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Nowadays the organic food is more and more preferred part of our consumption. The reasons of this situation are better knowledge of these products and easier ways how to buy them. Specialized organic food salesrooms become very important place of organic food sale, place of experience transfer and new information learning.The main aim of this thesis has been the organic food sales analysis in specialized organic food salesrooms, especially organic food sales strategy, assortment of goods, sales conditions and sales culture in reference to last two years. The results of the analysis are the detection of strengths and weaknesses of organic food sale and demand comparison of regional production offer in specialized organic food salesrooms.

The goal of this masters thesis is focused on segmentation of the organic food market in the Czech Republic based on analysis of similarities or differences among consumers in Czech organic food market and also find out who is a typical organic food consumer. The thesis is divided into three parts, the theoretical, the methodological and the practical part. Process of the market segmentation, methods and approaches of the segmentation, the basic concepts and legislation on the matter are described in the theoretical part. Furthermore, mapping the situation of the contemporary state of the Czech organic food market. Marketing research is introduced in methodological part of the thesis. The practical part includes market segmentation by using secondary data MML - TGI (with Data Analyzer software) and primary data from quantitative research (with SPSS software). Variables were reduced to the four factors by using factor analysis. Then consumers were put into five clusters based on cluster analysis. Segments were characterized in detail using a general analysis, contingency tables, MCART analysis and multivariate statistical methods. Finally, there were elaborated appropriate marketing recommendations for the individual segments to effective marketing communication with them.

The purpose of this study is to observe the differences between how companies work with functional and organic food, in terms of marketing as well as target groups and their uncertainties concerning the products. We also intend to investigate whether the products create added value for the consumer. We do this because we belive there are informational gaps where the businesses understanding of these phenomena are not taken into account in earlier research. To answer the purpose we used a qualitative approach consisting of interviews with food companies in Sweden as well as an analysis of food company websites. The theories explain the companies target groups, the target groups perception of the value of the products and what price they would be willing to accept. The theories include how people accept a product differently and at different times and that uncertainties regarding the products can prevent people from buying them. The results show that there are clear differences in the marketing of functional and organic food. However, there are similarities in how the different companies market their functional food and how they market their organic food. The target groups for the different product categories are also very similar between the different companies. Both functional- and organic foods provide added value for the consumer and they are therefore willing to pay more for these products than for their traditional counterparts. One of the most significant contributions that the study provides, is that it clarifies how marketing is affected by consumer uncertainty.

Master of Science / Department of Agricultural Economics / Hikaru H. Peterson / Alexander E. Saak / Notable changes are occurring in the U.S. organic food sector. First, the U.S. organic food system is increasingly relying on imports, because the expansion in the organic production has failed to satisfactorily meet the rapidly growing demand for organic foods. Second, the “locally grown” concept has become appealing to consumers, with some evidence of consumers switching from certified organic foods to local, conventional foods. Third, organic food has penetrated the mass-market channel, and organic foods are no longer being sold exclusively in natural product stores. And fourth, the social and environmental awareness among consumers is increasing. Thus, consumers are also willing to pay a price premium to support small farmers. To understand how these changes are affecting the demand for organic foods, this study used survey data to assess U.S. consumers‟ preferences for fresh organic apples that are sourced from various places and from supply chain operations that vary in scale. The survey was administered via the Internet to a random sample of 285 households across the U.S through a research company. Choice experiment was selected as the valuation method. Results indicate that among the levels of the location attributes, the “locally grown” label was associated with the highest average WTP. The “regionally grown” was the second most preferred, “U.S. grown” the third, and “imported” the least. The “locally grown” label was valued higher than the “certified organic label”. Also, consumers were willing to pay a higher value for apples produced on a small farm compared to those from a large farm. However, they did not distinguish the type of retail outlets where apples were offered. The analysis incorporating the effects of consumer characteristics suggest that the perceived importance of public benefits impacted the values of origin attributes more than the private ones; the type of retail outlet attributes became significant among certain gender and age segments; and the value of small farm attribute increased with consumers‟ income. Finally, results from a theoretical model suggest that the variability in the WTP obtained among the origin attributes could be explained by the reputation of product quality depending on their origin.

