If the latest moves by the major food chains and even the trends in the low-income neighborhoods are any indications, organic food has apparently become a mass market. For instance, Wal-Mart has started an in-house organic line with a view to bringing down prices of organic food, while Whole Foods to has started experimenting with cheaper stores. In fact, 30 percent of shoppers have said they are willing to pay more for organic food. All these may make one believe that organic has become as regular in upscale markets as well as down-market groceries.
Contrary to this, findings of a study published in the Journal of Food Products Marketing suggests that organic foods still are not as mass market as one may believe. During the course of their study, researchers undertook a thorough qualification of organic food sales throughout Manhattan, visiting as many as 1,256 stores. They reviewed whether all the stores sold organic, local or traditional varieties of 24 foods, which are most commonly sold organically.
However, the findings of the study nearly shocked the researchers, who found that stores that were selling more than a handful of organic products were mostly concentrated on the wealthy and highly educated Upper East and Upper West sides. On the other hand, 60 percent of the stores in the borough did not have even a single organic item on the list, and a third of the stores only offered 12 organic items or even less. They found that a mere 5 percent stores offered half of the 24 foods in their organic versions, NPR reported.
According to Carolyn Dimitri, the study co-author and a professor at the Food Studies Program of the New York University, she was surprised to find few stores offering a good number of organic products. "I thought the organic food was everywhere ... but when you take a look, [organic food] does seem to be concentrated in a few select neighborhoods, rather than the wide availability that was implied by the industry," the report quoted Dimitri as saying.
In fact, just five organic items were offered by 10 percent or more of stores and these items included cheese, eggs, milk, packaged lettuce and yogurt. On the other hand, only 35 percent stores offered organic milk, which is considered to be the most common organic item anywhere.
According to Dimitri, some of the findings of their study, for instance, a correlation between store size and number of organic items offered, may perhaps be specific to Manhattan. Dimitri said that real estate pressures have put shelf space at a premium in New York, confining the interest of retailers in stocking products having a lower turnover, such as organics. However, this is less likely in the large-scale stores commonplace in suburban American, like Wal-Mart.
