Australian organic organizations advocate for a domestic standard

Australia leads the world with more than half (51 per cent) of the world's certified organic land, but has no mandatory domestic standard for its organic industry. Organic experts now want to change that.

According to experts in the organic field, a certified label would significantly help the country’s organic industry to grow, improve customer’s acceptance and trust. In 2020, organics represented 1.8 billion Australian dollars or three per cent of the total production value of all agricultural commodities produced in Australia.

A certified label to increase demand

Denmark is often considered as a role model: It was one of the first countries that introduced organic regulations and labelling 30 years ago. For eleven years in a row, Denmark has now been the world leader in consumption of organic products. In 2020, the Danish organic market share was again the highest of all countries with 13 per cent: Organic food worth an average of 384 Euros per capita ended up in the shopping basket, which is 40 Euros more than in the previous year. 

While lacking a domestic regulation in Australia, businesses voluntarily meet the nation’s strict organic export certification process, such as the ‘Bud’ logo, to add credibility to their brand. But many stakeholders agree that a certified label would improve demand for organic products in Australia.

All these questions, relevant strategies and trends will be discussed next week at the Australian Organic Conference from 21-22 July. Speakers will be, among others, Amarjit Sahota, founder and President of Ecovia Intelligence and Niki Ford, Chief Executive Officer of Australian Organic Limited (AOL).