Introduction to global markets and marketing of organic food

Summary

This chapter contributes to an understanding of the opportunities and challenges of the organic food market. After a short introduction describing the size and trends in the global organic market, it introduces key concepts and theories of food marketing as a primer for consumers. The following sections introduce the principles behind organic production, the places where organic food is sold as well as pricing and promotion. This is followed by a section discussing what consumers are seeking when they purchase organic products. The chapter concludes with some reflections on the inbuilt challenge of organic food marketing. One the one hand, buying and selling organic food is a market transaction, but, at the same time the value based principles and practices of organic agriculture want to change our food system. The overall aim of increasing the health of soils, crops, livestock, people and the planet cannot be achieved through the market alone.