Transcript uploads/1/4/7/2/14720824/egg_poster4x

Organic Eggs Widely Available Among Various Store Types in Seattle, WA:
Traditional Grocery Store, Superstore, and Food Cooperative
Amber Leon, Julia Patterson, Danielle Selden, Kali Tupper
Research Methods – Winter 2013 - Bastyr University
Purpose
Methods
Introduction
Increased availability of nutrient-dense foods in neighborhoods, such
as fruits and vegetables, has resulted in greater daily consumption,
which may improve overall diet quality. (Moore et al., 2008; Wrigley,
Warm, Margetts, & Whelan, 2002).
Many consumers make purchasing decisions based on food quality
and availability indicating nutritional value is more important at
times than price (Selfa & Qazi, 2005). In 2002, a survey of King
County residents (n=238) of varying income levels found that
consumers ranked the following buying factors as “very important”:
“Freshness”(94%), “taste” (89%), “nutritional value”
(78%), “available where I shop” (75%), “variety” (61%), “price”
(55%), “Washington grown” (33%), and “organically grown” (21%)
(Jussaume, Ostrom, & Jarosz, 2004).
These food quality preferences may be fueling the North American
organic market, one of the fastest growing markets in the world, and
in particular the organic egg market (Chang, Lusk, & Norwood, 2010).
Research shows that organic and pastured raised eggs are more
nutritious than the USDA’s conventional eggs (Long & Alterman,
2007).
Assessing the availability of organic eggs in Seattle, WA has not yet
been researched. This information would be useful for health
conscious consumers, as greater availability of nutrient-dense organic
eggs may increase intake of vitamins and omega 3 fatty acids in
consumer diets, especially those who value freshness, taste, or
increased nutritional content over price.
This study examines potential differences in the availability of organic
eggs in Seattle, WA in relation to store type and location. Store types
were chosen based on King County residents frequency of shopping
visits to a traditional grocery store (2-3x/week or more; ~83%) or a
food cooperative (2-3x/month; ~20%) (Jussaume, Ostrom, & Jarosz,
2004). It is hypothesized that the availability of organic eggs will vary
between a traditional supermarket chain store, a superstore, and a
food cooperative in Seattle, WA based on store type and location.
RESEARCH POSTER PRESENTATION DESIGN © 2012
www.PosterPresentations.com
A “traditional supermarket chain store” was defined as a store that
offers a complete line of groceries, meat, and produce, may include a
deli, bakery, and/or pharmacy, and have a median square footage of
46,000 square feet. A “superstore” was defined as a supermarket
with at least 30,000 sq. ft., offering an expanded selection of nonfood items, with specialty departments and extensive services. A
“food cooperative” was defined as a consumer-owned natural food
retail co-operative offering organic and local groceries, meat, and
produce, and adhering to the seven cooperative principles
established by the International Cooperative Alliance. Following
these definitions, Safeway was chosen as the traditional supermarket
chain store, Fred Meyer was chosen as the superstore, and the PCC
was chosen as the food cooperative.
Stores were chosen in areas where they were clustered in the same
zip code or neighboring zip codes. Northwest stores were located in
the following Seattle zip codes: 98103, 98117, 98107; Northeast
stores were located in the following Seattle zip codes: 98115, 98125;
South Seattle stores were located in the following zip code: 98118.
Availability was defined as the number of brands of organic eggs
offered at each store, regardless of the day of the week or time of
day.
Organic egg labeling criteria
Organic eggs were labeled with the USDA certified organic symbol or
the Oregon Tilth Certified Organic symbol. Eggs from pasture-raised
hens were labeled with as “pasture raised”, “animal welfare
approved”, or “food alliance certified”. Eggs produced from farms
located West of the Cascade Mountains were considered “locally
sourced”.
Data Collection
A data collection form was used to collect the following data: Store
name, address, date, time, and name of the data collector. The
number of organic egg brands, pasture raised egg brands, and locally
sourced egg brands were counted and recorded on the data
collection form. Additionally, brand names of each egg type were
recorded.
