Trade-off: local vs. organic

Final report

Summary

Current studies reveal consumer preferences for local food and for organic products. However, until now there has no empirical data been collected in Germany concerning the decision for either local and conventional products or organic products from far away regions. This trade-off in consumer decision making forms the focus of this study.
To determine consumer preferences choosing between local conventional food, local organic food or organic food from far away regions, computer-assisted personal interviews including a choice experiment with 640 consumers is conducted in eight German regions. Thereby parameters influencing purchase decisions and purchase motives will be analysed. Moreover, potential differences with regard to different food products (vegetable/ animal) and residence of the respondents (urban vs. local) will be identified. The results of the interviews and subsequent conclusions will be discussed in a workshop with experts for practical implementation. Finally, proposals will be made on how to arrange assortments of food products in retail outlets.

Contact persons

  • Corinna Feldmann
  • Pia Gremmer

Head of project

Duration of project

September 2013 to May 2016

BLE-project "Trade-off in food purchase: conventional and local, organic and local or organic from far away regions?“

Research project supported by the Federal Organic Farming Scheme and other forms of sustainable agriculture (BÖLN)

www.bundesprogramm-oekolandbau.de