• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.25-39
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• 2002

This paper aims to provide quite recent information on the organic industry in the U.S. Major focuses are on the development of cultivation and marketing of fresh and processed organic produce and foods, newly enforced certification program, consumers' purchasing behaviors toward organic foods, and social survey results administered to the organic farmers in the U.S. The U.S. recorded 8 billion dollars' sale of organic foods in 2000, which was the largest in the world and showed 23% growth compared to the previous year. Yet the organic industry is still a niche market, occupying merely 1.5% of total food sale amount. The natural foods markets have not been so concentrated in the U.S., but it is changing and a few wholesale mart such as Whole Foods is emerging. Recent introduction of new certification program provide unified and sole standard at the federal level to which every certifier needs to adjust itself in order to be acceredited by the government. According to a social survey, consumers purchase organic foods because they concern about health, they stick to their own modes of life favoring natural foods, and so on. Another social survey shows that most organic farmers sell their produces to wholesalers, distributers, or producer coop, and direct sale to visitors at their own farm comprises of about 8 percent of their organic land.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.177-197
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• 2010

Japan launched its regulatory certification system for organic foods based on the amended JAS laws in June 2000, followed by the implementation of regulations on organic agricultural products and organic processed foods in January 2001 and with the implementation of the standards on organic animal husbandry and organic feed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries in 2005, organic foods have been under integrated and systematic supervision. Certification of organic foods can be undertaken by registered accredited bodies (private certification bodies) or legal entities conforming to the regulations of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries. However, with the amendment of the JAS laws in March 2006, only legal entities conforming to the regulations of the ISO/IEC GUIDE 65 are eligible as certification bodies. Foreign organic products imported to Japan must be certified organic under JAS regulations and must be manufactured or produced by foreign manufacturers certified by local or foreign registered accredited organizations and distributed with the Organic JAS Mark affixed or through importers certified by local registered accredited organizations and distributed with the Organic JAS Mark affixed on the products. It can be implied from the Japanese case study that it necessary to reform the diverse agricultural products certification systems to set up an integrated certification system, and the restructuring of government organizations, reforms of environmentally-friendly agricultural products certification system and the integration of the organic food certification systems are needed in order to integrate the control of the standards and certification systems.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.286-294
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• 2009

This study investigated the correlations of five constructs - health concerns, healthy eating practices and attitudes, food choice motives, attitudes toward organic foods - in the formation of behavioral to the purchasing intentions of organic foods. An instrument encompassing health perception, attitudes, habits and personal traits was developed through the comprehensive reviews of the literature and the assured validity and internal reliability of the contents. The questionnaire was administered to the students of three universities at Daegu, Kyungpook province. A total of 288 questionnaires were collected for a response rate of 96.0%. The correlations of five constructs and purchasing intention were tested simultaneously using structural equation modeling. Healthy eating practices and attitudes toward organic foods were found to be the determinants which directly influence the intention to purchase organic foods. Health concerns didn't show direct relation to the purchasing intention of organic foods. The hypothesized path from the health concerns to the purchasing intentions was not supported. The results indicated that food choice motives and healthy eating attitudes should be managed to achieve higher behavioral intention to purchase organic foods.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.502-511
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• 1997

This study was to Investigate the consumer's understanding and purchasing foods, which were produced by organic agricultured method. The results of this study were as follows: 1. When shopping foods, the items which were deeply considered were taste of family and food safety. 2 Contaminants which were considered to be dangerous were, in decreasing order, agricultural chemical residue, food additives, environmental contaminant, and microbial hazard. Consumer's perception to agricultural chemical residue In foods was 'be much serious' and over 4.0 by Likert 5 scale. 3. Among of characteristics which was associated with organic farmming foods, taste and nutrition were considered the least important characteristic, whereas safety and good health were considered the most important characteristic. 4. The foods which were thought to be polluted by agricultural chemical residue were, in decreasing order fruit, vegetable, cereal, egg, meat, milk, and fish & shellfish. 5. The respondants' purchasing degree for organic farmming foods was 'often purchase' and 3.44 by Likert 5 scale. These result showed significant difference for age(p＜0.05), for education level (p＜0.05), for income(p＜0.05) and for food expenditure(p＜0.05), respectively 6. The type of organic farmming food which frequently purchased were, in decreasing order, vegetable. fruit, egg, cereal, milk, and meat. The reasons why consumer purchased organic farmming food were, in decreasing order, no pesticide/therbicides, no artifical fertilizer, no growth regulators, residue free, and good quality. 7. 78% of respondants Indicated that they bought organic farmming food in this year increasely or same as last year and 91.9% of respondants Indicated that they plan to buy organic farmming foods in next year.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.517-526
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• 2022

