The interest for Organic food has grown a lot over the last 15 years. Even so, only 3.5 % ofthe share of wallet in Sweden goes to Organic food. The purpose of this study is to examine and describe how retailers can get consumers to buy more Organic fruits and vegetables. The study was carried out by visiting six Coop Konsum-stores, of which three performed poorly and three performed well in Organic sales. We conducted interviews with the department managers, customer surveys and in-store observations.

AbstractThe customer demand for ecological products has increased in recent years, within the garden industry this mainly concerns herbs and other edible plants. The Organic trend is increasing and more people are aware of the environment and want to take responsibility for it through their purchases for their garden as well.In this essay the aim is to investigate customer demand and the possibility of selling Organicperennial plants in eight garden centres on the Åland islands and in Gävle/Sandviken. I include two garden centres with an Organic profile to get a wider point of view. I investigate the global market for Organic perennials and look further into existing certification standards on the Swedish market today.The methods I have been using are interviews and a literature study.The study shows that the experienced demand for Organic perennials is small in both of myinvestigated groups. The biggest motivation for starting to sell Organic perennials would be to find a supplier of these plants and that more customer would ask for them.

According to the EEG-councils regulation nr 2092/91, all seed used in Organic production must have Organic origin. All seed which is offered for sale must be controlled by KRAV, and also comply with the rules of the seedlegislation. The seedlegislation contains demands respecting origin, quality, growingconditions and freedom from deseases. In this piece of work I will investigate the profitability of Organic potatoseedproduction, and also what it takes to produce potatoseed. The workmethod has been to, with help from counsellors and growers, make some compareable calculations for foodpotatoes and seedpotatoes, and also with help from a literaturestudy investigate which requires an Organic seedcultivation must fulfil. In this piece of work I found out that the Organic potatoseedproduction still is to insecure to be profitable. The attack of potatoleafmould, which is out of control, cause unequal yields and this will bring that the new EU-rules, concerning Organic seed, not seems defendable yet..

The objective of this study was to make an inventory and a potential analysis of the Organic beef production in the region of Gävleborg, Sweden. A survey was conducted, where a questionaire was sent to all farmers in the region who had environmental subsidies concerning Organic cropping systems in 2001. In total, there were 701 farmers, of which 46 % participated in the study. Three slaughter houses were interviewed to get their pictures of the development of Organic beef production. The study shows that there are potentials and interests in the region to increase the production of Organic beef.

Background: Pesticides in conventional food may be related to morbidity and mortality. Furthermore pesticides have a negative impact on the whole ecosystem. Organic food can presume better health as they contain less chemicals and toxins and contribute to sustainable development efforts.Objective: The aim was to examine what attitudes consumers have regarding to purchase Organic fruit, vegetables and root vegetables.Methods: The association between consumers? views on conventional food and Organic food was investigated using questionnaire given to a population sample of men and women aged by 23-65 (N=60) in grocery stores and in a fitness center. The study was based on a cross-sectional study in a municipality in central Sweden.Results: Consumers were interested to buy Organic food.

There are many eco-brands on food products. It can be confusing for the consumer to know which one to trust or choose and since July 2012, there is an EU law and a mandatory EU Organic label that must be displayed on all food products marketed as Organic, eco or bio.Organic brands from a consumer perspective have previously been studied in England. This is a similar study in the form of focus groups, to explore and examine how consumers perceive and trust Organic brand or labels in Sweden. It also explores which knowledge consumers have regarding why a product has an Organic brand and what it means.The study shows that consumers perceive Organic brands by brand recognition rather than knowledge regarding what each label means. It also shows that the consumer is confused by and skeptical to the wide range of markings and symbols on Organic food products.

The purpose of this study was to examine how food managers of Östergötland County disucss around their possibilities of reaching the government´s orientation towards 25 per cent of the food - procured, prepared and cooked in the school meal - coming from certified Organic production. The study was a cross-sectional study in wich a qualitative approach was used. The sample consisted six food managers in Östergötland. Data processing was done through a semantic content analysis.  The result showed that involvment and intrest were significant factors for the introduction of Organic food in the school meal. The three municipalities with the highest percentage of Organic food used the SMART - concept.

AbstractFor several years, the Organic food sales have increased, and more are choosing to buyOrganic food of more diverse causes. Unfortunately the sales have slowed down the past year,a lot depends on the Swedish economy has been in decline and it has led to more will checkone more time on the price. But even if the sale value has decreased, the amount of Organicfood has increased, it is because many stores have their own Organic brands and they can pushprices down.The internet has become a great help in our daily lives, we do most our business via theInternet. But now we are not just paying our bills through the Internet anymore, we shopclothes, movies, music and books too. E-commerce was become more serious last decade andhas grown every year that has passed.

