We all know there’s a higher price tag that comes with shopping organic. Now, thanks to a new study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, we have a true sense of the premium we pay when choosing that organic yogurt or salad over the conventional alternative. Here’s the breakdown:
The USDA, which used Nielsen’s Homescan data from 2004-2010 for its analysis, found that the share of organics purchased increased for all of the products it looked at.
Not surprisingly, sales were most often higher on organic products with lower premiums over their conventional counterpart such as spinach, granola, and carrots. Shoppers also tended to choose organic when buying foods most often fed to their kids (i.e. baby food).
So why the premium? Producing organic food is more expensive along every part of the supply chain, from farming practices to keeping organic ingredients separate from conventional.