Este estudo tem como objetivo verificar a coerência entre o design das embalagens de alimentos orgânicos industrializados, seu conteúdo e a filosofia dos produtores, conforme critérios técnicos, ambientais e percepção dos consumidores. Foram selecionados produtos nos principais pontos de venda paulistanos, presentes no mercado entre 2011 e 2013. Foram feitas entrevistas com os consumidores para verificar a percepção das informações sobre o produto e fabricantes, em relação às especificidades dos produtos orgânicos. Os resultados foram comparados com a avaliação técnica das embalagens, indicando possíveis deficiências de projeto e pontos positivos, de modo a subsidiar futuros projetos de embalagens com melhor identificação das características ambientais associadas a essa categoria. / The present study aims to verify the consistency between the packaging design of processed organic food, its content and the producers\' philosophy, according to technical and environmental criteria, and consumer perception. Products were selected on the main points of sale in São Paulo, commercially available between 2011 and 2013. Interviews with consumers were made to verify the perception of the product and manufacturers informations, in relation to the organic products specificities. The results were compared with the packaging technical evaluation, indicating possible design deficiencies and strengths in order to support future packaging designs with a better identify of environmental characteristics associated with that category.

Este estudo tem como objetivo verificar a coerência entre o design das embalagens de alimentos orgânicos industrializados, seu conteúdo e a filosofia dos produtores, conforme critérios técnicos, ambientais e percepção dos consumidores. Foram selecionados produtos nos principais pontos de venda paulistanos, presentes no mercado entre 2011 e 2013. Foram feitas entrevistas com os consumidores para verificar a percepção das informações sobre o produto e fabricantes, em relação às especificidades dos produtos orgânicos. Os resultados foram comparados com a avaliação técnica das embalagens, indicando possíveis deficiências de projeto e pontos positivos, de modo a subsidiar futuros projetos de embalagens com melhor identificação das características ambientais associadas a essa categoria. / The present study aims to verify the consistency between the packaging design of processed organic food, its content and the producers\' philosophy, according to technical and environmental criteria, and consumer perception. Products were selected on the main points of sale in São Paulo, commercially available between 2011 and 2013. Interviews with consumers were made to verify the perception of the product and manufacturers informations, in relation to the organic products specificities. The results were compared with the packaging technical evaluation, indicating possible design deficiencies and strengths in order to support future packaging designs with a better identify of environmental characteristics associated with that category.

Master of Science / Department of Agricultural Economics / Xianghong Li / Hikaru H. Peterson / The organic food market in the United States expanded rapidly at annual rates between 12% and 21% from 1997 to 2008, yet the adoption rate of organic farming remained stagnant. Industry sources suggest that the degree of outsourcing organic inputs has been increasing during the most recent years. Organic foods are available at traditional supermarkets and mass merchandisers. Many retailers now offer organic food products in their private labels. This study focuses on organic soymilk, which illustrates these recent trends. China, a major low income country which supplies organic agricultural ingredients to the U.S. , has raised food safety concerns fueled by recent incidents. Organic foods have been marketed in China as eco-products in an effort to promote safer foods to meet domestic needs. While organic soybean is one of China’s primary organic exports, China has been the leading importer of conventional soybeans with U.S. as its largest source, but most U.S. production is transgenic. China has a labeling policy on GM (genetically modified) products, which has been more tightly enforced in recent years. This thesis examines U.S. and Chinese consumers’ valuations of attributes of processed organic products, with an emphasis on eliciting their preferences of organic ingredients from different origins, in the case of soymilk. A survey was designed for each country. The U.S. survey was administered online nationwide. An enumerated survey was administered at three types of food retail channels in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou in China. Respectively, 316 and 300 responses were collected from the U.S. and China. Choice experiment was used to elicit consumer values for various attributes of soymilk in both markets. The results show that consumers in both countries are willing to pay premiums for processed foods such as soymilk with organic and non-GMO ingredients. The premium for organic soybeans is significantly higher than that for non-GMO beans. The results also indicate that U.S. consumers hold strong preferences for organic soymilk produced with domestically produced soybeans. In terms of brand preferences, U.S. respondents are willing to pay more for national brands relative to store brands, with taste as a major differentiating factor. In contrast, Chinese consumers’ valuations depend greatly on nationalities of certifying agencies. U.S. certified organic product was perceived higher than EU or Chinese certified organic products, but Chinese-certified non-GMO products were preferred over those certified by U.S. agencies. Chinese consumers’ values varied by cities and retail types where respondents were surveyed.