European organic consumers’ attitudes and acceptance of new plant breeding techniques for crops

In recent years, the development of new plant breeding techniques (NPBT) have gotten the attention of producers, policymakers, researchers and consumers. NPBT are a variety of heterogeneous methods that allow the development of new plant varieties with desired traits, overcoming some of the limitations of conventional breeding techniques (Schaart et al., 2016). However, given that NPBTs are not a uniform group of methods, conflicting views exist over their implementation in the production of organic food, especially regarding genome editing modifications (Zimny et al., 2019). Although previous studies have focused on several economic, social and environmental advantages of the NPBT (Shao et al., 2018), there are also opposing views that emphasize the potential human health, environmental and technological risks (Qaim, 2020). In fact, the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled in July 2018 that any organism obtained through NPBT that applies mutagenesis will be classified as a genetically modified organism (GMO) (European Parliament and Council of the European Union, 2018; Purnhagen et al., 2018). Political influence and social acceptance can significantly influence consumers attitudes and acceptance of products developed with NPBT (Lassoued et al., 2018). Moreover, consumers are critical of the use of many new technologies in the food production processes (Lusk et al., 2014). However, only few studies have focused on analysing the consumers attitudes and acceptance of NPBT in food production processes (Tanaka, 2017). Moreover, many consumers are turning to organic foods, as these products are perceived safer, more natural, with higher quality and as an ethical choice (Zander et al., 2015; Zanoli et al., 2013). Nevertheless, no previous work has studied the perception of organic consumers on the implementation of NPBT seeds in organic food. The aim of these study is to study the European organic consumers attitudes and acceptance of NPBT seeds in organic food production. Data was collected through an international survey and a DCE in eleven countries: Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Using a stratified random sampling approach, 400 responses per country were collected. All respondents were organic consumers and fully or partially responsible for the food shopping in their households. Results show that organic consumers prefer non-hybrid seeds over hybrid or NPBT seeds. However, some European organic consumers seem more willing to accept NBPT seeds if the product presents additional nutritional benefits. This matches with previous studies (Colson and Rousu, 2013). Moreover, results show heterogenous preferences among consumers. Further research is needed to understand in detail such heterogeneity.