Governmental and Private Certification Labels for Organic Food: Consumer Attitudes and Preferences in Germany

In July 2012, the new EU logo for organic food became mandatory for all packaged organic products produced within the EU. While voluntary governmental and private organic certification labels have a long tradition in Europe, the introduction of a mandatory logo is novel in the regulatory environment. The variety of organic labels in the market raises a number of questions from the perspective of consumers that remain open. Based on empirical findings from Germany, this paper discusses and analyses consumer attitudes towards the mandatory EU logo for organic food and analyses consumer preferences and willingness to pay for a variety of governmental organic labels and farmers’ association labels. The aim of this paper is to provide recommendations for governmental and private owners of organic certification labels.