Abstract

Ramu Govindasamy, Venkata Puduri and James E. Simon

Organic foods sector is one of the fastest growing agricultural markets in the U.S and sales of organic products have increased on average by 20% annually since 1990. The rapid expansion of Hispanic ethnic populations presents significant opportunities for organic and conventional fruit and vegetable producers in the region to take advantage of their close proximity to densely populated areas. The main objective of this study was to gather market information on Hispanic customer behavior towards organic produce in the east-coast region of United States. The results indicate that those who were willing to buy country of origin labeled produce and those who were willing to buy ethnic produce when it is recently introduced or new to the market were more likely willing to buy organically grown ethnic produce. The results also indicate that those who were vegetarians, those living in urban areas and those with average annual incomes of between $125,000 and 149,999 were more likely willing to buy organically grown ethnic produce. These results will help policy makers understand Hispanic consumer’s behavior towards organically produce and facilitate effective segmentation by producers, wholesalers, and retailers to target Hispanic markets and locations.