Global organic sales grow, but supply is strained

Soaring global organic food and drink sales continued to rise, but undersupply of organic ingredients was undermining the long-term stability of the sector. This was revealed by the report “The Global Market for Organic Food and Drinks” by the British consultancy Organic Monitor. It was projected that revenues would approach US $ 40 billion this year.

Countries where consumers had high disposable incomes, led by Switzerland, the United States and Singapore, were driving the demand. According to Organic Monitor, the G7 countries accounted for over 80 per cent of total sales, despite only having 12 per cent of organic farmland. The demand was outstripping supply, even though a triple-digit growth in organic farmland was reported in Latin America, Asia and Africa since the year 2000. The shortages were most evident in North America. Many US-companies were sourcing the globe for organic ingredients. According to the consultancy, nuts, beans and seeds were increasingly being imported from Turkey, China and Brazil, herbs and spices increasingly came from Paraguay, India and Ethiopia, organic fresh fruit and vegetables from African and Asian countries. Various European countries also experienced supply shortages; even sectors previously at fault from overproduction were suffering from undersupply.

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