Foreign companies spurred on by the Dutch organic market

Experts in the Dutch organic industry considered it was only a question of time before BioPlanet came across the border from Belgium. As early as 2005, the parent company of the discounter Colruyt announced its strategy in BioFood Magazine, namely that expansion into the south of Holland was planned. In the meantime, words have been turned into deeds, and BioPlanet has opened a new organic supermarket in Eindhoven.

Picture: BioPlanet

BioPlanet has three stores in Belgium, in Kortrijk, Ghent and Dilbeek. The company said it would open two more new stores in Belgium in 2006, but the plan has not yet become a reality.

The pressure exerted by the conventional retail trade on the organic market has been considerably less in recent years than people feared in 2000. There have been casualties in the fierce price war that broke out in 2003, such as Laurus, that saw no alternative to selling two stores. The unrelenting pressure on prices in the conventional food trade is continuing unabated and is leading to more restricted service in many supermarkets. Efficiency and the speed of circulation of goods are core considerations for these organisations, and that approach does not exactly increase the turnover of organics. And yet, there are signs that the times are changing. The supermarket chain “Albert Heijn”, that is present in all parts of Holland and is the most prominent regarding organics in the conventional retail trade, is testing its revamped organics programme. A number of smaller supermarket chains, for example Plus, are increasing their turnover appreciably, and Plus stores are experimenting with their own organics departments. Also, efforts are being made to improve organic brand labelling, above all at the instigation of the Foundation Bio+.

Last autumn, Aldi (picture) and Lidl concentrated more and more on replacing some conventional products with organic. For example, conventional rucola and cabbage were replaced by their organic equivalents. The pressure arising from the publication by Greenpeace of analyses of pesticide residues that showed Aldi and Lidl in particular in a bad light, seems to have taken effect, with the result that the German discounters are putting increasing emphasis on organics in Holland too. The latest developments to market organic products in the supermarkets are being backed up by the national campaign “Taste the Care”.

The intermediate report by EkoMonitor shows clearly that the turnover of organics has risen sharply. In the first six months of 2006, turnover increased by 6 % overall, but the 9 % increase in the second three-month period points to an ever more rapid growth rate. Another striking feature is that sales in specialist stores are almost the same as in supermarkets. In recent years, specialist stores have been able to regain lost ground, which is a remarkable development in view of the fact that, in most other aspects of the specialist trade, market share continues to be lost to the supermarkets. The total turnover of organics in the first six months of 2006 was 224 million euros, with the supermarkets accounting for 98 million, specialist stores for 96 million and other sales channels for 30 million.

In summary, there is a huge amount of activity in the specialist organic trade. New ideas are being tested in order to reach new customers. New stores are being opened, existing ones extended and modernised. The dynamism in this market may well have resulted in a doubling of the growth rates last autumn. In the supermarket sector as well, where efficiency and return are so important, for the first time in years they are talking about a growth in the turnover of organics.