The Price of Organic Foods as a Limiting Factor of the European Green Deal: The Case of Tomatoes in Spain

Rodolfo Bernabéu, Margarita Brugarolas, Laura Martínez-Carrasco, Roberto Nieto-Villegas and Adrián Rabadán ()
Additional contact information
Rodolfo Bernabéu: Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Agronómica y de Montes y Biotecnología (ETSIAMB), Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Campus Universitario s/n, 02071 Albacete, Spain
Margarita Brugarolas: Escuela Politécnica Superior de Orihuela (EPSO), Universidad Miguel Hernández, Avenida de la Universidad de Elche s/n, 03202 Elche, Spain
Laura Martínez-Carrasco: Escuela Politécnica Superior de Orihuela (EPSO), Universidad Miguel Hernández, Avenida de la Universidad de Elche s/n, 03202 Elche, Spain
Roberto Nieto-Villegas: Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Agronómica y de Montes y Biotecnología (ETSIAMB), Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Campus Universitario s/n, 02071 Albacete, Spain
Adrián Rabadán: Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Agronómica y de Montes y Biotecnología (ETSIAMB), Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Campus Universitario s/n, 02071 Albacete, Spain

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 4, 1-15

Abstract: The consumption of organic food in the EU remains very low, mainly as a result of the higher price of such food compared to conventional products. To determine consumer preferences, 415 consumer surveys were conducted in Madrid (Spain), using tomatoes as the reference for analysis given their significant market recognition in terms of price, types, origin, and production systems. The data analysis was carried out using conjoint analysis and consumer segmentation techniques, maximum willingness to pay, and market share simulations using the maximum utility method. In addition, to better characterize the consumers, their attitudes towards the environment and their lifestyle indicators were defined. Consequently, 25.2% of consumers were found to be the most willing to pay a higher price to consume organic food. The simulation verified that price is the main problem as regards consuming organic food, with a preference for local markets being identified. In general, it is observed that these consumers have a more positive attitude towards the environment and healthier lifestyles. The implementation of the European Green Deal may have the impact of an additional increase in prices owing to higher production costs. To reduce this impact, it would be advisable to stimulate the economic activity of local markets.

Keywords: agri-food marketing; sustainability; Common Agricultural Policy (CAP); consumer behaviour; environment; organic food (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/4/3238/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/4/3238/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:4:p:3238-:d:1064174

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().