Family Values: Study Finds the Majority of Parents
Still Buy Organic Despite Challenging Economy

By Jennifer Rose


Although they are tightening their spending habits amid economic uncertainty, U.S. families are not giving up their purchases of organic products. In fact, nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of U.S. families buy organic products at least occasionally, chiefly for health reasons, according to a new study unveiled by OTA at the All Things Organic Show in Chicago this past summer.

Findings from the 2009 U.S. Families’ Organic Attitudes and Beliefs Study, jointly sponsored by OTA and KIWI Magazine, also show that three in 10 U.S. families (31 percent) are actually buying more organic foods than they were a year ago, with many parents preferring to reduce their spending in other areas before targeting organic product cuts. In fact, 17 percent of U.S. families said their largest increases in spending in the past year were for organic products.

“These findings reinforce the data collected in OTA’s 2009 Organic Industry Survey that showed continued healthy growth in U.S. sales of organic products,” said Christine Bushway, OTA’s executive director.

Indeed, organic is still growing, but who is the “organic consumer,” and what is driving consumers to buy organic even during these challenging times?

Profiling Organic Consumers
The OTA/KIWI Magazine survey polled over 1,000 shoppers and divided participants into four consumer groups. “Newly organic families,” those who have just begun purchasing organic products within the past two years, represented 32 percent of the households polled. “Experienced organic families,” who first bought organic products within the past two to five years, made up 20 percent of respondents. “Seasoned organic families,” who have been buying organic products for more than five years and in some cases, longer than 15 years, represented 21 percent of respondents.

“Organic influencers”—parents who are extremely well informed about organic and likely influence the thoughts and actions of their friends and family—represent 14 percent of U.S. parents. “Organic influencers make a great deal of effort to lead the way toward environmental and social responsibility among their friends and to instill these values in their children,” said Laura Batcha, OTA’s director of marketing and public relations, noting that these include both seasoned and newly organic parents.

Batcha added that 55 percent of parents who buy organic products do so because they believe them to be healthier for themselves or for their children. Also, 83 percent of survey participants reported that they buy organic foods for everyone in the household, and not just for their children. The longer parents purchase organic products, the more categories they choose.

The findings showed that parents who have never purchased organic products are least likely to see food as a component of any health maintenance activities and are far less likely to integrate any health-related activities into their and their family’s daily lives.

The study also found that more than 40 percent of parents surveyed identified fruits and vegetables as the product category in which they began their organic consumption, while 77 percent indicated that organic fruits and vegetables were either the first, second, or third category of organic products with which they experimented. Dairy also emerged as a key entry point for parents new to organic. Twenty-eight percent began their organic experience here, and over half (53 percent) identified dairy as either the first, second or third category they tried. That said, the study revealed that there was no consistent path of organic trial and usage across all categories. Instead, the majority of parents started with fruits, vegetables and dairy and expanded their range of organic purchases in a variety of ways.

Organic Consumer Shopping Preferences
In addition, the study revealed several interesting insights into families’ attitudes toward in-store organic displays. There was a near-even split between those who preferred shopping for organic in a separate section of the grocery store and those who preferred to shop for organic among other products on store shelves. The majority (60 percent) of those preferring to buy organic products as part of a separate section did so because they did not want to search for organic products among other products, while the majority (63 percent) of those preferring an integrated display did so because they buy both organic and non-organic products.

Of those preferring to shop for organic in a separate section, 42 percent reported that they did so because it allows them to easily compare ingredients and/or nutrition facts labels among organic brands without being distracted by non-organic brands, while 39 percent did so because it allowed them to compare prices without distraction from non-organic brands. Parents preferring an integrated display model offered a similar rationale, with 48 percent reporting that the integrated model allowed them to easily compare the price and ingredients of organic products with their non-organic counterparts.


Several other noteworthy trends emerged from the study. Organic buyers were significantly more likely than non-organic buyers to make environmentally and socially responsible activities, such as recycling and reducing energy use, a part of their daily lives. Organic buyers were also more likely than non-buyers to participate in weight-loss activities, reduce/eliminate potentially harmful products from their diets, get adequate sleep, exercise, spend time outdoors, eat fresh fruits and vegetables, make non-toxic choices for household products and create personal time to maintain or improve their overall health.

Consumer Understanding of “Organic”
Another interesting finding was that the majority of parents (65 percent) considered themselves to be at least “somewhat familiar” with the USDA organic seal, but less than three in 10 (27 percent) identified themselves as “very familiar” with the label. Not surprisingly, awareness of the organic label was found to be higher among organic buyers (79 percent of whom declared themselves at least “somewhat familiar” with the organic label) than non-organic buyers. Similarly, the level of awareness increased with experience in the organic market. Only 26 percent of newly organic purchasers reported being “very familiar” with the organic label, whereas up to 71 percent of organic influencers reported that level of familiarity.

The need for additional consumer education about organic was reinforced by findings about parents’ lack of knowledge about organic food requirements. While at least four in 10 survey participants identified organic as meaning all-natural and containing no artificial ingredients, preservatives, flavors or colors, only 3 percent of parents identified organic as meaning “certified/adheres to government standards.” Similarly, 3 percent of survey respondents stated that organic meant no antibiotics and 4 percent stated that it meant no fertilizers/ chemical fertilizers. An additional 13 percent of parents reported that organic simply means “healthier,” further demonstrating consumers’ lack of knowledge about the true definition of organic.

Lastly, while half of the parents who choose not to purchase organic products most often claim that price holds them back, these parents are also likely to cite a lack of knowledge or desire to learn about organic as the primary reason why they have not entered the market. All together, these findings suggest that continued efforts are needed to raise consumer awareness of and attention to the USDA seal,?particularly among new organic purchasers and those who are not purchasing organic yet.

How Are Consumers Learning About Organic?
When it came to parents’ sources of organic information, survey respondents offered a variety of different responses. Nearly half (47 percent) reported that they relied on the internet to learn about organic. Forty percent reported that they learned about organic in grocery stores; 33 percent turned to magazines for this purpose, while 29 percent and 22 percent highlighted friends and family, respectively, as important sources of information about organic products. Of those turning to family and friends for information, newly organic buyers were significantly more likely than more experienced organic buyers to rely on family members.

By comparison, 15 percent of survey respondents gathered information about organic via health practitioners, 13 percent via blogs, 11 percent via — mothers’ or parents’ groups/websites, and 9 percent via social network websites. Interestingly, young parents (18-24) were most likely to turn to health care practitioners for information and guidance about organic, perhaps reflecting the important role that pediatricians can play in the lives of first-time parents.

Survey respondents also indicated that they referenced manufacturers’ web sites, newspapers, e-mail newsletters, and their children’s schools when seeking out information about organic, further illustrating the diversity of channels through which people learn about organic.

The final written report, which includes these and many other findings, is available for purchase from OTA via its online bookstore (www.ota.com/bookstore/2.html) or by contacting OTA.

Jennifer Rose is the new media manager and staff writer for OTA. Working closely with other members of OTA’s Integrated Marketing and Communications team, Jennifer manages OTA’s online public relations efforts using a variety of Web 2.0 tools including Twitter, Facebook, Wikipedia and blogs. She also contributes to OTA’s public relations and marketing efforts offline by writing articles for several publications. Jennifer can be reached at jrose@ota.com.