You are what you eat - as the saying goes - but do the benefits of organic food outweigh the extra cost? Dietician Sheena Hendon says yes.
Organic foods do not have the pesticides that are added to the soil, the sulphur dioxides added during the manufacturing process and other additives used to preserve the food including fresh produce, she explained.
"So what we are doing is having a pure food."
As well as health benefits, organic food has more nutritional value and people do not need to eat as much food, says Auckland's Earth Seed Organics owner Elsa Clark. "You eat less, you feel full quicker. You feel satisfied. It just feels like a full food."
Ms Clark said all different types of people buy organic food, but particularly mothers and people who have been diagnosed with an illness.
"The benefits of organic food are in a word – wellness." She indicated the difference under a microscope between produce that had been grown organically and those grown with chemical fertilisers and pesticides.
The cell structure of produce grown organically is a lot more defined than other fruit and vegetables. The cells of produce grown with chemical fertilisers and pesticides were flaccid by comparison.
Fruit and vegetables are popular organic products and organic meat is increasingly sought after.
The high doses of chemicals given to animals in the farming process, such as growth hormones, were driving consumers towards organic beef and chicken, Mrs Hendon said.
"If you actually put them [preservatives and additives] into the body they are basically toxins. And if you have got a lot of those toxins in high quantities they can cause illness."
"Obviously the less toxins that you are putting into your body the better your body is going to be able to work. " She said illnesses such as diabetes have a lot to do with what you are putting into your body.
"If you are eating organics, you are eating pure food and this means that your gut is going to be able to work better and it means you are going to be absorbing things better, which means your hormones are going to be able to work better," said Mrs Hendon, who eats organic food herself.
Organic production Chantal Organic Wholesalers, based in Napier, move 100 tonnes of fresh and dried organic produce around New Zealand each week. Peter Alexander, one of the owners said consumers could do a "comprehensive shop" in an organic shop.
Mr Alexander said kiwifruit, apples and dairy were New Zealand's major organic exports.
Marphona Farms owner, Neil Redelinghuys chose to convert to organic production 10 years ago, because it was more sustainable.
He has now been producing organic milk and cream for seven years on his 800-hectare dairy farm in Pukekoe. Half the land is used to produce milk and the other half is a "support block" where crops are grown to feed the herd.
Mr Redelinghuys saw a niche market for organic products and said demand for organics is growing in New Zealand. The higher cost might exclude some people but others may not recognise the benefits, he said.
"One of the biggest problems is that people see New Zealand as clean and green already and don't think they need to use organics."