Reports the first results of a study on how increased awareness of food safety can influence consumer behaviour regarding specific products. Looks into consumer attitudes towards organic apples by means of a survey conducted among customers of large retail outlets located in Emilia‐Romagna (Italy). Analyses consumer attitudes toward organic food, studying the price/quantity/quality relationship for this type of product. Consumers were directly interviewed at retail outlets, A questionnaire consisting of the following four sections was used: fruit consumption; pesticide abatement; organic fruit and organic apple demand; and demographic profile of respondent. Presents the results of the preliminary test phase of the survey. The pre‐test results are quite encouraging and enable us to start the final investigation round. The survey will continue in three rounds over a 12‐month period, trying in this way to override the relatively high seasonality of apple consumption.