Swedish organic sales increased by 9.3 % in 2017

Organic sales in Sweden 2017.Graphic © Ekoweb Sweden

The total food market was valued at approximately SEK 300 billion (€30 billion) in 2017, including retail, Foodservice and Systembolaget (alcoholic drinks). According to Statistics Sweden, the Consumer Price Index (CPI), food prices rose by about 2 percent in 2017. The Swedish agricultural and market information service Ekoweb has summarized the preliminary sales figures for the organic food market for 2017 which shows that organic food sales increased by 9.3 percent in 2017.

Ekoweb's forecast: mid-term report showed growth at 7-8 percent

The organic share of total food sales amounted to 9.1 percent, an increase of 0.4 percentage points (8.7 percent, 2016). In total, organic food & drink sales totalled SEK 28 billion (€2.8 billion) in 2017, an increase in value of SEK 2.6 billion (€26 million) compared with 2016. Ekoweb's forecast in last year's report was an increase of 10-15 percent for 2017 and the mid-term report showed growth at 7-8 percent.

Systembolaget is the second largest player in organic food & drink sales in Sweden Systembolaget is continuing to increase its sales of organic drinks and they rose to SEK 5.2 billion (€520 million) in 2017 (SEK 4.5 billion, 2016). Of these sales 14.2% were made online in 2017 and 12.6% of these online sales were for organic drinks.

Sweden´s biggest three players in the organic food and drink market are ICA. Systembolaget and Coop. Graphic © Ekoweb

Foodservice increased by 15 percent

Foodservice continued to see positive growth in organic food sales. Sales increased by 15 percent during the year, both in the private catering market and in the public sector. It is noteworthy that in 2017 the public sector as a whole had a 35 percent equity ratio. It is mostly Scandinavian and best in the world.

In the retail sector, organic food sales are still growing, but at a slower rate than the last five years. The largest player, ICA, increased organic food sales by 3 percent, Axfood by 5 percent and Coop 3 percent. The smaller players Lidl, Mathem and Net had a growth rate of between 10 and 30 percent. Prices for organic food were relatively stable during the year. A factor affecting retail price is the continued growth of the retailers’ “own-brand” products that results in larger volumes of trade and naturally pushes down prices. When converting from branded to “own-brand” products the price is cut by about 10 percent on average and all major retail chains report that they increased their market share with “own-brand” in 2017.

Food service showed a strong increase in Sweden in 2017. Photo Kai Kreuzer

E-commerce a strong growing trend

A strong growing trend is online food sales which now have a market share of 2.4 percent of the total food trade, according to the trade union Svensk Digital Handel. The proportion of organic sales online is much higher than in bricks & mortar retail and many chains report online organic sales are double their online non-organic food sales. The specialized online retailer Mathem.se has reported 25 percent e-business and an increase in specialized online retailers is anticipated in Sweden. In 2017, online organic sales were valued at SEK 1.2 billion (€120 million). This means that 4.4 per cent of all organic food sold today in Sweden is sold online. According to KRAV, Swedish organic food exports increased by 20 per cent in value to just over SEK 1 billion (€100 million) in 2017, accounting for a little over 2 percent of total food exports from Sweden.

Organic share of the different Swedish sales channels. Chart © Ekoweb