Preliminary Analysis of Voluntary Information on Organic Milk Labels in Four European Union Countries

Summary

The concern for the environment among European consumers is growing and in the
future the need for sustainable shopping is expected to increase. Through transparent on-packaging
communication with consumers, organic producers have the opportunity to show attributes of
organic production system and build a strong market position. The aim of the study was to analyse
voluntary packaging information on organic milk from four European markets in the context of
organic food quality, i.e., Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Poland. More specifically, the textual
content of 106 organic milk packages was analysed and voluntary information on each package was
categorized according to process- and product-related organic milk attributes. The assortment and
content of voluntary packaging information varied across the four countries. The largest number
of products was found on the German market (37) and the smallest on the Polish market (14).
Dutch milk had the greatest amount of voluntary information on animal welfare, product locality,
environmental protection, quality confirmation, naturalness and nutritional value. German milk
had the most information on enjoyment and conditions of processing, while the Italian milk on the
social perspective. The products available on the Polish market had the least voluntary information.
Pasteurized organic milk had noticeably more information about organic quality attributes than
micro filtrated and UHT milk.