Current situation of organic markets in İzmir and İstanbul and developing the most preferrable organic market design

Organic products which are processed, packaged, labeled and produced in organic agriculture methods, are pretty important as they are certified products that maximize food efficiency beholding the health and security of human, fauna, flora and the soil. Organic product markets, which provide direct access to organic products, contribute to the development of organic products in the domestic market and keep organic product prices at reasonable levels, should be more preferable to consumers and producers. In this context, the main purpose of this research was to bring together the different perspectives of the actors of organic product markets; namely, the consumers, producers, intermediaries, the relevant municipalities and non-governmental organization authorities, to reveal their expectations about an organic market, in order to develop the most preferable organic market model. With this main purpose, face to face interviews were fulfilled with 271 consumers in organic markets operating in Karşıyaka, Balçova districts of İzmir province and Şişli, Kartal districts of İstanbul; with 30 stall-owners (producers, intermediaries) and with 4 people from related municipalities and civil society organizations working in these markets. Fuzzy Paired Comparison method was used to determine the reasons of consumers and machine owners to come to the organic market, Factor Analysis was used to determine the attitudes of consumers towards organic products, and Conjoint Analysis was used to determine the organic market expectation of consumers and stall-owners. The primary reason for consumers coming to the organic product markets was found to be "finding healthy products" and the reason of stall-owners for coming to work was primarily "selling healthy products". Regarding consumer attitudes towards organic products, four dimensions (safety, experience (comparison), research (cognitive) and health) were identified. In the consumers' organic market preferences, the primary premises were that the products sold in the stalls in the markets were only organic products and that these products consisted only of the products grown during the season, that the products had the logo of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, that the product prices were 10% higher than the traditional products and that the market was established over the weekend. In the organic market preferences of the stall-owners, the prominent concerns were that the products to be sold in the stalls in the markets were only organic products, the municipalities undertook the delivery of these products to the market, the products had certificates and logos belonging to the certification company, the product prices were 30% higher than the traditional products and the market was set up on weekdays. On the other hand, it was concluded that the authorities expected a market with clean and tidy premises and stalls, inspections were conducted weekly and the markets had parking places and social areas.