Good vintage for the international organic sector

If the result for the international market were a fine organic wine, the upshot for 2011 could be: excellent climate and optimum terroir give the vintage a powerful body and a multifaceted but harmonious taste. After rather restrained growth in the years before, the markets in Europe and the USA distinctly picked up speed again with sales up by 5 to 10 %. For example, France and Sweden enjoyed a rise of 11 % each, and the organic market in the Netherlands grew by as much as 17 %. For 2012, experts currently expect growth in the single-figure range.

According to the Bund Ökologischer Lebensmittelwirtschaft BÖLW (the Federation of the Organic Food Industry in Berlin), organic sales in Germany rose by 9 % in 2011, from 6.02 to 6.6 billion EUR. The organic share of the food market increased to 3.7 %. A total of 22,506 farms work their 1,015.626 ha of land in accordance with the provisions of the EU Organic Regulation. This is 7.5 % of the farms in Germany and 6.1 % of the total agricultural area. 2012 started somewhat quieter: In the first half-year, for example, organic sales in the organic food trade rose by only 3.3 %. This figure does not include sales in the conventional retail food trade. (Picture: Felix Prinz zu Löwenstein, chairman of the BÖLW)

In the first six months of 2012, 25 organic supermarkets in Germany have opened as new stores or increased their space by moving to new premises. Last year there were altogether 66 new specialist stores with a sales area of 200 m² or more and organic supermarkets of 400 m² or more. As many as 80 % of the new shops belong to a single company. Some 30,000 m² of extra sales space was created up to the end of December 2011. Dennree is clearly expanding its market leadership all the time and meanwhile has almost 100 Denn’s organic stores in Germany and five in Austria. Altogether 14 stores with a total of 7,000 m² opened in the first half of 2012. (Picture: Denn's Bio in Augsburg)

Austria and Switzerland are stabile Alpine organic republics. Austria registered sales of organic food worth 1.2 billion EUR in all sales channels in 2011. This corresponds to 7.7 % growth. The classic food trade, the main sales channel for organic products in Austria, recorded the biggest rise with 9.2 %. The out-of-home catering segment also achieved distinct growth and export business increased by 5 %. Although Switzerland already has a two-figure share of organic farms, the readiness to convert to organic continues at the same level. 220 farmers decided to convert in 2012, 27 % more than the year before. 5,618 farms currently work to the standards of the organic association Bio Suisse of Basel (CH). Together with the 387 farms that produce to official organic standards, the organic share of Swiss agriculture is around 11 %. Organic sales in the retail trade grew by 4.2 % to 1.4 billion euros in 2011.  (Picture: Sonnentor shop in Vienna)
 

In Italy, sales in the organic sector including direct marketing were some 2 billion euros in 2011 (2010: 1.8 billion euros), plus 1.1 billion euros for exports. The organic market thus grew for the ninth year in succession, according to a joint panel study by Ismea (Istituto di Servizi per il Mercato Agricolo Alimentare) in Rome and the international consumer researcher, Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung GfK of Nuremburg in Germany. Organic sales in the conventional retail trade increased by 9 % to 545 million euros, and in the specialist trade by as much as 12 % to 895 million euros. Market expert Roberto Pinton reports that the growth rates of Italian wholesalers in the last two years were between 10 and 20 %. This trade segment has now reported single-figure growth for the first half of 2012, likewise the conventional food retail trade, where organic sales were up 6 %. (Picture: NaturaSi)

France can be pleased with its steady growth of organic agriculture for many years and occupies 2nd place in the European rankings after Germany. The French market for organic food increased by 11 % to some 4 billion euros in 2011 (Source: Agence Bio, Montreuil-Sous-Bois, France). The organically farmed area rose by 15 % in 2011 to reach 975,141 ha, and even topped the 1 million mark in the first half of 2012. The number of organic farmers and firms grew by 14 % to 35,271. (Picture: NatureO)

There was a large leap in growth of the organic market in the Netherlands in 2011. Organic sales rose from 752 million euros to 881 million euros (Source: Bionext, Zeist, Netherlands), which is up by as much as 17 % after several years of single-figure growth. This raised the organic sector’s rather low share of the whole food market from 1.7 to 2 %. The classic supermarkets are the most important sales channel in the Netherlands and account for 48 % of organic sales. Every third euro spent on organic food is spent in the specialist trade, which has a total share of 32 %. Direct marketing, out-of-home catering and other sales channels account for the remaining 20 %. The conventional trade with 25 % more sales mainly contributed to the large growth in 2011, whereas the specialist trade only managed to grow by 7 %. Experts attribute this to an appreciably larger range in supermarkets and department stores.
 

The highest sales figure ever achieved for organic products in Great Britain was some 2.6 billion euros in 2008. Organic products worth 1.9 billion euros finished up in customers’ shopping baskets in 2011, which was another drop of 3.7 % after minus 6 % in 2010. The organically farmed area decreased by 9 % and is currently 656,000 ha (Source. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in London). Experts attribute the present market situation to the 5 % drop in organic sales in the conventional retail trade, which sells 71 % of all organic products.  In the course of the changed overall economic situation of the past years, the large trading chains had drastically cut the share of organic food in their ranges. In the meantime, sales channels with 100 % organic, such as box schemes, raised their sales by 7 % in 2011. (Picture: OrganicFood Festival)

In Denmark and Sweden, conventional trade is driving growth. Sweden increased sales by 100 million euros in 2011 to a total of 1 billion euros and registered 11 % growth. (Cecilia Ryegard, Ekoweb, Stockholm). The organic share of the whole food market including out-of-home catering is 3.5 %. Experts expect annual growth of just under 112 million euros in the coming years. At 7.8 %, Denmark’s market share for organic consumption in 2011 is about twice as large as that of its Swedish neighbour. Organic products in the retail trade grew by 7 % and according to Organic Denmark reached some 0.7 billion EUR. The equivalent of another 100 million EUR was achieved in out-of-home catering. The organic food trade in the country between the North Sea and Baltic Sea, in which a large part of organic food is sold by chains like Netto, Superbrugsen and Fakta, has a share of only 10 %. The trading chain with the largest organic share is called Irma, which already achieves 23 % of its sales with organic products. Denmark meanwhile achieves top figures for individual articles from organic production. For example, 41 % of the oats, 29 % of the milk and 23 % of the eggs sold in 2011.