The price difference between organic and conventional food items has reduced from 63% to 48% over the past five years in the Netherlands, according to a new survey by the non-profit organisation Consumentenbond.
Consumentenbond examined the prices of around 135 private-label organic products at eight regular and two organic supermarket chains.
On average, organic products in regular supermarkets were found to be 48% more expensive than non-organic variants, but the difference was not the same for all products.
Price Difference
The survey also found organic products that cost the same as their conventional version. Products with small or no price differences include dairy products, beef products and pasta.
At Jumbo, 300 grams of organic minced beef cost the same as conventional minced meat, while at Dirk, the price of 500 grams of organic and non-organic macaroni was the same.
In most cases, a litre of organic semi-skimmed or full fresh milk was €0.20 more expensive than regular milk, the survey showed.
Sandra Molenaar, director of Consumentenbond, commented, "The organic range in supermarkets is increasing, but is still often limited and expensive.
"This makes it difficult for consumers to choose organic, even if they wanted to. We call on supermarkets to increase their organic offering and make it more attractive."
Product Assortment
The survey showed that organic supermarkets offer the largest range, with Ekoplaza claiming to sell around 9,000 organic products, while Odin offers around 6,000.
Among conventional supermarkets, Albert Heijn, Jumbo and Plus offer the largest organic range. However, the assortment varies from outlet to outlet and also the time of the year.
Consumentenbond added that Aldi was excluded from the price survey because of its limited selection of organic products.
Dirk and Lidl offer the most affordable organic products, with consumers paying 18% less than average for the category.
Prices of goods at organic supermarkets Ekoplaza and Odin were significantly higher than the average, the survey showed.
