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Why is Organic Food Priced Higher? |
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The biggest concern of people all over the world is that organic food products are priced higher than conventional food products. However, it should be noted that organic food is becoming popular in spite of the higher prices. People are willing to pay the high premium due to the various benefits offered by organic food products.
So why is organic food costly? The reason lies in the means of producing organic food. Organic food requires more labor for manufacturing and processing and stringent methods of production. The yield of organic farming is also generally a little lower than conventional farming. Moreover, the inputs required for organic food production, especially organic feed for organic meat, is generally expensive. For example in the production of organic meat, farmers don’t use cheap energy rich feed and hormones to increase the flesh content in animals. They also use pastures for grazing and comfortable space in the barns. The usage of quality feed and additional space increases the cost of production.
As a result, manufacturers have to price their product at a higher price to gain profits. For example, The Organic Centre Wales, University of Wales Aberystwyth, has observed that the price of organic milk should be about 5-6 pounds higher per liter than the price of conventional milk, for profitability.
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