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The increased consumers' interests in health and food safety have increased the demand for organic foods. Many studies have been performed on consumers' purchase intentions for organic foods and their influencing factors, and various studies have shown that the prices of organic foods and the consumers' willingness to pay are important influencing factors. This study examined the payment value of organic foods and agrifood consumer competency index according to the food-related lifestyles in South Korean consumers. SUBJECTS/METHODS: A cross-sectional analysis was performed using the 2019 Consumer Behavior Survey for Food. A total of 6,176 participants aged 19 to 74 years (male: 2,783, female: 3,393) were included in the analysis. RESULTS: Three factors were extracted by factor analysis (rational consumption-seeking type, convenience-seeking type, and health, and safety-seeking type) to explain the consumers' food-related lifestyles. The results of cluster analysis suggested that consumers were classified into 3 food-related lifestyles as the 'exploratory consumers' (n = 2,485), 'safety-seeking consumers' (n = 1,544), and 'passive consumers' (n = 2,147). Exploratory consumers showed a significantly higher willingness to pay for imported organic foods (P < 0.05). Safety-seeking consumers had a significantly higher willingness to pay for domestic organic foods (P < 0.05). For the agrifood consumer competency index, exploratory consumers had the highest score, followed in order by safety-seeking consumers and passive consumers. CONCLUSIONS: These results provide basic data in understanding consumption tendency for organic foods and agrifoods based on food-related lifestyles of South Korean consumers.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.47-54
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• 2011

This paper presents exploratory research on consumer awareness and attitudesabout organic food, for which consumer demand continues to increase the paper also assesses consumers' organic food distribution channel preferences. By conducting a literature review, a case study has been carried out in order to glean customer behavior, market condition and typesof distribution channels, and development of specialty stores for organic foods. The early research indicates that consumer awareness and customer attitudes toward organic food are mostly positive however, organic food's high price, as well as a lack of organic food stores, cause a negative effect on consumers' purchase intention. Secondly, the U.S. organic food retail channel consists of such mainstream supermarket/grocery stores and leading natural and organic food supermarket chains as Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, and Sunflower Farmers Market. For the current retail distribution of organic food in Korea, off-line stores are composed of direct management stores and franchise chains. Most of the organic food retail distribution operates through the Internet shopping mall, and are commonly located at retail distribution centers as multi-channel, shop-in-shop stores. Moreover, unlike in the U.S., association and consumers' cooperatives (Co-Ops), and such other member-direct retail stores as Hansallim, iCOOP, Nature Dream,and online shopping malls, are all active in Korea. Thirdly, as a result of an analysis of the present state of the organic food retail channel, as well as building a case for organic food specialty stores, the distinctive featuresand rapid growth of such unique organic food stores as Whole Foods Market, or Trader Joe's successful downsizing strategies, as well as Sunflower Farmers Market low-price approach, show steady industry growth. Moreover, as a result of a case studyof such domestic representative organic food specialty stores as "Olga" and "Chorokmaeul," a similar management style to the United States' "Whole Foods Market" and "Trader Joe's," respectively, can be seen. Similar to the U.S. market, Korean organic food markets should also implement active retail distribution opportunities, allowing consumers to select from various diverse and differentiated choices. In order to accomplish this goal, it is necessary to prepare such measures as sustaining reasonable prices, securing various suppliers for unique products,and improving consumer trust through advertisement strategies that are suitable for each company's branding processes.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.488-502
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• 2014

