Dedicated Organic Shoppers in the Minority, Survey Reveals
A new survey of grocery shoppers found that close to half of respondents have not purchased organic products this year, or if they did, they were not aware of it.
Commissioned by the Agriculture Ministry, the survey revealed that 82 percent of shoppers can tell organic products apart, and 60 percent of that contingent had bought organic products during the year, 7 percent were not sure and 33 percent had not.
One of the survey organizers, Elen Peetsmann, said respondents formed distinct groups.
"The first group knows quite a lot about the topic and are interested in it. The second group are the ones whose knowledge is so-so and the third group do not know anything about the topic," she said.
Often consumers confuse organic products with Estonian produce.
"They say that "made in Estonia" is nearly organic, but organic production takes place according to certain rules, both production and processing are controlled. There is in fact a difference."
Agriculture Minister Helir-Valdor Seeder said he was not satisfied with the findings.
"There is certainly room to grow," he said. "We can't be satisfied with the amount of organic food consumed and how little is known about it. It is still an exceedingly small percentage of organic food which reaches the end consumer, so we're far from the point where we could be satisfied."
Seeder said the most pressing problem is getting organic produce to reach the consumer.
"The goal of the state is and should be that the maximum amount of organic produce produced today should reach the consumer. We have a big job to do in this department as well under 10 percent of grain and meat reaches end consumers. The percentage is slightly higher in terms of dairy products - around 20 percent," he said.
This means that at least some produce is allowed to go completely to waste, as organic production subsidies to growers tend to be generous and currently do not depend on whether the produce reaches the market or not.
The organic products most frequently bought by Estonians are vegetables, dairy products, grain products, fruits, berries and jams and juices. High price and the perception that organic is not essential are the primary factors keeping more from being purchased, the survey found.
Kristopher Rikken