New Report shows a Market Drop in the Netherlands

As a new report shows, expenditure on organic products rose just 1.4 % to 467 Million Euros in 2005, while the share of organics grew from 1.9 % to 2.0 %. Potatoes, fruit and vegetables had a 4.8 % decline in spite of the general trend towards healthier eating. Health shops kept on growing in popularity with a share of 38 % of all organic sales last year, Internet sales jumped by 10 % overall. The share of traditional supermarkets dropped to 49 %.

In Belgium, consumers spent 201 Million Euros on organic food, 2.1 % more than the year before, the average market share rose marginally to 1.4 %. Farms and wet markets gained market shares at the expense of speciality stores. Multiples remained by far the biggest channel with sales accounting for 60 % overall.

The trend within the EU as a whole is one of growth. In 2004, acreage grew by 170,000 hectares to 5.8 Million hectares, 3.6 % of all utilized agricultural land. The countries with the largest area were Italy, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom and France, accounting for 63 % of the total.
WorldGrower