What is Organic Food?
Organic food is the product of a farming system that emphasizes the use of renewable resources and the conservation of water and soil to enhance the quality of the environment for future generations. It avoids the use of pesticides, man-made fertilizers, livestock feed additives, and growth regulators. One of the most important benefits of organic food is that it focuses on socially, environmentally, and economically sustainable production. Before labeling a product as ‘organic’, a Government-approved certifier inspects the farm where the food is grown to make sure that all the rules necessary to meet USDA organic standards are followed by the farmers. Companies that process or handle organic food before it gets to the restaurant or the local supermarket must be certified too.
Talk to one of our experts for detailed insights on the organics food market segment.
Benefits of Organic Food
Contains more nutrients
One of the most significant benefits of organic food is that it offers lower concentrations of pesticides and higher concentrations of nutrients. Organic food is grown without traditional pesticides, which makes it richer in antioxidants and lower in cadmium. Organic fruits and vegetables contain 40% more antioxidants according to research. It reduces the risk of heart diseases, cancer, and stroke. So, organic foods play an important role in preventing life-threatening and terminal diseases, particularly problems of the heart as they also contain salicylic acid that prevents hardening of arteries.
Healthy for consumption
Organically grown foods are free from any herbicides and pesticides that may have harmful effects. As a result, it makes them more energetic and stronger body, with a reduced risk of illness, disorders, and disease. This is one of the benefits of organic food that has helped in its growing demand today.
Request a brochure to gain detailed insights into our food and beverage market intelligence solutions.
Promotes a healthy environment
Today, colossal amounts of chemicals are used to treat non-organic produce, which contributes to long-term damage to the surrounding soil. This is a cause of concern, globally. The benefits of organic food farming prevent the leeching of synthetic pesticides into the water sources and the soil and also promote the health of the surrounding wildlife. Additionally, organic farming uses methods that ensure that the nutrients of soil are retained.
Disadvantages of Organic Food
Higher Price
Since organic farmers do not use any artificial means to grow their crops, they tend to produce less. Additionally, the requirement of additional manual labor to rotate crops and pull weeds instead of using a chemical weed killer reduces the production and elevates the costs of organic farming. Therefore, lower rates of production and higher overhead make organic products more expensive, which is one of the biggest disadvantages of organic food. This disadvantage restricts only a few to enjoy the benefits of organic food.
Not available widely
Organic products take twice as long to produce as the conventional kind. This means organic products are not always available in stores, which can be counted as one of the significant disadvantages of organic food, and especially because there are only a few local farms that are adopting organic farming. Although there are multiple benefits of organic food this disadvantage restricts it a few places.
Lesser longevity
Since organic products do not contain preservatives, they have a comparatively shorter storage life and tend to spoil faster than conventional foods. This increases the spending of consumers and doubles their grocery budget for food. As a result, they don’t get to save money. Therefore, this is one of the most remarkable disadvantages of organic food which contributes to lesser profit and ROI.
Want to invest in the organic food market but not sure about the growth prospects? Request more information from our experts to explore the market opportunities and know which is the best market for growth.
