The German economist and marketing specialist Professor Dr. Ulrich Hamm has been an expert for trends and statistics of the organic market for more than 40 years. On 1st of July, the German organic journal "Biopress" published an article based on an interview with him, in which Hamm points out consumer's demand for transparency. His research shows that customers who buy organic on a regular basis want to be able to evaluate the eco-friendlyness of their purchased products themselves. When they go shopping, they are willing to spend their time studying product labels, comparing product origins and evaluating which product has the least harmful effect on the environment. According to Dr. Hamm, most retailers do not consider the transparency expectations of this esteemed clientele and hence do not provide enough information for them to make up their minds. As a consequence, those customers often look for alternatives such as buying directly from a farm or a butcher they trust. This is very unfortunate for the retailers, because those clients are usually not tight-fisted – on the contrary, they are more than willing to pay extra for products that meet their ethical expectations.
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