Organic Certification from the Consumer Perspective

1. Improving the Organic Certification SystemWorkshop in Brussels, October 14, 2011 Organic Certification from the Consumer Perspective Meike Janssen and Ulrich Hamm University of Kassel, Germany

2. Consumers and organic certification • Ultimate purpose of organic certification system: Guarantee for consumers that a product was produced according to organic principles • Organic label = tool to signal consumers that product is certified organic • Many different organic standards and certification logos: • Mandatory EU logo • Voluntary logos Labels of private organisations National governmental logos

3. Research objectives • 1. To analyse consumer response to different organic certification logos, in particular • consumer awareness,perception and trust in different organic certification logos and underlying standards and certification systems • consumer preferences and willingness-to-pay for different organic certification logos • 2. To analyse consumer attitudes towards a mandatory EU logo for organic food products

4. Methods Two-step procedure of qualitative and quantitative methods in seven countries (CH, CZ, DE, DK, IT, TR, UK) • Focus group discussions with 218 organic consumers • Purpose: Explore spectrum of consumer views • Choice experiments and interviews with 2,840 organic consumers • Purpose of choice experiments: Determine consumer preferences and willingness-to-pay • Purpose of structured interviews: Quantify consumer awareness, perception and trust regarding voluntary organic logos and attitudes towards mandatory EU logo

5. Methods Design of the choice experiments • Consumers asked to make buying decisions among 4 product alternatives with • different organic labels (4 labels per country) • different prices (country-specific absolute prices) • Real products used (organic apples and eggs) • Consumers had to pay for chosen products

6. Set-up of the choice experiments in Germany

7. Organic labels in the choice experiments

8. Mean willingness-to-pay (apples) * WTP in % of average market price 40% 0% 20% 60% 80% Reference point: Organic apples without a logo* Turkey: Organic apples with the governmental logo

9. Mean willingness-to-pay (eggs) * WTP in % of average market price 40% 0% 20% 60% 80% Reference point: Organic eggs without a logo* Turkey: Organic eggs with the governmental logo

10. Key results: Willingness-to-pay • Willingness-to-pay (WTP) for certain organic logos clearly higher than for organic products without a certification logo • Well-known logos perceived as trustworthy attracted the highest WTP • Great differences between different kinds of logos and countries • Old EU logo: WTP relatively low except in Italy • National governmental logos: highest WTP in Czech Republic and Denmark; in Germany similar WTP for Bio-Siegel and Demeter • Labels of private organisations: diverse picture across the countries

11. Key results: Consumer perceptions and trust Consumer perceptions of and trust in an organic logo influence the willingness-to-pay for that logo BUT • Consumers have low level of factual knowledge about organic standards/ control system/ regulation • Consumer perceptions mostly limited to “strict” versus “less strict” standards/ control systems • Consumer perceptions subjective, i.e.not necessarily based on facts

12. Key results: Attitudes towards mandatory EU logo CZ DE DK IT UK It is a good idea to have an EU-wide logo for certified organic products. It is a good idea to have the same minimum standards for organic products all over the EU. CZ DE DK IT UK Share of participants who agreed with the statement

13. Key results: Attitudes towards mandatory EU logo CZ DE DK IT UK I have great trust in the organic standards behind an EU-wide organic logo. CZ DE DK IT UK I have great trust in the inspection system behind an EU-wide organic logo. Share of participants who agreed with the statement

14. Key results: Attitudes towards mandatory EU logo • While EU-wide logo generally welcomed, different levels of consumer trust in mandatory EU logo across study countries, according to • Consumers’ familiarity with the old EU logo • Presence of dominant national governmental / private organic labels • Attitudes towards the EU in general Share of people who tend to trust the EU (Eurobarometer 73 Spring 2010) UK: 20%  lowest level of all EU countries EU Ø: 42% • EU generally not perceived as a homogenous entity • Lack of trust in organic products from selected EU countries

15. Further results:www.certcost.org

16. Factors influencing the WTP Comparison between frequent and occasional buyers of organic food: Label more preferred by… …frequent buyers (Denmark, Germany, Italy, Switzerland) …occasional buyers (Italy) …frequent buyers (Switzerland) …frequent buyers (United Kingdom)* …frequent buyers (Czech Republic) …occasional buyers (Germany)* …frequent buyers (Turkey) …frequent buyers (Turkey)* * observed only for one of the two tested products

17. Sample description quantitative study Gender composition (in %)

18. Sample description quantitative study Age composition (in %)

19. Sample description quantitative study Household size

20. Sample description quantitative study Level of education (in %)