Surveys of mid-Atlantic consumers conducted by Penn State researchers part 12

As a food producer, setting a price for your product can be difficult. When setting a price, you must consider product production costs, competitors, target customers, and product qualities. One example of a production cost (and subsequent product quality) is producing certified organic products. In 2010, Penn State researchers conducted a study on consumer purchasing habits. One question asked participants how much they would be willing to spend on a pound of certified organic apples compared to a pound of non-certified organic apples priced at $1/pound.

As you can see by the graph below, 32.1% of respondents said they were unwilling to pay more for organic Gala apples. Conversely, 57.6% indicated that thy would be willing to spend at least $1/pound for organic Gala apples.



This survey only asked respondents about organic Gala apples, but this specific example can be helpful in understanding consumers' willingness to pay for organic produce in general. To read more about this study, please read the press release.

When pricing your organic produce (or any product), you must carefully position your price to attract the most buyers. It is extremely important to inform and remind consumers about the product attributes and proposed benefits of your product through appropriate advertising and in-store promotions. Want more help in pricing your product? Check out our Value-Added Marketing Series. We have a publication titled "Product Pricing: What Do I Charge?" which will give you some good info on pricing your product!