Organic food consumers and producers: Understanding their profiles, perceptions, and practices

Abstract

The organic food market has been expanding across the globe as well as in Brazil. Therefore, since we considered the collection of information about the organic food market to be relevant, we decided to characterize the organic food market in the metropolitan region of Vitória, Espírito Santo. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to analyze the profile and perceptions of organic producers/traders regarding the production of organic foods, investigate the profile and perceptions of organic food consumers, and identify the factors that influence their consumption. A cross-sectional, descriptive, and exploratory survey was conducted in 2019 with 50 producers/traders and 281 organic food consumers utilizing semistructured questionnaires. A descriptive statistical analysis was performed using percentage values, media, and evaluation of proportion differences. Fisher's exact test was used to analyze differences in proportions. The producers/traders were 76.0 % male, 82.0 % white, 70.0 % married, and 60.0 % attended elementary school. The commercial production of organic foods is mainly motivated by health and financial issues. A lack of labor (52.0 %) and an absence of government/credit support (40.0 %) were the greatest obstacles related to organic food production. The consumers were mostly female (75.1 %), white people (53.4 %), married people (44.5 %), and people with at least one degree (76.5 %). While the consumption of mainly organic fruits and vegetables was motivated by aspects related to health, factors such as poor access to sales points (27.8 %) and price (26.7 %) also limited the increase in consumption. Both consumers and producers/traders related to the consumption and production of organic food with health concerns revealed the important role of these foods in promoting the population's quality of life. However, for this growing market, there is a need for an integration between political authorities, producers, and consumers.