Tell me more! An analysis of certifications and claims display practices on organic food front-of-packages

Purpose The rapid expansion of the organic food market represents a growth opportunity and a new challenge for organic food producers and manufacturers who face increasingly intense competition. To consolidate their organic positioning and communicate product qualities that differentiate them from both conventional and organic competing products, they can choose to display various informational elements such as product certifications and claims on their front-of-packages. Given the absence of an understanding of this variety of industry's choices and its underlying patterns, this paper aims to investigate the current practices of the Canadian organic food industry actors in terms of the use of certifications and claims on the front of their packages as a means of communication with consumers. Methodology A quantitative content analysis of all organic food front-of-package labels in 14 product categories offered on the transactional website of a major Canadian food retailer has been undertaken. Findings First, this research shows that, surprisingly, many front-of-packages do not display any organic certification, even though obtaining it is a mandatory, expensive, and lengthy process. In particular, processed foods have a lower propensity to display an organic certification on their front-of-packages than unprocessed or minimally processed foods. On the other hand, brands with names which suggest organic production tend to have a higher propensity to present an organic certification on their front-of-packages than those which do not. Second, our findings demonstrate that manufacturers most often use certifications and claims in a complementary manner. Third, while this research highlights the general tendency among organic food producers and manufacturers to display, most commonly, claims about the method of production, to the detriment of other claims which convey information that has been shown to be valued by consumers of organic food, our analysis shows that claims related to taste were the second most common, followed by country of origin, then gluten-free claims. Limitations This study analyses the certified organic food assortment of one major retailer. Despite our efforts to maximise generalisability and to choose the most typical food retailer, this may have had an impact on the representativity of our results, as a reflection of the Canadian food industry's practices as a whole. Implications From a managerial standpoint, this paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the current organic food industry practices, which can be utilised as a benchmark by marketers. It recommends the use of a refined Canadian Food Inspection Agency's typology, that can serve as a useful decision tool when determining which claims to present on an organic product's packaging or in its brand communication. Our research also aims to advise organic food industry actors to have a coherent package-based communication strategy, aligned with consumers' perceptions of organic food benefits, and to differentiate attributes from those of conventional food products. Contribution While most studies and reports on the organic food market have focused mainly on describing product categories growth, purchase habits, and competition, little is known about the display patterns within the industry, for certifications and claims on the products' front-of-packages as a means of communication with consumers. Moreover, despite the wide array of certifications and claims used in the organic food industry, no research has been undertaken to categorise them, and to reflect upon their use in a way that would be relevant for both researchers and managers. This paper adds to the organic food literature by using quantitative content analysis as a methodological approach, based on the understanding of the organic food industry's standpoint, to identify specific patterns in its actors' package design strategies.