/wp/fff/wp-tse-372-vf.pdf.
Goldberg, H. “People Still Don’t Know the Difference Between “Organic” and “Local”.” Time, 11 July 2014, time.com/2970505/organic-misconception-local/.
Iqbal, Mehree. “Consumer Behaviour of Organic Food: A Developing Country Perspective.” International Journal of Marketing and Business Communication, vol. 4, no. 4, 2015, doi:10.21863/ijmbc/2015.4.4.024.
Yue, Ch, and C Tong. “Organic or Local? Investigating Consumer Preference for Fresh Produce Using a Choice Experiment with Real Economic Incentives.” Hort Science, vol. 44, no. 2, 2009, pp. 366–371.