QUALITY, SAFETY AND CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR TOWARDS ORGANIC FOOD IN GERMANY AND PORTUGAL

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to compare Portuguese and German consumer behaviour towards Organic Food Products (OFP). For this purpose, an extensive literature review on quality and food safety of organic food products was carried out and a consumer survey was implemented, with data collected by means of personal interviews in the capital cities of the two countries. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics and a comparison of Portuguese and German consumers was made with the help of chi-square tests and ANOVA. The results show positive consumer attitudes towards OFP. However, its consumption is much lower than could be expected from these attitudes. Intentions to buy OFP are quite high, suggesting that these products might obtain a substantial market share in the future. This is an encouraging sign for prospective producers of OFP, who might compensate the likely increase in unitary production costs with an increase in total production. The study presented in this paper is the result of a research project supported by the programme "CRUP - Acções Integradas Luso Alemãs 2004" in Portugal and by the programme "Des Projektbezogenen Personenaustauschs (PPP) 2004 mit Portugal" in Germany.Organic food products, consumer behaviour, Germany, Portugal.