Latest “organic” numbers for Italy

The press release by Aiab, Coldiretti and Legambiente has shown an interesting progress for the organic business in the country and changes worldwide. The organic production in China has grown immensely with a plus of 1,057 % in 2005. The country now is second in the world with an organic area three times larger than the organic cultivable land of Italy. Australia is still leading with 12 million hectares, showing a growth of 7.3 % compared with 2004, followed by China with 3,47 million hectares (+ 1,056 %) and Argentina with 2.80 million hectares (stabile). Italy remains is forth worldwide, but still European leader with 1.07 hectares, representing a growth of 12.8 %.

The number of operators in Italy grew from 40,965 in 2004 to 49,859 in 2005, representing a growth of 22 %. The number of producers in the agricultural organic business grew from 36,639 in 2004 to 44,733 in 2005 (+ 22 %). The number of producers, however, decreased to 4,537 (- 25 %), the number of importers decreased by 6 %.

The “typical” Italian consumer is between 30 and 49 years old, has a university degree, is employed and working for a company on a payrolland. He or she rather lives in the north east of the country. When asked if there was a brand name “made in Italy” for organic products, 68 % of the respondents stated they would buy more organic products, 23 % said they would not change their purchasing patterns. 1 % of the interviewees said they would buy less and 8 % that they would still not buy organic products.

A short overview about school cafeterias was also given by regions. Most of the organic cafeterias are found in the north of the country (459). Emilia Romagna is leader in the north (133). In the centre of Italy, 135 organic school cafeterias can be found; the region Toscana is leader with 77 in this area. The south only has 53 school cafeterias – Basilicata is leader there (14). 

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