Consumers motivations for buying local and organic products in developing vs developed countries

Summary in the original language of the document

Despite numerous studies reporting on organic consumer profiles, there is a gap in thorough understanding of consumers motivations for buying local and organic products. More precisely, do consumers prefer local products because they want to support local producers or do environment and the question of food miles matter in their choice ? Besides, very little is known about organic consumers in developing countries, since most surveys are conducted in most developed countries. Our purpose is to fill this double gap, by conducing qualitative surveys based on individual interviews in four developing countries (Brazil, Egypt, Uganda and China) and two European countries, France and Denmark, in order to study consumers choice for organic products from supermarkets, farmers markets or local organic food network. Products were selected to cover examples of imported organic products that compete with comparable products of local origin.
First results from Brazil and France show that French consumers are more concerned by environment than Brazilian consumers, but that most consumers in both samples are not concerned by food miles and their subsequent environmental impacts. Results also shed light on different patterns related to commitment to supporting small or local farmers, and suggest implications for policy makers.