Rising sales from organic food in the Czech Republic

The market for organic food in the Czech Republic is growing. Compared to 2019, the growth was 14 per cent higher, and Czech households consumed organic food worth CZK 5.99 billion (compared to CZK 5.26 billion in 2019). This is according to the report on the organic food market in the Czech Republic in 2020, published by the Ministry of Agriculture.

The share of organic food in the total consumption of food and beverages reached 1.77 per cent in the year before last. In 2020, each inhabitant of the Czech Republic spent on average CZK 562 on organic food. The amount of exported organic food also increased and reached about CZK 3.43 billion (compared to CZK 3 billion in 2019).

The turnover of Czech companies on the organic food market amounted to about CZK 9.41 billion in 2020 (about CZK 8.26 billion in 2019). Of the total organic food consumption, for example, 4.1 billion came from retail, 194 million from mass catering, and 366 million from direct sales, mainly from farms. Goods worth 1.3 billion were sold through e-shops, which are also used by agricultural processors and other producers.

Growing interest in direct sales

Czech consumers bought most organic food in retail chains, which means in supermarkets and hypermarkets (32 per cent, worth 1.9 billion), e-shops (22 per cent, worth 1.3 billion), health food stores and organic stores (15 per cent, worth 893 million), and drugstores (15 per cent, worth about 888 million). The use of different forms of sales reflects the situation related to the pandemic, when consumers were more likely to store through e-stores.

In contrast, sales to restaurants and other food service outlets (including school food service) declined. Interest in direct sales, such as to farms, is growing (366 million in 2020 versus 302 million in 2019).

The structure of the main organic food products is stable in the long term. The largest interest was in „other processed foods," which accounted for about 42 per cent of retail sales of organic foods, with more than three-quarters of this category in other processed organic foods, coffee and tea, prepared foods (including baby food), and dietary supplements. The second largest categories were „fruits and vegetables" (17 per cent) and „milk and dairy products" (16 per cent).

Traders and retail chains imported and sold organic food on the Czech market with an estimated value of almost CZK 3 billion, representing 49 per cent of retail sales in the Czech Republic. This does not include organic food and products intended for further processing.

More detailed information can be found in the report on the organic food market in the Czech Republic in 2020, which you find here (in Czech).