Organic labelling influencing consumerism in China and Thailand: A case for collaborating with mature organic economies

Abstract

Consumers are interested in buying organic food products from countries where there is a reputation for organic quality and standard through the certification process. Countries like Australia, New Zealand and Canada have been well-known generally for high-quality organic food production and distribution through maintaining stringent standards in organic accreditation and certification from paddock-to- plate, or farm-to-table. It appears that an unconscious factor is also at play in influencing consumer motivation and behaviour in buying organic - trust in certification labelling. Here, consumers have to trust the organic foods that they buy are genuinely organic. A large contributing factor lies in organic food labelling including the country-of-origin labels (COOL) in organics. This Chapter will argue the case for (1) creating consumer trust in locally produced organic food in Thailand and China through implementing a regulatory framework for organics that can induce confidence in consumer behaviour; and (2) encouraging mature organic economies like Australia, New Zealand and Canada to capitalize on the country-of-origin labels in organic food confidence in order to increase their organic export trade to China and Thailand.