AbstractFor several years, the Organic food sales have increased, and more are choosing to buyOrganic food of more diverse causes. Unfortunately the sales have slowed down the past year,a lot depends on the Swedish economy has been in decline and it has led to more will checkone more time on the price. But even if the sale value has decreased, the amount of Organicfood has increased, it is because many stores have their own Organic brands and they can pushprices down.The internet has become a great help in our daily lives, we do most our business via theInternet. But now we are not just paying our bills through the Internet anymore, we shopclothes, movies, music and books too. E-commerce was become more serious last decade andhas grown every year that has passed.

Total Organic carbon (TOC) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) are two methods used for measuring Organic pollutants in wastewater. Both methods are widely used but the COD method results in production of hazardous wastes, including mercury.The purpose of this study was to validate the method TOC that will replace COD and find a factor to convert TOC to COD. In this study 26 samples were analyzed from four sewage treatment plant in the municipality of Enköping.The results show that the COD method could be replaced by the TOC method.The factor for COD/TOC was between 3.1 - 3.3. Both methods will be used in parallel until 2013 when it will be forbidden to use the COD analysis..

Rearing in Organic pig production differs from conventional rearing; pigs have outdoor access and larger space allowances. Regardless of production system all pigs are transported before slaughter and during transport pigs are crowded together in a new environment and in a space smaller than they are used to. As pigs in Organic herds are reared at even larger space allowances than conventional pigs, such crowding could possibly have a stronger impact on pig behaviour and well-being. Six pig producing herds, three conventional and three Organic, were visited and pigs from each herd were enclosed during 12 minutes in a test area corresponding to the crowding on a transport vehicle. During the crowding, pigs? behaviour was observed, before and after enclosure in the test area skin lesion scores were recorded, and also measures of heart girth (for weight estimation) was done.

A majority of Swedish consumers have a positive attitude towards Organic production and the number of Organic products on the market is increasing. Despite these positive trends, there are still relatively few consumers who choose to buy Organic produced products. According to statistics, only 3% of the total sales of food consist of Organic products. The aim with this essay is to understand what is needed, both from the grocery store and the consumer's point of view, to increase the consumption of Organic food. Information has been collected partly through questionnaire with consumers and partly through analysis of sales statistics for a selected numbers of products. Then the empirical material have been analysed in the light of a combination of the Behavioural Perspective Model (Foxell, 1997) and Kotler's Four P:s (Kotler, 2002). Consumer's willingness to buy Organic products is influenced by a number of different factors. One important thing is if the grocery store offers a behaviour setting that stimulates the consumers positive attitude and facilitates their possibilities to collect new information. Furthermore, the store needs to offer a broad and well-visualised selection of Organic products.

The Swedish government has proposed that 20 % of the cultivated land in Sweden should be Organic by the year 2010 (The Swedish Board of Agriculture, 2008). In addition to this the production of Organic food like milk, meat and egg should increase considerably. To reach the government?s goal it is necessary that the Swedish farmers get motivated to convert their production from conventional to Organic. Milko is a dairy association that has chosen to focus on Organic products, they want to be the leading Organic dairy association, and therefore they have a large need for Organic milk (Milko, 2008).

This thesis examines the underlying components that affect consumer behavior regarding Organic food. The thesis theoretical framework is based on Ajzen and Fishbein?s The Theory of Reasoned Action combined with theories regarding involvement and routine purchases. The empirical material is based on a desk research with 19 research papers between the years 1994 till 2009 and sales statistics over Organic food.  The thesis conclusion shows that the underlying components when looking at attitude towards conventional food are price, taste, expiration-date and healthfulness. While the components for involvement in Organic food is the environment, personal health and supply.

Organic agriculture is financially promoted in Sweden by special environmental support and as consumers we are all encouraged to buy Organic food. At the same time scholars at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences claim that Organic farming does not provide any environmental benefits. The main criticism is that Organic farming has lower yields than conventional, which means that more land is needed to produce the same amount of food as in conventional farming, leading to deforestation and loss of biodiversity. As for climate change, the critics claim that the significantly higher productivity in conventional crop production compared to Organic, releases surplus land, which could be used for bio-fuel production and thereby replace the fossil fuels. The critics also claim that Organic farming causes higher nutrient leaching than conventional.