Tutto Bio 2008 - the Organic Yearbook

According to the 2008 Bio Bank Report based on province-by-province data, which has recently been published in Tutto Bio’s 14th edition, Siena turns out to be the best organic province in Italy. Together with Siena, the provinces Grosseto, Pesaro-Urbino, Forlì-Cesena and Perugia make the centre of Italy an organic boost area. These five provinces gathered the greatest number of operators registered by Bio Bank, the organic data base, at the end of 2007, in relation with the number of inhabitants. 5,276 operators were registered in eight categories.

Picture: Tutto Bio 2008

5,276 operators were registered in the eight categories: farm gate sales, holiday farms, farmers’ markets, purchasing groups, shops, restaurants, school canteens and e-commerce websites, with nine operators for every 100,000 inhabitants. In these five provinces, the trend goes from Siena’s 54 operators - 6 times the national average - to the 27 of Perugia.

Siena has 22 farm gate sales per 100,000 inhabitants. These are strictly linked to holiday farms, offering not only hospitality, but also their products. Grosseto has 21 holiday farms per 100,000 inhabitants. Grosseto, Maremma and its sea regions win the first place for holiday farm hospitality thanks to Festambiente, the ecological festival with a twenty year tradition.

Firenze is the leader for purchasing groups with 2 groups per 100,000 inhabitants, thanks to Terra Futura, a meeting point for mindful and conscious consumers, promoting a way of selling which is already well-established in other regions. Ravenna and Belluno are leaders in the section of farmers’ markets, with 3 markets per 100.000 inhabitants. In terms of farmers’ markets, these are the most dynamic provinces, for two different reasons: Ravenna for a lot of widespread initiatives in all its territories and Belluno for the existence of specially promoted farmers’ markets.

Macerata is the leader for organic restaurants, with 2 restaurants per 100,000 inhabitants. A macrobiotic restaurant chain is extended in various towns, especially in Marche and at the Romagna coast. Gorizia is the most important town for school cafeterias with 8 per 100,000 inhabitants. Friuli-V.G. passed the first regional law for organic school canteens in 2000, promoting the introduction of organic products in the schools of the whole region.

Bolzano e Aosta are most important for shops, with 7 per 100,000 inhabitants. This fact is linked to language and culture -  the closeness to Austria, Germany and Switzerland - and to the health movement from which the first Reformhaus, the precursor of organic shops, was born. Foggia is the leader for e-commerce websites, with 1.5 per 100,000 inhabitants. This province is located in the south of Italy and therefore needs to find a direct way of selling its typical Mediterranean productions: oil, but also olives, pasta and tomato preserves.

Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy and Tuscany prove to be the organic Italian leading regions regarding operators in the eight categories considered for two consecutive years. Emilia-Romagna is the only region holding the top five ranking in  all the categories: holding the first place for the number of school canteens, restaurants and farmers’ markets and the second place for farm gate sales, holiday farms and e-commerce websites. Lombardy enters in the list with five categories, holding a leadership for purchasing groups and specialised shops, while Tuscany is in the top five for seven categories with a leading role for farm gate sales and holiday farms.

The period from 2005-2007 confirms the positive trend for the number of organic operators in each category, which are listed in order of growth for the first time. Short supply chains hold the first place, with consumers organising themselves to buy in groups and farms opening their stores and offering hospitality.

• Purchasing groups + 60%: from 222 in 2005 to 356 in 2007
• Farm gate sales + 37%: from 1,199 to 1,645
• Holiday farms + 25%: from 804 to 1,002
• E-Commerce websites +20%: from 88 to 106
• Farmers’ markets + 10%: from 185 to 204
• Shops +9%: from 1,014 to 1,106
• School cafeterias +6%: from 647 to 683
• Restaurants +1%: from 172 to 174.

Tutto Bio 2008 publishes data and news, updated year by year thanks to Bio Bank censuses, related to more than 6,000 organic operators, 2,300 of which selling directly to consumers: 1,645 farm gate sales; 1,002 holiday farms;  204 organic and biodiversity farmers’ markets; 369 purchasing groups; 1,106 specialised shops; 11 organic supermarkets brands; 7 online supermarkets; 301 restaurants; 16 catering companies;  683 organic school canteens; 106 organic e-commerce websites; 89 fair trade companies; 15 control bodies; 134 organic associations;  28 organic exhibitions and fairs; 177 organic books and magazines; 91 cards illustrating organic products.

The pleasure and the need of working together is the theme chosen for the 14th edition, carrying on the 2007 thread “Organic, Ecological and Ethical: three close friends”.

• Slowfood , with Carlo Petrini, going in depth in the biodiversity theme
• Bioagricultura, with Gianfranco Travaglini and the organic social farms reality
• Cucina Naturale, with Adriano Del Fabro and short supply chain school canteens
• Una Città, with Fabio Gavelli and the challenge in ethical and solidary textile industry
• Terra Nuova, with Matthieu Lietaert and co-housing, a sort of solidary neighbourhood.

TUTTO BIO 2008

The Organic Yearbook - 14th edition
by Achille Mingozzi and Rosa Maria Bertino (see picture)
Bio Bank by Egaf Edizioni - 304 pages - Cover price 16 Euro
Format: cm 16,5 x 23,5 - Print: 4 colours on ecological paper

Tutto Bio 2008 can be ordered directly from Egaf Publisher (tel. +39 0543 473347) or online on the Bio Bank portal http://www.biobank.it/en/GEN-skbookshop.asp?id=110

552 operators joined Bio Card Circuit (farm gate sales, holiday farms, restaurants and specialised shops), offering a 10 % discount to the readers of Tutto Bio readers. The card can be found for free in the yearbook.

Bio Bank has been the Italian organic, ecological and ethical database since 1993 and updating, year by year, thanks to the direct censuses of thousands of operators.

www.biobank.it