Research on the actual state of healthy Korean food menu items made from environmentally-friendly organic foods showed that 65.6% of subjects had experience of purchasing environmentally-friendly organic foods, and both genders chose 'expensive but reliable' as their prime reason for purchasing. Having no experience of purchasing environmentally-friendly foods constituted 34.5% of respondents, and the reasons were 'high price' and 'finding no difference from ordinary food'. Research on awareness of healthy Korean food menu items made from environmentally-friendly organic ingredients showed that both men and women thought the given menu items were 'fresh' but had little awareness of other factors such as 'good value for price', 'good visual style' and 'various recipes'. Regarding development prospective of environmentally-friendly organic foods, the number of subjects who answered positively was 405 (93%), which indicates that most research subjects showed positive attitudes. Top-selling menu items in the grain section were Sundubu-jjigae, Dubu-kimchi and Jeonju-bibimbap, and pajeon took first place in the vegetable selection. Moreover, Imjasu-tang showed high scores in the meat section. Furthermore, research on menu selection showed that menu selection was usually dependent on 'the price of menu (3.86)', 'fresh ingredients (4.03)', 'harmony of color (3.65)' and 'mood of the day (3.25)'. Research on menu selection revealed that 'quality of food' factors had the greatest influence upon preference and purchase intention for environmentally-friendly organic foods. Visual and psychological factors and values had significant an effect. Therefore, the food service industry should use this study as a source to develop menu items, by considering quality and visual factors. In addition, there should be various research performed on marketing strategies about menus from using environmentally-friendly organic foods and high value products.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.135-151
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• 2004

U.S. organic farming has grown rapidly-20 percent or more annually-throughout the 1990s, which kept pace with consumer demand for organically produced food. Thus certified organic acreage is the total to 235 million acres in 48 state in 2001, and SO the U.S. ranked fourth in land area managed under organic farming systems. And according to several surveys, consumer's reasons for purchasing organic food are health and nutrition, taste and environmental concerns. California and North Dakota were the top two states in 2001 for certified organic cropland; the former with mostly fruits and vegetables, and the latter with wheat, soybeans, and other crops. And the top two states for certified organic pasture were Colorado and Texas. And then several states such as Iowa and Minnesota have begun subsidizing conversion to organic farming systems as a way to capture the environmental benefits of these systems. The price of organic produce fluctuates rather broadly because of being traded by market economy principle and of demand-supply disequilibrium. Nevertheless, average price premiums for organic produce are higher than the prices for the produce under conventional farming. Future prospects for U.S. organic farming are as follows; Demand for organically grown foods is expected to continue growing at a rapid pace, as more growers convert to organic production and more processors and distributors expand organic selections in their product lines. And new processed products and new types of healthy foods are likely to appear on the market, and some new organic products will be aimed at mainstream markets.

• The Korean Journal of Food & Health Convergence
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.1-10
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• 2022

The term "Organic Food" is no longer strange to consumers around the world. Many people are concerned about their safety and health, so they have chosen this safe food. However, the decision to buy this product still faces some difficulties and challenges, such as the high price of organic products, short-time use, supply of products and so on. This study conducted an analysis to investigate the determinants of Danang City consumers' intention to purchase organic foods in Vietnam. The results show that, there are 6 influencing factors, including: subjective norm, food safety & health consciousness, consumer knowledge & environment consciousness, price of the product, availability product and trust in brands and certifications. The study uses a combination of 2 qualitative and quantitative methods. Qualitative methods are used through analysis, evaluation and synthesis of previous studies to build research models and scales for variables. Quantitative method with 250 samples applied SPSS 25.0 to test the scale by Cronbach's Alpha coefficients, to analyze the discovery factor EFA and regression analysis. The findings of the study provide useful information for consumers to buy organic foods and for marketers to increase sale of organic foods in Vietnam in general and Danang city in particular.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.19-31
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• 2018

In general, an increase in consumer income increases interest in safe foods and increases consumption of environmental friendly foods. Meanwhile, even in Malawi, interest in safe food and environmentally friendly food has been increasing due to increase in per capita income, but research related to this has not been done yet. The purpose of this study is to estimate the value of environmentally friendly foods in Malawi consumers. For this purpose, we surveyed the consumption patterns and estimated the value of organic chicken for consumers visiting supermarkets. As a value estimation technique, Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) was used. Probit model analysis showed that price, expenditure on regular chicken, and knowledge of organic food affect the willingness to pay for organic chicken. CVM analysis shows that Malawi supermarket consumers are willing to pay MK2,514 (3.59) dollars per kilo of organic chicken, which is 25.7% higher than the average price of a regular chicken. Thus, Malawi supermarket consumers can deduce that they have a higher value for environmentally friendly food than regular food. These findings can be used in formulating policies on food safety by government officials, organic chicken meat marketing strategies by supermarket mangers, decision making to enhance organic food production by producers, in order to develop organic food industry.