Is organic produce costlier than inorganic produce? - An e-marketing comparison

Nowadays awareness in organically produced food is increasing in response to concerns about food safety and environment. Accessibility of organic produce to even remote consumers has become possible after the entry of online organic stores into retail marketing. These stores play an effective role in marketing the organic produce directly to consumer door steps thereby saving time and fuel. But still the demand for organic produce has not attained the mark where it is expected. There are several factors which affects the consumption decision of organic foods among the consumers. One such major hindrance is price. This study compares the price of organically and inorganically grown produce in online organic and conventional stores in 55 produces covering cereals, pulses, oilseeds, spices, plantation, vegetables and fruits in Coimbatore city of Tamil Nadu, India. The results indicated that price of organic produces were 63 per cent costlier than their conventional counterparts. The study has suggested for increasing the supply of organic produce by reducing the hurdles to organic farmingboth in production and marketing, which in turnbring more farmers to organic farming andthereby reduce the prices of organic produce and boost up the consumer demand in the future.