Image of organic prices by category: expensive here, competitive there
The price difference between organic and conventional products is not solely due to production costs. For fruits and vegetables, the gross margin for large retailers is, on average, 81% higher for organic products, with price differences that make no sense based on the product itself.
Part of the pricing strategy for the organic section therefore depends on legacy factors that have never been reviewed. Managing it category by category—by separating purchase prices from Markup —allows us to make adjustments where customers compare prices without affecting categories that are already performing well.
The organic price image is the customer's perception of the retailer's price level for its organic products. It is formed category by category, never based on an average across the entire catalog.
A brand may be well-positioned in one market segment and considered expensive in another. Part of this discrepancy does not stem from the organic sector, but from a " Markup " that no one has reviewed.
The price premium for organic products is not just an additional production cost
The customer notices a price difference between an organic product and its conventional counterpart. The customer concludes that organic products are more expensive to produce.
That's only partly true. Another part of the difference stems from the " Markup " that the retailer applies to organic products, which is often higher than for conventional ones.
additional gross margin, on average, for organic fruits and vegetables compared to conventional ones in mass-market retail. Calculation based on 24 fruits and vegetables, for the year 2025.
(Que Choisir Ensemble, press release dated May 28, 2026)
For a category manager, this is information for strategic decision-making rather than a source of controversy. Part of the price image of the organic aisle depends on an internal decision, not on the supply chain.
A markup with no product-based rationale
The same study details these discrepancies: product by product. The markup reaches +185% for leeks, a product that is easy to store, and only +96% for strawberries, which are much more perishable.
It is +72% for garlic and -17% for onions. These differences are not related to the product's perishability or its cost to stock on the shelves.
Our take: This isn't a strategy; it's a pile of inherited coefficients. And an inherited coefficient doesn't protect the price image—it degrades it randomly across the shelves.
Of the additional cost of organic tomatoes paid by the customer, only 27% comes from the agricultural cost; the rest comes from the retailer’s markup.
(Que Choisir Ensemble, same study, 2025 data)
Tomatoes are one of the most frequently purchased items. Since most of the markup comes from the profit margin, the retailer is building its reputation for high prices on a product that attracts a lot of attention.
Why an Overall Average Masks the Problem
A single "organicprice-image " score, averaged across the entire catalog, may seem reassuring. It offsets an overly expensive segment with a well-positioned one.
Customers, on the other hand, don't look at averages. They judge a store based on the sections they visit each week and on a few specific products they compare.
Two organic products each contain 40% more than their conventional counterparts.
In the first case, the difference stems almost entirely from the purchase price: lowering it means selling at no profit. In the second case, it stems mainly from the markup applied in stores, which was set years ago.
From the customer's perspective, it's the same difference. From a pricing perspective, one is a constraint, while the other is a choice that can be revised as early as the following week.
The sectors driving the recovery are not the ones we're watching
According to the Agence BIO and ObSoCo survey published in February 2026, fruits and vegetables are driving the growth of the organic market, followed by eggs, groceries, meat, and poultry. Dairy products and beverages are lagging behind.
Price analysis almost always focuses on fruits and vegetables. Our belief is that we should look first at the background—because an improperly calibrated price gap there drives customers away, causing them to shop elsewhere.
Managing the organic price image by product category
The analysis consists of two parts. The first breaks down, universe by universe, what comes from the purchase price and what comes from the applied Markup .
The second factor compares this gap with what the customer actually compares within the market: their benchmark products. A markup on a product that no one compares has little impact on brand image. The same markup on a benchmark product, however, is costly.
This cross-departmental price adjustment is standard practice in retail. The risk is that no one takes responsibility for it. An overview of the department can be found in our organic pricing guide.
At Booper, " Pricing Analytics " reports on price and margin performance by product category and SKU. A price image analysis compares the price gap with tracked competitors and the applied " Markup ."
GENIUS Predict simulations then show the impact of an adjustment on sales and inventory. Deciding where to reduce the markup remains up to the retailer.
See also in this feature
- Pricing in the Retail Sector: What's Changing (and What Isn't)
- Organic Price Schedule: Why a National Standard Is Costing Money
- Auto Parts Prices: Comparing the Right Part Number, Capitalizing on the Long Tail
- High-tech pricing: a short product lifecycle, margins that fluctuate by the day
Frequently Asked Questions
This is because the difference from conventional pricing depends not only on the purchase price but also on the applied “ Markup ,” which varies significantly from one product to another and from one product category to another. A well-positioned product category can coexist with one where the coefficients have never been revised.
No. According to Que Choisir Ensemble (May 2026, 2025 data), the gross margin on organic fruits and vegetables at large retailers is, on average, 81% higher than on conventional ones. For tomatoes, this margin accounts for 73% of the extra cost paid by the customer.
No. An average across the entire catalog balances out an overly expensive category with a well-priced one. Customers, for their part, base their judgments on the categories they frequent and the products they compare.
Those where customers compare prices the most, and those where demand is down. In 2026, fruits and vegetables are driving the organic market’s recovery, while dairy products and beverages are declining: a poorly calibrated price gap is holding back customers from returning.
No. A high markup on a product that isn't often compared has little impact on price perception. Efforts should focus on the benchmark products in the most popular categories, and on legacy markups that make no sense from a product perspective.
By breaking down, for each category, the portion of the price difference that comes from the purchase price and the portion that comes from Markup, and then cross-referencing this difference with the products the customer is actually comparing.
Sources: Que Choisir Ensemble, “Prices of Organic Fruits and Vegetables” (press release dated May 28, 2026, RNM 2025 data), quechoisirensemble.fr · Agence BIO and L’ObSoCo, 23rd Barometer (February 26, 2026), lobsoco.com. Example figures: for illustrative purposes only.
Further Reading
Management doesn't approve a price; it approves a trade-off between margin, volume, and price image. Presenting a single recommendation means asking management to trust you. Presenting the cost of each option gives management the information it needs to make a decision.
A sound projection provides a range rather than a single figure, specifies what is being excluded, and anticipates the gap between the projected increase and the actual increase. When compared with actual results, it establishes the credibility of the next projection.
A franchisor cannot impose a minimum resale price: doing so is punishable by law; the franchisor may only recommend a price or set a maximum. A franchisee’s margin is therefore governed by a documented target, defined by network segment and applied uniformly across each segment.
The best indicator of this governance is not adherence to the suggested retail price, but the rate of compliance with it by segment. A suggested retail price that franchisees in a given area do not follow often signals a poorly set price, not a lack of discipline.
Optimix merged with Maxxing in July 2025, and PricingHUB was acquired by Akeneo in June 2026. For their customers, the question of the independence of the pricing roadmap has become a legitimate concern.
What sets a query apart in France isn't the processing speed: it's the native support for French rules, pricing by store or by zone, the validation process, and testing with your own data.