BIOFACH: Constant growth of worldwide organic markets

The world of organic wine is presented for the second time in the Wine Hall 4A, the Who’s Who in natural personal care meet at Vivaness in hall 7A and Country of the Year Denmark adds a touch of Scandinavian flair to the organic industry’s largest international platform in 2009. Very popular in 2009 are fairtrade products, which can be seen at the Organic + Fair show in hall 3. In the Textil Area in hall 7, some 40 exhibitors of eco fashions and natural textiles present their latest creations.

The international organic market is growing by approx. 5 billion US dollars a year. Its volume in 2007 topped 40 billion US dollars for the first time, reports Organic Monitor. 30.4 million hectares of land throughout the world are farmed organically. Australia has the largest area of organic farming land with 12.3 million ha, followed by China (2.3 million ha), Argentina (2.2 million ha) and the USA (1.6 million ha). The largest share of global organic farming land is therefore in Oceania (42 %), followed by Europe (24 %) and Latin America (16 %) (The World of Organic Agriculture – Statistics and Emerging Trends 2008). “We assume that the worldwide organic area will continue to grow,” says Helga Willer from the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), Switzerland. Current figures for the beginning of September 2008, which cover about half the European countries, confirm approx. 7 % growth. Altogether some 8 million ha of land in Europe are farmed using organic methods. Higher growth is shown mainly by the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. 
 
Europe: Impetus from the trade 
The “Specialised Organic Retail Report Europe” published in May 2008 shows definite growth for all the 27 countries examined,” says Burkhard Schaer of Ecozept. The positive development, especially in the young organic markets in Central and Eastern Europe, is frequently due to dedicated retailers, who create vital impetus by setting up shops in the metropolitan areas. International players in the conventional retail food trade like Carrefour also stimulate growth and sell their organic products under their own labels in almost all countries, the study reports. 
 
Germany: The powerhouse of the European organic sector 
Following several boom years with some 15 % growth a year, the German market for organic food grew at the usual high level of 10 % in the first half of 2008, according to the consumer research institute GfK. Its share of the total food market is 3.2 %, almost twice as high as in 2004. 
As far as annual growth figures are concerned, the European statistics are headed by Denmark, the Country of the Year at BioFach 2009, with 33 % and Sweden with 26 %. The leader in terms of market size in billion EUR is Germany, where sales of organic food grew by 700 million EUR to a total of 5.3 billion EUR in 2007. Almost 79 % of the growth in sales was attributed to the conventional retail food trade, according to Ulrich Hamm of Kassel University and Markus Rippin of Agromilagro. Conventional trading chains increased their market share by 4 % to 53 %, the organic food retailers and agricultural producers lost 1 % each and achieved a 22 % and 10 % share of the market respectively. The food crafts – including organic bakers and organic butchers – again accounted for 5 %, and the health food sector’s share dropped by 1 % to 4 %. The miscellaneous group, including such outlets as drugstores, reached 6 %. In absolute figures, sales in the conventional retail food trade increased from 2.25 to 2.8 billion EUR and in the organic food retail trade from 1.08 billion EUR to 1.18 billion EUR. 
 
More and more farmers in Germany are converting to organic: Compared with the previous year, the number of organic farms in 2007 grew by 6.5 % to 18,703 and the area of organic land by 4.8 % to 865,000 ha. 5 % of the farms and 5.1 % of the total land used for agriculture are farmed to organic standards. The total number of companies working in the organic sector – including producers as well as processors, importers and traders – grew by 12 % to 26,820 (Zentrale Markt- und Preisberichtstelle, ZMP, Bonn).
 
France: 77 % of the French would like more organic 
Organic supermarkets in France achieved 30 % more sales in the first four months of 2008 (Bio Lineaires). There were 11,978 organic farms in France in 2007, 3 % more than the previous year. The land farmed by organic methods was 557,133 ha or 2 % of the agricultural area. 5,031 companies process organic products in France and 1,371 wholesalers and retailers sell these products to the customers. 77 % of the French would like more organic products and 84 % would like to see further expansion of organic farming, but only just under half the population (42 %) place organic products in their shopping basket at present. Total sales of organic products in France have risen by 10 % a year for the last five years to reach almost 2 billion EUR (Agence Bio). The organic share of total food consumption is 1.8 % – 2 %. In statistical terms, the French spend 43 EUR per head per year on organic products (Specialised Organic Retail Report Europe 2008).
 
Great Britain: Market volume reaches around 3 billion EUR 
The British organic market achieved a volume of just under 3 billion EUR in 2006. This corresponds to a growth rate of 22 % over the previous year. The organic share of farming land is 3.6 %. The British spent an average of 49 EUR per head on organic products in 2006. The conventional retail food trade achieves by far the largest market share with 75 %. The organic food retail trade (13 %) and direct marketing (12 %) show increased shares. The largest growth rates were attributed to box schemes, Internet orders and other direct sales channels, whose sales grew by 53 % to approx. 185 million EUR. 66 % of the raw organic products sold by the retail trade originate from local production. These include meat (79 %), dairy products and eggs (96 %), and vegetables (73 %).
 
Czech Republic: Organic market to grow to 260 million EUR by 2010 
The consumption of organic food in the Czech Republic could rise by an average 70 % in the next three years to reach an estimated 260 million EUR in 2010. The market could grow five-fold by the end of 2010 compared with consumption of 51.6 million EUR in 2007. An increased consumer demand for organic food is supported mainly by the information campaign of the official Agricultural Intervention Fund “Organic Agriculture and Organic Food”, for which 1 million EUR has been budgeted. The conventional retail food trade holds a 67 % share of the Czech organic market. The organic food shops achieved 22.5 %, followed by pharmacies with approx. 5 %. Small food shops reached 2.5 %, direct marketing 2 % and the catering trade about 0.5 % (Green Marketing, Manual of the Czech Organic Food Market). The market is also still growing in Poland and Hungary. Experts forecast a doubling of the market in Poland between 2006 and 2010. In Hungary, weekly organic markets are becoming particularly popular. 
 
Slovenia: Strong presence of organic products in the shops 
Slovenia with a population of two million has an organic area of almost 5 %. The organic market is estimated at less than 4 million EUR (Specialised Organic Retail Report Europe 2008). Slovenia also has its own organic logo – “ekološki”. Organic products are well represented in the shops and the three leading conventional food trading chains Mercator, Tuš and Spar already stock several hundred organic articles. The discounters are also suitably expanding their food range. The organic supermarket Kalček in the capital of Ljubljana is one of the best-stocked shops with 2,000 organic articles on a sales area of 250 m2. 
 
USA: Strong growth rates at a high level 
Sales of organic food and drinks in the USA in 2007 were estimated at 20 billion US dollars. The total market including non-food is estimated at 21.2 billion US dollars – 20 % growth over the previous year. Organic food remains the fastest-growing segment in the American food market. The Organic Trade Association OTA forecasts sales of more than 25 billion US dollars for organic products in 2008. Not only the market is growing in the USA, but the area of organically farmed land is also clearly increasing. American agricultural programmes emphasize the importance of the National Organic Program for supporting organic farming, the collection of market data, the promotion of research and other measures. According to the Farm Bill 2008, spending on the organic sector is to grow from 20 million US dollars in 2002 to 112 million US dollars, more than five times as much.