By NürnbergMesse GmbH

Photo © NürnbergMesse GmbH

Germany, USA, Denmark, Switzerland and France continue to record progress, as Great Britain recovers following period of torpor

Organic is continuing on its successful path and the global market is developing positively. “Since 1999, organic foods and beverages have experienced an enormous upturn. At that time, the market volume was just around USD15 bn. In 2013 it had already risen to USD72 bn. We are currently evaluating the data for 2014 but we are already approaching the USD 80 bn-mark,” says Amarjit Sahota, Organic Monitor agency, London, UK.

In the wake of this trend, organically farmed land worldwide has risen once again (2013: 43.1 mn ha). Again in 2016, the international organic sector will be coming together for its event highlight, BIOFACH, World’s leading Trade Fair for Organic Food, at the exhibition centre, Nuremberg. From February 10 to 13, 2016, over 2,400 exhibitors will be presenting the entire range of organic diversity– 200 of them at VIVANESS, International Trade Fair for Natural Personal Care.

In 2014, the German organic market rose by 4.8%. In absolute figures, the sales of food and beverages sold in the German retail trade (including natural food retailing), increased from 7.55 to 7.91 bn EUR. This is the result arrived at by the ArbeitskreisBiomarkt (Organic Market Working Group) based on data from the German market research institutes GesellschaftfürKonsumforschung (GfK, Society for Consumer Research), Nielsen, BioVistaalong with Klaus Braun Kommunikationsberatung.

In this context, there was considerably more spent on organic products in the specialist trade (including farm stores). Compared with other marketing channels, at + 9%, this group achieved the highest increase (from 2.4 to 2.6 bn EUR). Its share of organic sales increased from 32 to 33%. As before, the highest organic sales were however achieved by the conventional retail. In 2014, this was 4.21 bn EUR (2013: 4.06 bn) coupled with a slightly reduced share of the organic market of 52 % (2013: 53%). In contrast, declines in sales revenue were recorded by other sales channels such as bakers, butchers, weekly markets, smaller farm stores, “Abo-Kisten” (organic products delivery services), mail-order trade, filling stations and health food stores. Here 1.09 bn EUR was spent– this is a sales decline of 0.6%.

In the first half of 2015, the expenditure by private households on fresh organic products and selected organically processed products (selection criteria not known) increased by 8.4% compared to the same period in 2014. In the specialist trade, sales within Germany increased over the same period by 10.5%. This result was established by Kommunikationsberatung Klaus Braun (Speyer, D). The chances of total organic sales clearly exceeding 8 bn EUR in 2015 are good.

USA: Marked Turnover Increase Over USD 35 bn

In the USA, the marketing of organic products through the specialised retail trade along with conventional retail channels has once again been crowned by success. In 2014, the organic market in the United States increased by 11% and reached a value of USD 35.9 bn (29.5 bn EUR). Compared to 1997, when the Organic Trade Association (OTA) first surveyed US organic sales, the market has increased tenfold. According to further information from the OTA, the organic share of food sales is now almost 5%. USD13 bn alone was spent in 2014 on organic fruit and vegetables. About 12 % of the entire produce here is already organically based. At +11 %, the dairy products segment was able to achieve remarkable growth. Turnover of USD 5.4 bn was generated through sales of organic milk, yoghurt, etc. Currently, the American organic industry is having to contend with a slightly constrained supply situation, particularly with regard to organic raw materials.

France: Continual Growth in Organic Sector

In France, there is good demand for organic food and the market is experiencing continual growth. Compared to the previous year, sales in 2014 increased by 10%. Euro 5 bn was accounted for by organic products (compare Germany: 7.8 bn Euro). As a result, France is catching up on the leading Germany. Nine out of 10 consumers, at least from time to time, choose to purchase organic products; six out of ten do so once a month. In order to keep up with this demand, an increasing number of farmers are switching over to organic. With an increase of 4%, the volume of organically farmed land exceeded 1.1 mn ha, according to the semi-governmental AgenturAgence Bio (Montreuil-Sous-Bois, F). The number of further processors and retailers increased in 2014 to around 13,000 companies, 3% more than in the previous year. The initial data for 2015 shows a positive trend: in the period from January 1 to May 17, 2015, they were joined by 1,659 new producers. This is an increase of 16% compared to the same period in 2014.

Denmark: Organic Export Champion of Northern Europe

Organic sales turnover in the Nordic countries also developed positively in 2014. However, there is a clear discrepancy in the organic share of the respective food market. While it is already

8% in Denmark, for bottom-of-the-table country Norway, it is just 1.4%. In Denmark, now every fourth carrot and every fourth litre of milk is organic (29% share of turnover). Denmark is also the country exporting the most organic products, among others, to Germany, Sweden, France and the Netherlands, thus achieving revenue of 204 mn EUR in 2014. By 2020, this value is set to once again more than double if the forecasts by sector Association Organic Denmark (Aarhus, DK) are to be believed.

In 2014, the Swedish organic market absolutely exploded. It increased by no less than 38% and reached a market share of

5.6%. According to Ekoweb (Lidköping, S), sales at the end of 2014 were around 1.6 bn EUR. “The heaviest demand was for the fruit and vegetables product group”, reports Cecilia Ryegård, editor of a trade publication on organic sales figures in Sweden. “And the best part is that the growth is continuing. In the first six months of 2015 we are expecting an increase of at least 25%,” she adds.

According to details supplied by the Norwegian agricultural authorities, sales in Norway in 2014 reached the equivalent of around 256 mn EUR. Despite the low level, the 28% increase in goods sold in the supermarkets was however considerable.

Switzerland: Highest Organic Per Capita Consumption

In 2014, the Swiss organic market increased by 7.5%. Sales of organic products thus rose to 2.2 bn CHF (around 1.8 bn EUR), the per capita consumption rose to 269 Franken (2013: 223 EUR). It is the highest in Europe. The share of organic farming land also increased slightly in 2014 and is now at 12.3%, whereby already one in 5 ha in the mountain regions is organically farmed. The majority of the organic products in Switzerland are sold through two major chains. The market leader is Coop with a 46.5% market share of entire organic sales in Switzerland, followed by Migros (27.5%). The natural food specialist retail accounts for just about 13%. This is followed by other specialist stores and direct marketers. At +15%, Migros has been able to clearly increase its organic sales but the natural food specialist retail also achieved an increase of 7.4%.

Great Britain: Market Slowly Recovering

Following years of stagnation in the organic sector, the market has now recovered. In 2014, with growth of 4%, the organic food sector in the United Kingdom achieved sales of 1.86 bn GBP (2.37 bn EUR).

Trend: More Organic in Communal Catering

In France, in the last seven years, sales of organic products in the commercial/large scale catering sector increased strongly by more than fivefold. Now, 2.7% of procurement for commercial kitchens in the social sector is accounted for by organically produced articles. In 2008, it was just 0.6%. This corresponds to a financial value of 191 mn EUR, which was used in canteens, refractories and other commercial kitchen facilities. In 2014, the increase was 11%. According to surveys in France, 87% of respondents stated they were interested in organic food supplies for schools. For years, the greatest endeavours made throughout Europe aimed at achieving this in the public sector have been undertaken by Denmark. There, in 2014, organic products worth a total of 160 mn EUR were used in the communal catering sector.

Germany: Europe’s largest organic products market

USA: largest organic market with unbroken growth

Trend: organic in large scale catering

This article appeared in the October 2015 issue of Pure & Eco India