Austrian organic food market grows despite Corona

In the first half of 2020, Austrians spent almost 20 percent more money on fresh organic food than in the same period last year. This and more details were reported by Agrarmarkt Austria Marketing (AMA). 

In Austria, consumers spent almost a fifth more money on organic food in the first half of this year than in the same period in 2019. According to the latest household panel of Agrarmarkt Austria Markteing (AMA), organic sales of fresh produce in June 2020 reached ten percent for the first time.

In relation to the entire first half of the year, milk and eggs had the highest shares of 21.5 and 19.4 percent respectively. In both segments, however, the sales shares declined slightly compared to the same period of the previous year, which the AMA explained with a lack of availability in the case of eggs.

Corona makes consumers more sensitive to food quality

Potatoes, vegetables and fruit yoghurt were also well above average. As in Germany, meat products continued to account for the lowest share of sales. "Corona could not stop the steady growth of organic", explained Michael Blass, Managing Director of AMA-Marketing. He attributed this to the fact that Corona had made people more sensitive to the quality and origin of food. The sales figures are based on a household panel of the companies GFK and Keyquest.

Largest share of organic sales in food retail markets

The AMA also presented figures for the entire year 2019. According to these figures, the Austrians spent 2.06 billion euros on organic food in 2019. More than three quarters of the turnover was accounted for by the food retail trade, while specialist retailers and direct marketers accounted for 15 percent of the market share. A further seven percent went to the catering trade. Within the food retail sector, discounters accounted for 28 percent of organic sales, while full-range retailers accounted for 72 percent.