The price of organic products still remains the biggest barrier to purchase for many consumers. About 68% of households would like to buy organic more often if the price is lower. More and more households occasionally buy an organic product.
This has emerged from research by GfK, which the sector organization Bionext has commissioned and published about. The research figures released by Bionext show that about 95,1% of Dutch households bought organic products last year. The group of consumers who occasionally opt for organic, in particular, is increasingly buying a product from this category.
Increasing supply
More than 89% of households buy organic products in supermarkets. According to Bionext, a possible cause for the rising sales is the increasing organic offer at supermarkets. Consumers see organic products in particular as environmentally friendly (41%), animal-friendly (40%) and pure, without unnecessary additives (39%), the organization concludes from the survey. Only 14% of the households that buy organic indicate that they do so for image reasons.
Although the price generates the greatest resistance, the price difference between organic and conventional products has narrowed in the past year. Five years ago, organic products were on average twice as expensive as conventional products, compared to 5 times last year. "Organic products, especially seasonal products, are now sometimes just as expensive or even cheaper than premium brands," says Bionext.
Knowledge helps
Moreover, more knowledge about the benefits of organic also helps in higher purchases by consumers, the trade association continues. "If the benefits of organic were clearer, the choice would have been made easier." The total share of organic in the classic retail channel (supermarket and specialist shops) is still modest in the Netherlands at 4,7%. In many other European countries, these numbers are significantly higher.
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