Low consumption of organic products in Spain

72 % of the Spanish population have heard of organic food, but a high percentage, 62 % do not consume any. A lack of information, the difficulty to find organic products and prices too high compared with the prices of traditional food are slowing down the demand. These arguments convinced the Ministry of Agriculture, Fish and Food (MAPA) to start the first national information and promotion campaign on organic products, co-financed by the European Union.

Spain has an organically cultivated acreage of 800 thousand hectares, which makes it number eight in the world. But the Ministry has calculated that 80 % of products, mainly fresh ones, are imported from Europe - especially from Germany, the Netherlands, France and Great Britain. The turnover of organic products on the national market is still less than 1 % (of the total turnover for food). A study realized by MAPA identified the reasons for the low consumption: the lack of information (33 %), bad availability of products (31 %) and prices were considered as too high (28 %). The main reasons stated for buying organic products were that they were healthier (62 %), they tasted better (37 %) and that they were of higher quality (26 %).

For more information: www.vivelagriculturaecologica.com (in Spanish)