PurposeThe main purpose of this research is to examine the basic motives in making a decision to buy an organic food. The preferences in the type of food – conventional, organic and GMO between people from different countries in former Yugoslavia region, as well as the main motives for buying an organic food, are also determined. Differences in the main motives for buying organic food depending on the gender and age of the respondents are also examined.Design/methodology/approachThe sample consisted of 571 respondents from 6 countries of former Yugoslavia, which makes this paper unique and original. Questionnaire, which was specially constructed for the needs of the main purpose of this research, is to examine the basic motives in making a decision to buy an organic food. The preferences in the type of food – conventional, organic and GMO between people from different countries in former Yugoslavia region, as well as the main motives for buying an organic food, are also determinated. Differences in the main motives for buying organic food depending on the gender and age of the respondents are also examined. The sample consisted of 571 respondents from 6 countries of former Yugoslavia, which makes this paper unique and original. Questionnaire, which was specially constructed for the needs of the research, was applied (Cronbach α = 0.77). The research was conducted online, via the Google Forms questionnaire. Data were processed by the SPSS program. Mann–Whitney U test and Kruskal–Wallis test were used to determine the significance of the obtained differences in scores between groups of subjects. The results show that the conventional food is still the most common type of nutrition in people from these areas. The main reason for buying organic food is health, while there are no differences in scores between respondents of different gender, age and country they live in. Mandatory of this paper refers to show relevant information of main motives in purchasing organic food from people, which itself has broader social (raising awareness of the importance and significance an organic nutrition), as well as practical implications, which may be important for organic food producers and traders. The results of the research have a satisfactory level of reliability (Cronbach α = 0.77). The research was conducted online, via the Google Forms questionnaire. Data were processed by the SPSS program. Mann–Whitney U test and Kruskal–Wallis test were used to determine the significance of the obtained differences in scores between groups of subjects.FindingsThe results show that the conventional food is still the most common type of nutrition in people from these areas. The main reason for buying organic food is health, while there are no differences in scores between respondents of different gender, age and country they live in.Research limitations/implicationsAn unequal number of male and female respondents, as well as respondents from different countries.Practical implicationsMandatory of this paper refers to show relevant information of main motives in purchasing organic food from people, which may be important for organic food producers and traders.Social implicationsSocial implications refers to raise an awareness of the importance and significance an organic nutrition for people health.Originality/valueThe sample consisted of 571 respondents from 6 countries of former Yugoslavia, which makes this paper unique and original.

The situation with the virus Covide-19 worldwide, in addition to the many questions of how to best protect ourselves, drew the attention of people and professional community, to the significance and the importance that a healthy nutrition has in preserving and building up immunity, and thus also in the prevention and protect the organism from various negative agents. Due to increased consumer concern for their own health and the environment the organic food market is one of the fastest growing markets in the food industry. The main goal of the current research is to examine determinant factors influencing organic foods purchase in our region. The sample consisted of 571 subjects from Serbia and the region. The data were processed by the SPSS program, and the obtained results show that in our country, as well as anywhere in the world, the price is the most common barrier in the situation of buying organic food. Gender of our subjects was not a significant factor in making the decision and realization of the purchase, while their marital status and age had an influence in making the mentioned decision. In general, our research showed that younger respondents, who are not married, are the most common buyers of organic food.

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The essential research goal is to determine the frequency of purchases organic food in general and the basic demographic characteristics of typical buyers of organic food. Sample consists of 571 respondents of different sex, age, and educational level, area of living, material and marital status. The research was conducted online using a Google. The SPSS program was used for data processing. The Man Witney U and the Kruskal - Wallis tests were applied in order to determine the statistical significance of the obtained differences in scores between groups of subjects. The obtained results showed that the frequency of purchasing organic food in Serbia is still low. Typical buyers of organic food are mostly women, older, have higher education and income. They usually live in urban areas, in big cities, while their marital status seems to have no influence on their decision to purchase an organic food and products.

The COVID-19 virus pandemic has led to huge changes in the business of many companies. Managers and owners of companies were most affected, so in one segment of this paper, certain psychological ways that are available to people when it comes to overcoming various crises. Considering that profitable business is a condition for the survival of companies, in this paper, a comparison of profitability in the production of organic and conventional food was performed. ROA and ROE were calculated on a sample of 150 food producers in our country for the period from 2016 to 2020. The results showed that ROA is higher in conventional food producers, while ROE is higher in organic food producers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the profitability of food producers is higher than in the period before its outbreak. Also, there is a tendency to increase profitability in both types of production.