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Prices of Organic Food—The Gap between Willingness to Pay and Price Premiums in the Organic Food Market in Poland
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.
Price relations of organic and conventional fruit and vegetables
The paper’s objective is to identify the level of organic fruit and vegetables prices compared to their conventional substitutes’ prices and determine the price premiums for organic products. In order to achieve this goal, prices of both types of food were quoted for 9 months (between October 2022 and June 2023) in various types of commercial outlets offering organic and conventional food located in the Poznań agglomeration. Each week, 60 price registers were created – 30 for organic food and 30 for conventional food. It allowed to calculate the average monthly prices of the investigated products and, based on that, the average price premiums for selected fruits and vegetables. The conducted study proved that generally, the prices of the investigated fruit and vegetables were relatively high and fluctuated similarly, in line with their seasonality and storage properties. The highest price premiums (over 100%) were noted for red beetroots, tomatoes, apples, and potatoes. The price premiums lower than 100% were observed for carrots, onions, bananas, and cucumbers. A decrease in price premiums compared to the former study has been observed, however the price premiums in the Polish market are still relatively high considering more mature organic food markets. This proves that there is a need for further research to improve the market infrastructure efficiency, which would lower the price of organic food.