Quality, safety and consumer behaviour towards organic food in Portugal

Abstract

This paper reports the results of an analysis of Portuguese consumer behaviour towards organic food products (OFP). For this purpose, a literature review on quality and food safety of OFP was carried out and a consumer survey was implemented, with data collected by means of personal interviews in the capital city of the country. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics and a comparison of gender and age groups was made using chi-square tests and analysis of variance. Factor analysis was used for the attitudinal scales in order to reduce the number of variables and to search for dimensions underlying these attitudes. The results show positive consumer attitudes towards OFP. However, its consumption is much lower than could be expected from these attitudes. Intentions to buy OFP are quite high, suggesting that these products might obtain a substantial market share in the future. This is an encouraging sign for potential OFP producers, who might compensate for the costs of moving from traditional to organic farming with an increase in market share.