Abstract Background: Consumer interest and demand for healthy and ecologically produced local food has led to a high market demand that local production cannot meet. Product attributes of perishability and short life cycles ensure that even local supply chains are challenging to manage. This increases potential for risks occurrence in an Organic Food Supply Chain (OFSC) especially with unreliable supply of products. Small and established food retailers import organic food products from across the world. Custom delays, high transport charges, commodity costs and regulatory requirements are associated with food imports. This renders OFSCs complex and vulnerable to disruptions or breakdowns that require appropriate strategies to identify and mitigate risks. Purpose: To gain an overall insight of risks mitigation in OFSCs. The purpose of this thesis is to assess risks affecting suppliers and retailers of organic food and propose risk mitigation strategies to prevent or minimise supply chain breakdowns. Method: This qualitative study utilizes a case study strategy involving seven case firms and seven research respondents. Data is collected through semi-structured interviews and documentary secondary data. The analysis of the empirical findings is conducted by cross analysing empirical findings of respective case firms and then emerging patterns are formulated into a general framework. Conclusions: Low conversion rates of farms for organic production, high costs of investments and regulatory requirements have contributed to prevailing production risks that partly cause low organic output. Other risks identified that could disrupt the food chain under study include sourcing, warehousing, demand, price, financial and institutional risks. Mitigation strategies proposed include production procedures, CAP, supply chain flexibility, supply chain visibility, certification, diversification of retail channels, brand image building, horizontal & vertical cooperation and buyer-supplier relations.

This dissertation examines organic food marketing from three aspects: household demand for organic food, household choice of retail formats accounting for preference organic food preference, and farmers’ joint adoption of organic farming and direct marketing methods. In Chapter Two, given the fast growth of private label milk and organic milk in the U.S., we estimate a censored demand system to study the demand relations among types of milk differentiated by brand types and organic status, using recent Nielsen Homescan data. We find that sociodemographic factors still play important roles in a household choice of milk types, and fluid milk is an inferior good. Moreover, as income increases, households are more likely to shift from buying conventional milk to organic milk and from private label conventional milk to branded conventional milk, as indicated by the asymmetric cross price elasticities. In Chapter Three, we examine whether households’ preference for organic food can affect their retail format choices for their grocery shopping trips. We model households’ choices of five major retail format with a conditional logit model, also using the Nielsen Homescan data. Our main findings are that regular organic user households are more likely to patronage organic specialty stores and discount stores, but less likely to shop in warehouse clubs. Price, consumer loyalty, and household shopping behavior also affects household retail format choice. In Chapter Four, we examine the relation between farmers’ adoption of organic farming and direct marketing, given their similar objectives in satisfying consumer demand and increasing farm income. We model farmers’ adoption of the two practices with a bivariate simultaneous linear probability model using data from USDA Agricultural Resource Management Survey. Our main finding is that the farmers’ adoption of organic farming decreases their probability of adopting direct marketing, whereas the reverse effect is insignificant. Also, organic farming is found to improve gross farm income.

The theoretical part of this diploma thesis deals with the history of organic agriculture, organic agriculture in the world, in Europe and in the Czech Republic. In terms of the Czech Republic, it focuses on the development and the current state of organic agriculture, legislative background, supervision and certification, state subsidy and the labelling of organic food. The last chapter of the theoretical part answers questions: Why should people buy organic food, and why should they prefer local organic food to the imported one? It is also concerned with the distribution of organic food. In the practical part the main problems in terms of securing the sale of organic food in the Czech Republic are detected by the means of questionnaire examination. Two types of questionnaires were created for the purpose of the research. The first type is for organic producers and the second one for the sellers of organic food and healthy food products. At the end of this diploma thesis there is a summary of the recognized problems and the forshadowing of the future of organic agriculture in the Czech Republic.

[pt] Os alimentos orgânicos têm sido alvo de vários estudos. Consumidores justificam sua preferência por serem considerados mais saudáveis, por preservarem o meio-ambiente e por questões éticas. Outra razão de escolha frequentemente apontada é a questão do sabor. Alimentos orgãnicos são considerados mais saborosos do que não orgânicos. Foi conduzido um experimento com 142 consumidores de alimentos orgânicos, em duas feiras de alimentos orgânicos no Rio de Janeiro, utilizando suco de laranja e cenoura: orgânicos e não orgânicos. O entrevistado deveria avaliar atributos dos produtos, inicialmente sem serem identificados como orgânico e não orgânico. Em seguida, avaliou os mesmos atributos, desta vez com as amostras identificadas. Os resultados sugerem que a crença de que um alimento orgânico é superior a seus equivalentes não orgânicos sobrepõe-se à percepção de sabor. / [en] Organic food has been the subject of several studies over the past years. Health and environmental concerns, as well as ethical issues have been considered the main reasons that justify their purchase. Moreover, another reason pointed out is the matter of taste: organic food has been believed to have a better taste than non-organic food. An experiment was carried out at two organic fairs in Rio de Janeiro, with 142 consumers of organic food, using samples of orange juice and carrots, both organic and non-organic. A blind test was conducted and afterwards a test identifying each sample as organic and non-organic. Results indicate that the belief that an organic food has a better taste overlapped their actual taste.