One researcher was assigned a specific store type (traditional
supermarket store chain, superstore, or food cooperative), for a total
of three researchers collecting data.
Over the course of one month, each researcher visited their assigned
store type in each designated store location, completing one data
collection form per store, with the exception of the South Seattle
superstore, as there was not one located in the zip code limits. The
results of the data collection form were recorded in an Excel
spreadsheet for data analysis.
Results cont.
Percentages of Egg Types in each Geographic Location
• All store types in all locations offered differing brands of organic
eggs (Table 1).
• Both PCC and Fred Meyer offered local eggs (Table 1).
• PCC was the only store type to offer pasture-raised eggs (Table 1).
Northwest
Table 1. Egg brands at each store type/location. All store types and locations offered
organic eggs, Fred Meyer and PCC offered local eggs, and only PCC offered pastureraised hen eggs.
Store
Name
Location Organic egg brands
Safeway
All
Fred
Meyer
All
NW
PCC
NE,
South
South
60
60
50
40
50
47
35
33
30
18
20
20
20
Local egg brands
----
----
0
Organic
Pasture-Raised
• Availability of organic eggs varied between store types, but not
to a large degree (Table 3).
• The NW area offered the greatest availability of organic eggs
(mean=2.7, SD=0.58), followed by the NE area (mean=2.0,
SD=1.00) and the S area (mean=1.5, SD=0.71) (Table 2, Fig. 1).
• Availability of pasture-raised (n=3, or 60%) and local hen eggs
(n=2, or 50%) was greatest at the NW PCC (Table 3, Fig. 1).
Table 2. Frequency, mean, and standard deviation (SD) of egg brands/type in each
location. Availability of all egg types was greatest in the NW area.
Discussion
The current study reveals that organic and pasture-raised eggs are
available in all observed geographic areas and at various store types
(Table 1, Fig. 2), providing useful information for health conscious
consumers in Seattle, WA who place value on the nutritional quality
of the food they purchase (Jussaume et al., 2004). Organic and
pasture-raised eggs are nutrient dense, providing greater amounts of
vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants than conventionally raised hen
eggs (Long & Alterman, 2007; Ruth, et al., 2011). An overall
availability of organic eggs may be attributed to a growing appetite
for organic foods in the U.S., which has emerged as an important
segment of the market (Chang et al., 2010; Dimitri & Oberholtzer,
2009).
In future research it would be desirable
to include a larger pool of grocery stores survey including additional
store types. Further, analysis of each location at the same time and
on the same day as well as interviews of managers may reflect a more
accurate count of availability.
Organic eggs
Pasture-raised eggs
Local eggs
Frequency
Frequency
Frequency
Location
Mean (SD)
Mean (SD)
Mean (SD)
(n)
(n)
(n)
NW
8
2.7 (0.58)
3
----
3
1.5 (0.71)
NE
6
2.0 (1.00)
1
----
2
1.0 (0)
South
3
1.5 (0.71)
1
----
1
----
Conclusion
Table 3. Availability of eggs (n) at each store type and location. The NW PCC offered the
most availability of all egg types.
Egg Type
Fred Meyer
Local
Figure 1. Percent of egg types in each geographic location. The NW store locations
offered the most organic, pasture-raised, and local egg availability.
Wilcox Organic;
Naturally Organic;
---Wilcox Organic
Chino Valley
Ranchers Organic
Stiebrs Farms; Misty Stiebrs Farms; Misty Stiebrs Farms; Misty
Meadows Farm;
Meadows Farm;
Meadows Farm;
Pasture Verde Farm Pasture Verde Farm Pasture Verde Farm
(by Vital Farms)
(by Vital Farms)
(by Vital Farms)
Stiebers Farms
Stiebers Farms
Stiebers Farms
Safeway
17
10
Pasture-raised egg
brands
Safeway Organics;
Eggland Best
Northeast
70
Percent
Grocery store selection criteria
Results
PCC
NW
NE
S
NW
NE
S
NW
NE
S
Organic
2
2
2
3
3
----
3
1
1
Pastureraised
0
0
0
0
0
----
3
1
1
Local
0
0
0
1
1
----
2
1
1