Improving European Organic Market Information - The OrganicDataNetwork Project

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has observed an increased need for the provision of market information and Market Information Services (MIS) in recent years

Organic Viticulture in Europe

So far no official statistical data on the current status of organic viticulture in Europe exist. Even though most countries in the European Union, the EU accession countries and the EFTA countries collate data on their land under organic management, figures on land use patterns are not always available. The share of organic vineyards of all vineyards is still small. The percentage of organic vineyards is – with the exception of Greece, Italy, Spain - smaller than the percentage of organic land of all agricultural land in the respective countries. This is particularly striking for Austria and Switzerland where only little more than 1 % of the vineyards are organic whereas the total organic land is around eight per cent of all agricultural land. It is also interesting to look at the shares organic vineyards have within the organically managed land. The Mediterranean countries have, compared the northern wine growing areas, high shares of vineyards. This reflects the general cropping pattern but also the fact that most southern countries are exporters of organic products; the main products being typical Mediterranean products, one of which is wine. From the articles of the authors for these proceedings it may be concluded that organic viticulture is growing in all European countries

Communicating Ethical Arguments to Organic Consumers: A Study Across Five European Countries

Additional ethical claims were tested with mock organic egg labels in five EU countries. The attitudes towards the advertising labels were assessed by multiple copy testing measures. A total of 156 individual responses were analysed. The study confirms the difficulty of conducting advertising research in a multicultural framework, and shows that additional local/ regional claims can reinforce the appeal of organic products

Consumer motivations in the purchase of organic food. A means-end approach

The paper presents partial results from an Italian study on consumer perception and knowledge of organic food and related behaviour. Uses the means-end chain model to link attributes of products to the needs of consumers. In order to provide insights into consumer motivation in purchasing organic products, 60 respondents were interviewed using ``hard’’ laddering approach to the measurement of means-end chains. The results (ladders) of these semi-qualitative interviews are coded, aggregated and presented in a set of hierarchical structured value maps. Even if organic products are perceived as difficult to find and expensive, most consumers judge them positively. All consumers associate organic products with health at different levels of abstraction and want good, tasty and nourishing products, because pleasure and wellbeing are their most important values. Results show that differences exist between groups of consumers with respect to their frequency of use (experience) of organic products and level of information (expertise). Reports and discusses results on consumer cognitive structures at different level of experience.Organic food, Consumer behaviour, Italy, Means-End Chain, Laddering

Organic food quality & safety perception throughout Europe

Many more consumer s have tried at least once organic food, but despite higher consumer awareness, they still show a great concern about food quality and safety. Recent research showed that there is still little knowledge of how organic products are produced and processed and which characteristics are fundamental for the consumer with regard to quality and safety. In this scenario, primary producers, processors and other stakeholders in the organic supply- chain have the difficult task of understanding consumers' complex and sometimes contradictory wishes with regard to organic food. The aim of this study is to examine food quality and safety issues related to buying organic products. To provide better insight on the safety and quality issues in a cross - cultural setting, the linkages among consumer's personal values - as final expression of consumer product knowledge - are analysed, by means of laddering data on 8 EU countries.laddering, food safety, food quality, cross cultural study, values, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Data Network for better European Organic Market Information - D7.1 Recommendations

The aim of this part of the work is to set out the detailed recommendations for significant improvements in the availability and quality of statistical information on the organic market. The recommendations are outlined in a short sentence followed by specific bullet points identifying areas of improvements. The recommendations are then described briefly in terms of background, objectives, and specific actions linked to the criteria and principles explained hereinafter

Exploiting Qualitative Information for Decision Support in Scenario Analysis

The development of scenario analysis (SA) to assist decision makers and stakeholders has been growing over the last few years through mainly exploiting qualitative information provided by experts. In this study, we present SA based on the use of qualitative data for strategy planning. We discuss the potential of SA as a decision-support tool, and provide a structured approach for the interpretation of SA data, and an empirical validation of expert evaluations that can help to measure the consistency of the analysis. An application to a specific case study is provided, with reference to the European organic farming business

The positioning of organic products: which way forward?

The current positioning of organic products is based on a segmentation approach that recognises the organic market basically as a (enlarging) niche. Research conducted by the authors through various EU projects shows that the positioning of organic products cannot simply hinge on attributes/characteristics that differentiate organic products from their competitors, nor is a strategy based on benefit segmentation enough. A value/need based positioning of organic food products is proposed, based on a lateral marketing approach

Consumption of Organic Foods from a Life History Perspective:An Explorative Study among Italian consumers

Taking into consideration individuals’ cognitive reasoning, and assuming that consumption of organic food has involved a change of mind about food experiences and food habits, we have identified the concepts, stories and theories mentioned by respondents in their discourses about organic food. Regular consumers trust organic products because they believe that they are healthier and tastier than any other product. A growing stock of information supports their food choice and confidence in organic food. Occasional consumers have strong beliefs about the better taste and the higher quality of organic food in general. Non organic users sometimes perceive organic food as a new fashion, the last fad. Organic food is still confused with close ‘substitutes’, such as ‘natural’, ‘macrobiotic’ and similar products. Many occasional consumers believe that regular consumers are somewhat obsessed with organic food and that they look and behave strangely. Organic products are generally perceived and experienced as expensive products, when compared to conventional alternatives. To organic consumer the rewards they perceive to gain from organic food is well beyond the resources (in terms of time and money) they employ to search for the higher quality of organic products. Institutional attempts to change consumer behaviour are commonly categorized into consumer information, consumer education and consumer advice (Peter et al., 1999).In order to increase both behavioural and attitudinal loyalty, the level of consumer information and product knowledge should be increased. Besides, consumers will become more committed if their beliefs regarding the intrinsic self-relevance of organic food will increase in the future

Scenario of the organic food market in Europe

Scenario analysis is a qualitative tool for strategic policy analysis that enables researchers and policymakers to support decision making, and a systemic analysis of the main determinants of a business or sector. In this study, a scenario analysis is developed regarding the future development of the market of organic food products in Europe. The scenario follows a participatory approach, exploiting potential interactions among the relevant driving forces, as selected by experts. Network analysis is used to identify the roles of driving forces in the different scenarios, and the results are discussed in comparison with the main findings from existing scenarios on the future development of the organic sector