Eating organic, a luxury? In any case, this is the impression that emerges from a new consumer study conducted by the site Linearwhich compared the prices of 1,000 food products sold in large and medium-sized supermarkets…
In this study, we first learn that an “organic” product costs on average 64% more than its equivalent, not fromOrganic Agriculture (but with the same brand, format, recipe and origin). For fruits and vegetables, the difference varies from simple to double, while in the “meat” department, we record up to + 80% for the delicatessen of pork. Rest assured: a liter of organic milk costs “only” 17% more than a liter of conventional milk. Phew.
Organic charcuterie, 80% more expensive!
We also observe that organic prices play yo-yo: in 2009, the gap with conventional food products was 79%, in 2011, it was reduced to 56% to finally climb back in 2016 to 64%. In this field, it is the Leclerc brand that offers the cheapest organic products: on the basis of a shopping cart containing 84 products, the brand is 13% cheaper than the others.
How can these sometimes exorbitant price differences be explained? Hard to say: in any case, at the level of European subsidies, farmers who use “intensive” agriculture receive an average envelope 6 times higher than their colleagues who are followers of organic farming (source)… However, the organic market is booming: + 10% in 2015 and + 20% in the first quarter of 2016!
The surveys were carried out between November 24 and December 6, 2016 in the cities of Rennes, Paris and Puteaux, in eight large retailers (Auchan, Carrefour, Géant Casino, Intermarché, Leclerc, Lidl, Monoprix, Super U).
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