Prices of Organic Food—The Gap between Willingness to Pay and Price Premiums in the Organic Food Market in Poland

Joanna Smoluk-Sikorska, Magdalena Śmiglak-Krajewska, Stanislav Rojík () and Pavlína Rojík Fulnečková
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Joanna Smoluk-Sikorska: Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics, Poznań University of Life Sciences, 60-637 Poznań, Poland
Magdalena Śmiglak-Krajewska: Department of Finance and Accounting, Faculty of Economics, Poznań University of Life Sciences, 60-637 Poznań, Poland
Stanislav Rojík: Department of Marketing and Management, Faculty of Economics and Management, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamycka 129, 16500 Prague, Czech Republic
Pavlína Rojík Fulnečková: Department of Tourism, College of Polytechnics Jihlava, Tolstého 16, 58601 Jihlava, Czech Republic

Agriculture, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-19

Abstract: High prices of organic food are the main obstacle to the growth of the demand for organic food. This study’s main objective was to quantify the size of the gap between consumers’ willingness to pay more for organic food and the actual price premiums for organic food in Poland. Therefore, a two-step research study was undertaken. In order to identify barriers to the growth of organic food consumption and the perception of organic food prices, a survey based on an online questionnaire of 516 respondents was conducted. To determine price premiums of organic food, prices of organic and conventional food were quoted in 45 retail outlets offering organic and conventional food located in the Poznań agglomeration between October 2022 and June 2023. This research demonstrated a low acceptance of the high prices of organic food among consumers (only 14% of the investigated consumers were willing to pay more than 40% for organic food). On the other hand, the price premiums ranged between 35% and over 270%. To reduce the divergence, the measures supporting organic market development should be intensified with the simultaneous further involvement of supermarket chains. Along with these activities, the promotion of organic food ought to be carried out, considering that, as this research shows, men have fewer positive perceptions of organic food and, therefore, they should be targeted in the promotion measures.

Keywords: organic food; prices; perception; barriers; willingness to pay; price premiums (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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