Consumers recognize the USDA Organic seal more than any other certification in the marketplace, finds a new survey released by the Organic Trade Association (OTA).
Compared to a dozen claims and certifications that can be found on various products in today's grocery aisles, almost 90 percent of consumers are familiar with organic claims. That deep familiarity with organic carries over into a solid public trust. The USDA Organic seal is trusted by 70 percent of consumers – the most trusted of any agricultural label and the second-most trusted food label existing, second only to the American Heart Association's iconic checkmark.
"The results of our survey were incredibly encouraging," said Tom Chapman, co-CEO of OTA. "As organic has become more accessible to consumers, the benefits of organic have become more widely known, boosting the trust in the organic seal. That's why our advocacy efforts to honor that trust and to ensure that organic standards keep evolving and strengthening are so critical."
OTA partnered with Euromonitor International in a survey conducted in December of 2023 of around 1,200 consumers across the country to evaluate what today's consumers understand about organic, as well as their willingness to pay for USDA Organic products and the individual attributes supported by organic certification.
A look at how organic stacked up against various claims and certifications was also done. The other food and beverage claims included in the survey were natural, local, grass-fed, raised without antibiotics, vegan, pesticide-free, free-range, hormone-free, humanely raised, allergen-free, fair trade, and regenerative.
Consumers place a high value in organic
Organic products often command a price premium over non-organic. That's due to a variety of factors, including generally higher production costs for organic agriculture, including certification fees, higher processing costs, and limited federal support for organic agriculture and food production.
Today's price-conscious shopper considers organic to be the food claim that most justify a higher price. When asked in the survey about the value of various claims, organic was ranked the most valuable, with nearly 60 percent of consumers saying that the organic claim warrants higher prices.
The OTA survey found that the more consumers know about organic, the more willing they are to pay the higher costs. Consumers who are unaware of organic's benefits often think that organic does not justify its higher prices; that changes dramatically when that consumer learns about some of the attributes of organic such as exclusions of GMOS, growth hormones, antibiotics and most pesticides. The justification to pay more for organic jumps by some 16 percentage points once the formerly unaware consumer is more knowledgeable about organic.
For more information:
Organic Trade Association
444 N. Capitol St. NW - Suite 445A
Washington D.C. 20001
Tel.: 202-643-4965
www.ota.com