Unwrapping the truth behind organic food

The report commissioned by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs was led by the University of Exeter’s Centre for Rural Policy and Research and co-authored with the Countryside and Community Research Institute, University of Gloucestershire.

Research findings show that consumers of organic food cite concerns with health, food safety, environmental impacts, food miles and a desire to support British farmers as important underlying reasons for making purchases. These concerns translate into expectations which the consumers bring to their understanding of organic food. The most significant overall factor among 84% of the organic consumers surveyed is the view that organic produce is healthier for consumers and children.

Dr Matt Lobley from the University of Exeter explained, ‘There may be a danger of an ‘expectations gap’ developing between what is legally required of farmers to receive organic certification for their produce and what consumers expect it could deliver.’

Research shows that expectations surrounding the purchase of organic vegetables rested on being free from chemical residues, environmentally beneficial and GM-free; with 93% of consumers thinking that organic vegetables should be free from pesticides. This was coupled with the belief that they would taste better. In contrast, the focus on organic meat relied on the maintenance of high animal welfare standards, use of free range systems and the meat being free of growth hormones. Similarly, organic milk was expected to have been produced to the highest animal welfare standards and was not expected to be as cheap as non-organic milk. It was also considered to be free from antibiotics and safer than non-organic milk. 

In all of these contexts expectations go significantly beyond the requirements of the organic certification. 

A large proportion of organic consumers involved in the research purchased organic food at least once a week, were loyal to brand, well educated and predominantly white. Within these committed organic groups distinct patterns emerged, with motivations and expectations based around personal health and well being, of greater significance than the focus of others who were inspired by environmental and local assurances. They are all committed to organic produce and relatively insensitive to price. This is quite unlike people who only buy organic produce occasionally, as their shopping habits are more likely to fluctuate during economic hardship. 96.9% of respondents bought organic vegetables, followed by eggs at 63.7% and organic chicken 58.7%.

Dr Lobley added, ‘There are general assumptions that organic produce is also local and fresh as well as being organic. Organic produce does not automatically have to cover all three areas. It appears that some people also use organic as shorthand to finding out what is in the packet without reading all of the contents.’

The attributes the consumers expect to be associated with organic food and the gap between what the farmers suggest they are offering is more pronounced between the larger farms who generate bulk produce and supply supermarkets than the farms which sell directly to the consumer. Direct sales are mainly through highly committed, typically small scale and locally orientated, organic producers who manage a more diverse range of marketing channels compared to those with a more national and regional market force.  

This group of producers who are locally embedded and linked to consumers via short supply chains fulfil the expectations of many organic consumers and exemplify the idea of alternative food producers. However, according to the research 10% of the largest farms sampled account for over half of sales of organic produce in the country. As the main suppliers of organic produce comes from these larger farmers involved in indirect sales to supermarkets, the report suggests a need for the government to improve consumer awareness of organic food to reduce the potentially damaging gap in knowledge and maintain the loyal consumer base.

Organic production is still small compared to other sectors of UK agriculture and findings from the research show organic farmers to be geographically unevenly distributed, with a concentration in the South West of England and Wales.