The needs of the organic plan are focused on the demand

EU targets for organic farmland will only bear fruit if consumer demand can keep up with production, warns Ecovia Intelligence

In terms of figures

K's research and consulting company, Ecovia Intelligence, believes that stimulating demand will be key to the EU's ability to meet its organic production targets.

As part of the Farm to Table strategy, the European Organic Action Plan aims for 25% of agricultural land to be organic by 2030, an increase from 8,1% today.

However, Ecovia points out that, although sales multiplied by five between 2000 and 2019 (from 8.000 million euros to 42.000 million euros), organic products still represent less than 4% of food sales in Europe.

Organic production

To achieve the goal, organic farmland and organic food production will have to triple in ten years, with financial support from the Common Agricultural Policy, increased research on organic agriculture and promotional funds.

The EU has revealed its intention to boost demand and build consumer confidence in organic products through increased visibility of the EU organic logo.

Ecovia also believes that legislation for green public procurement is in the works, and several governments, including those of Denmark, Sweden and France, are already encouraging schools and government institutions to source organic food.

“In the next Sustainable Food Summit, it will be shown how the private sector can play a more important role,” said Ecovia. “Most of the growth in the European organic food market in the last two decades has been driven by the private sector, especially large food retailers. Supermarkets generate the majority of organic food sales in almost all European countries. Private labels from organic food retailers, such as Carrefour Bio (France), Rewe Bio (Germany), AH Biologisch (Netherlands) and Ja! Naturlich! (Austria) are well established and have a high market share."

Avoiding oversupply

Ecovia points to the need to build efficient supply chains from producers to retailers to avoid the kind of oversupply problems that have been seen in the organic meat and dairy sectors.

Deliver the media

“Farmers can be encouraged to convert to organic practices, however there must be a growing market for their organic products,” he warned.

And driving consumer demand is challenging, according to Ecovia, which cites studies showing that a small group of consumers account for the majority of organic food sales.

Affordable prices

“Although there is a growing awareness of organic food, the majority of European consumers are not willing to pay the premium,” Ecovia said. "The price differential is the main barrier to greater purchases of organic products."

The answer, he suggested, was to make organic products affordable for everyone. "Organic food should not be limited to groups of consumers with high purchasing power," explained Ecovia. “The popularity of organic food in countries like Denmark (12% market share), Switzerland (10%) and Austria (9%) is partly because retailers have made organic food affordable. The private sector, especially discount stores and low-cost retailers have been able to 'democratize' organic foods.”

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