Karlotta Koch

Karlotta Koch, M.Sc.

Doctoral Candidate

Karlotta Koch is a doctoral candidate at the Institute of Social Sciences in Agriculture, Department of Societal Transition and Agriculture, at the University of Hohenheim. She holds a M.Sc. in Environmental Protection and Agricultural Food Production by the University of Hohenheim. In her Master's Thesis she analyzed consumers’ acceptance of processed organic food on the basis of a quantitative consumer study with FibL Switzerland within the ProOrg project funded by the Core Organic Cofund.

Her current research addresses the applicability and consumer acceptance of a development-oriented certification procedure in organic farming tested by Demeter e.V. that replaces third-party certification by a self-inspection tool and a moderated farm talk. Her research is part of the project “Zerti4.0” funded by the Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food (BLE) and the Federal Program for Organic Farming and Other Forms of Sustainable Agriculture (BÖLN), Germany.


The organic certification system in transition: Integrating a development-oriented approach into third-party certification – A case study of Demeter’s project “Projekt Anerkennung”

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  • Organic certification
  • Participatory guarantee systems
  • Third-party certification
  • Consumer research
  • Consumer acceptance of organic food
Since 2022

Doctoral Candidate, Department of Societal Transition and Agriculture, University of Hohenheim

Since 2020Researcher, Department of Societal Transition and Agriculture, University of Hohenheim
2017 - 2020M.Sc. in Environmental Protection and Agricultural Food Production, University of Hohenheim
2018 - 2019Semester abroad at University of Copenhagen, Denmark
2012 - 2016B.A. in Liberals Arts and Sciences, University of Freiburg
2014 - 2015Year abroad at Università degli Studi di Padova, Italy
Koch K., Bieling C., Oeding S., Nieland C., Brock C. (2025): Zertifizierung neu denken – partizipativ und entwicklungsorientiert. Lebendige Erde 1: 38-41
Schmid O., Stolz H., Koch K., Meier C. (2025): Market structures of organic dairy farming and consumer attitudes towards organic milk processing. In: Vaarst M., Roderick S., Whistance L. (eds.) Advances in organic dairy cattle farming. Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing Limited, Cambridge, UK. pp. 301–324.
Koch K., Oeding S., Uthe P., Beck A., Nieland C., Bieling C. (2024): Bio-Zertifizierung neu denken – partizipativ und entwicklungsorientiert . In Schriften der Gesellschaft für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften des Landbaus e.V., Bd. 59, pp. 297-299
21.09.2023 „Bio-Zertifizierung neu denken – partizipativ und entwicklungsorientiert“ Poster-Präsentation auf der 63. GEWISOLA-Jahrestagung in Göttingen
08.03.2023 „Kontrolle, Beratung, Entwicklung – Können diese Aufgaben in der Verbandszertifizierung miteinander verbunden werden?“, presentation at the Wissenschaftstagung Ökologischer Landbau, organized by FiBL in Frick, Switzerland
16.02.2023 „Moderierte Hofgespräche, Betriebsentwicklung und gegenseitige Anerkennung – Frischer Wind in der Verbandszertifizierung“, presentation together with project partners of Zert4.0 at the BioFach congress, Nuremberg
23.06.2022 „Challenges, potentials, and impacts of a more participatory Third Party Certification”, Präsentation im Rahmen des Satellite Events der European Society for Rural Sociology (ESRS) organisiert durch BOKU, Wien (digital)
08.09.2021 “Collaborative paths to certification for German Demeter farms”, presentation held at the international Organic World Congress 2021, organized by IFOAM – Organics International in Rennes and digital
07.09.2021 “Compliance through Trust, Quality through Teamwork: New Paths to Certification for Demeter farms in Germany”, presentation held at the international PGS pre-conference “30 Years of PGS development: a root and branch appraisal”, organized by IFOAM – Organics International in Rennes and digital
2020ELLS Prize for Excellent Master Theses donated by Prof.Dr. Prof.h.c. Dr.h.c. Klaus Macharzina

Postal address:

University of Hohenheim
Institute of Social Sciences in Agriculture
Societal Transition and Agriculture (430b)
Schloss Museumsflügel (4.15/1C, 126)
70599 Stuttgart, Germany