Organic food in the discounter: cheap, but with skeptical looks!

Organic food in the discounter: cheap, but with skeptical looks!

The Styrian Chamber of Labor recently carried out a comprehensive product test in which 591 products from the branded, cheap and organic product categories were examined in seven supermarkets and discounters. Surprisingly, it turns out that cheap products cost an average of 24.82 euros, while branded products cost 46.31 euros and organic products even cost 56.37 euros. The price difference between cheap and organic products is a shocking 127 percent. This analysis also revealed price movements: the cost of cheap and organic products fell on average by 0.40 percent and 0.58 percent, respectively, while branded products saw a price increase of 1.22 percent. Overall, prices in Styria rose by 0.96 percent, which means additional food expenses of around 100 euros per year for families with two children orf.at reported.

Price pressure on the organic market

At the same time, consumer trust in organic food from discounters remains low. Only nine percent believe that these products fully meet the strict criteria of organic farming. This skepticism was supported by various surveys that showed that 30 percent of respondents view organic products from discounters more critically than those from dedicated organic markets. Despite these reservations, discounters such as Aldi and Lidl are becoming increasingly important in the organic market: in 2019, they accounted for 31 percent of the estimated sales of 11.97 billion euros in the organic sector. Particularly inexpensive staple foods that are also organic quality attract many buyers, but they go against the quality standards öko-test.de determines.

The low prices for organic products in discounters are the result of strategic product range restriction and sophisticated logistics. As a result, quality is compromised, which leads to uncertainty among organic buyers. Due to this price pressure, small natural food stores in particular are forced to lower their prices in order to remain competitive, which could have a negative long-term impact on the quality of their products. The competition for prices in the organic segment has far-reaching consequences for all players in the market, both for discounters and for specialized retailers.