‘One of the things that adds the most value is organic’: New trajectories and singularities in the organic products market

Abstract

As they were regulated and institutionalized, organic products took on new trajectories and meanings with the emergence of a more varied market focusing on specific audiences and new qualification references. In this paper we investigate some of the new meanings and different qualifications organic products have assumed by analyzing their new trajectories and singularities within an increasingly flexible and dynamic market containing wider and more heterogeneous range of actors and distinct products that circulate around the organic concept but are neither rigidly defined by or dependent upon this meaning. Using data from primary and secondary sources on how these products were singularized, we attempt to demonstrate that throughout the process of regulating and institutionalizing organic products, “organic” has not only become commodified but also assumed other overlapping meanings, with this characteristic potentially becoming less central or products even ceasing altogether to be organic. In our analysis we highlight trade fairs that focus on these products, their entry into large food companies and retailers, ultra-processed organic products, and how they approximate other qualification references (such as the concepts of vegan, diet, and light).