A fifth of shoppers are buying less organic food than they were six months ago, because they can no longer afford it and want to save money for bills, according to new research.
The poll undertaken exclusively for TalkingRetail.com by Empathy Research found 22% of consumers have cut the amount of organic food they are buying, while 24% think it is now less important to buy these food options.
In the 18 to 24-year-old age category, 33% of people said they think organic items are not as important as they were before the onset of the recession.
And 83% of respondents said they are more conscious of saving energy to lower bills during the credit crunch, as 47% said they can’t afford organic in tough economic times.
Moreover, 33% believe “saving the planet” will have to wait until more prosperous times and 27% are finding it difficult now to be sympathetic to green issues.
TNS analyst Chris Longbottom said before Christmas that the organic market has gone into “some decline”, with eggs badly hit.
Just 10% of shoppers said they have been buying more organic food in the last six months, although 68% are purchasing the same amount.
Empathy Research (www.empathymarketing.com) polled 1,000 people from its Pigsback.com consumer website.
Weekly intelligence reports are being provided by the firm for TalkingRetail.com.
View the complete report on organic purchases in the credit crunch
