A Growth in the Czech Republic Organic Food Market

The sales in the Czech Republic organic food market have been growing steadily – 30 % in 2005 compared with 2004. It still only accounts for 0.16 % in overall food consumption in the country and is worth 12,425,000 Euros. In 2005, there were about 830 organic farms and 125 organic food producers. The area of organic farmland was 255,000 hectares (5.98 % of the total area of farmland). About 3,000 organic food products are sold on the market, 2,000 of those are imported. 65 percent of these are sold in supermarkets and hypermarkets, 25 percent in specialized organic food shops and 7.5 % on farms. Annually, each Czech spends an average of 1.24 Euros on organic food, which is 3 % of the average amount spent in Western Europe, reports the Prague Daily Monitor. In the Czech Republic, prices for organic food are usually between 30 and 40 % higher than for traditional products.

Since  accession to the EU there is every sign that the market is moving into a growth phase. Foreign manufacturers and traders are showing interest in the market, new organic shops and processing facilities are being opened and more supermarket chains offer more organic foods. Several new importers started bringing in a wider variety of organic foods and the number of organic foods on the market has more than doubled in eight months. It is expected that the market will grow significantly during the next five years. The main distribution channels for organic food are multiple retailers. Supermarkets have about a 60 % share of the market (152 outlets), health food shops and specialised organic shops have about a 30 % share (approx.150 outlets), other food retailers have 2.5 % and 7.5 % is sold directly from farms.

http://www.praguemonitor.com/ctk/?story_id=w33213i20060531;story=Organic-food-sale-in-Czech-Rep-up-but-still-far-behind-WEurope