February 2023
Applied Economics/2023-01pr
Who Values Organic Specialty Bakery Products? Tatiana Drugova, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Applied Economics Kynda Curtis, Professor and Extension Specialist, Department of Applied Economics
beliefs on consumer demand for organic specialty bakery products.
Introduction Organic wheat flour is usually more expensive than conventional wheat flour due to the higher organic wheat production costs (McBride et al., 2012). Using organic flour in specialty/artisan bakery products such as bread loaves, croissants, and large cookies, which are typically more expensive, could help absorb organic wheat flour costs. However, consumers have higher quality expectations for the specialty bakery products, and superior quality is necessary to justify the higher price point.
Identifying Consumers Prioritizing Organics Data were collected through a nationwide consumer survey conducted online in the fall of 2021 with 721 responses. We asked respondents whether an organic label was important to them when purchasing the examined specialty bakery products (bread loaf, croissant, and large cookie). Table 1 reports averages for the socio-demographic variables for the entire sample, as well as averages separately for those respondents who indicated that organic was important for at least one of the three products (N = 411) and those who indicated that organic was not important for any of the three products (N = 310).
In this fact sheet, we examine differences in sociodemographics and lifestyle choices between those who view organic as important when purchasing specialty bakery products and those who don’t, with the aim to identify a target market of consumers who prefer organic specialty bakery products. Additionally, we evaluate other important product attributes to consumers seeking organic specialty bakery products. We consider a variety of other labels and attributes, including taste, which is one of the most important food attributes in past studies (Sajdakowska et al., 2019; Drugova et al., 2020). Consumer taste ratings for organic and conventional specialty bakery products are compared for those who value organics and those who don’t to evaluate the impact of taste
Table 1 shows that there are significant differences between the two groups of respondents. On average, those who consider organic important are younger, more likely to be female, more likely to have children under 18 in the household, less educated, more likely to be employed, earn more, and less likely to be Caucasian compared to those who indicated that organic wasn’t important to them. Hence, these results show a distinct target market for organic specialty bakery products. 1