Between pesticides and diseases: the profile of brazilian organic food consumer during COVID-19 pandemic

The greater consumer concern about health during Covid-19 outbreak had led to the rising of the organic food demand around the world, including in Brazil. The Brazilian organic food market leaders Latin America and Caribbean, and also has a high potential of growing by its national farming public policies and large territorial extension. Studies about how pandemic had impacted the Brazilian organic food consumer profile, however, are still scarce. In this context, this research purposed to identify and examine the main features of the organic food purchaser in Brazil during Covid-19 epidemic. Data from 603 respondents were collected in 2021 by an online consumer questionnaire and were analyzed by descriptive statistics and Z-test (p<0.05). During pandemic the Brazilian organic food consumer profile was very similar to the standard organic food consumer profile described by literature. It was observed the predominance of female gender, young age group and high family incomes. There was no difference between the profiles of organic food consumers from all the five Brazilian regions. According to the results, the greater organic food consumption in Brazil along Coronavirus outbreak was related to the bigger health motivation rates, furthermore, the interviewed who do not consume organic foods had appointed accessibility as the main reason for their purchase behavior instead of high prices, indicating that with the health crisis the consumers became more willed to pay more for healthier and safer food.