In order to understand how the variety and the prices of products differ in markets that sell “bio” goods, we have made a trip to Färm in Leuven, to provide a basis for the analysis of how consumers' choices might be influenced by bio and organic labels and symbolically determine accessibility. Coupled with the findings from the interviews that we conducted with Belgian and international students alike, this provided us with an insight into how the labeling of a product as “bio” might inform consumers’ choices relating to their shopping habits.
Apart from the Nutri-Score scale, another indicator that can inform consumers about how healthy a product is is the “bio” or “organic” labels that can be found on the packaging of products. As one of our Belgian interviewees studying in Leuven remarked, the regulations that have to be followed in order for a product to earn the “bio/organic” label do not automatically imply that a product is healthier, as they are mostly legal regulations that have been imposed by the European Commission.
“The organic logo can only be used on products that have been certified as organic by an authorised control agency or body. This means that they have fulfilled strict conditions on how they must be produced, processed, transported and stored. The logo can only be used on products when they contain at least 95% organic ingredients and additionally respect further strict conditions for the remaining 5%. The same ingredient cannot be present in organic and non organic form.” [1]
As our interviewee stated: “The difference in price is not worth the difference in label and it doesn’t mean that the product is much healthier”. Especially in the case of students with limited financial means, the inclination to buy the cheaper product instead of the healthier option is more prevalent. An assumption shared by all is that the healthier the product is, the more expensive it is. The degree of the healthiness of a product is symbolized at face value in the packaging of the product, which might deter the consumer from even picking it up from the shelf if they are in a financially unfavorable situation.
In the same manner, seeing that a market only sells bio/organic products might discourage some consumers from even entering the store, as they assume that they might not be able to find any product that does not exceed their budget for grocery shopping. However, in our observation, we found that even though the market and the packaging of the products seem intimidating, in some cases some products are cheaper than the ones that can be found in more expensive markets such as Carrefour and Delhaize. It is mostly the fresh products that are more expensive than in regular markets, with packaged products being more expensive than in discount markets but cheaper than the ones we mentioned.
All in all, our conclusion is that the “bio/organic” label remains for most as a symbolic indicator of the healthiness of a product, and the attention given to the price outweighs that given to indicators of health. A consumer who is doing grocery shopping on a strict budget will not choose to go to a “bio/organic” market.
[1] https://ec.europa.eu/info/food-farming-fisheries/farming/organic-farming/organic-logo_en
