Everyone is talking about organic – that’s what Minister of Agriculture Özdemir wants to achieve. The demand for organic food fell slightly in 2022. The industry sees a dent and calls for more incentives.
Despite the rising cost of living, people in Germany have not lost their appetite for organic food: they spent a little less on it last year, but still more than before the pandemic.
Federal Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir would like to further stimulate the appetite for organic and strengthen the entire industry: “It’s about organic in the entire value chain – in the fields and in production, on the shop shelves, but of course also at the checkout,” said the Greens -Politicians at the opening of the world’s largest organic food fair Biofach in Nuremberg.
According to the Bund Ökologische Lebensmittelwirtschaft (BÖLW), consumers spent 15.3 billion euros on organic food in 2022 – 3.5 percent less than a year earlier. But compared to 2019, sales increased by 25 percent. The industry grew particularly strongly in 2020 and 2021 because during the Corona crisis more people were cooking at home and buying organic food.
“The consumer desire for organic is unbroken,” said BÖLW chairwoman Tina Andres. In view of the economic uncertainties, however, many people increasingly turned to cheaper products – discounters and cheaper private labels in particular were able to benefit from this. According to the experts, however, the prices for organic food have risen less sharply than for conventional products.
More than 2700 exhibitors from more than 90 countries will present their products at Biofach and the parallel natural cosmetics fair Vivaness until Friday. The trends this year include regional ingredients, new sweeteners as well as resource-saving and vegan products.
BÖLW chairwoman: “Time is short.”
Organic is a crucial answer to the climate and biodiversity crisis, emphasized Özedmir. On Wednesday the cabinet will decide on the draft of the Organic Farming Act. The federal government and its ministry are planning, among other things, more organic food in canteens and canteens, more money for organic research and an information campaign about organic food. Özdemir also confirmed the goal that 30 percent of the agricultural area should be farmed organically by 2030.
“Time is short. The goal is ambitious,” said Andres. According to this, every seventh farm in Germany now operates ecologically. Last year the number of farms rose by 2.3 percent to around 36,500. The area under cultivation increased by 3.7 percent to almost 1.87 million hectares – around 11 percent of German agricultural land.
According to the consumer organization Foodwatch, the goals of the federal government are not enough. “Organic is and remains a niche with a seven percent market share,” criticized managing director Chris Methmann. Instead of nurturing this niche, politicians must rebuild the entire agricultural sector in order to cope with the enormous challenges.
A survey by the Ministry of Agriculture showed that 33 percent of people often buy organic and 49 percent occasionally. According to Andres, further political incentives are needed to ensure that customers buy even more: In addition to a reduction in VAT for organic products, she demands that the environmental costs also be reflected in the prices of the goods. As long as it is not worth saving resources, the organic economy lives with a “blatant distortion of competition”.
Other organic associations are also calling for damage compensation for the industry: the Alliance for Agriculture Suitable for Grandchildren and the Federal Association for Natural Food and Natural Products estimate that the use of pesticides in conventional agriculture causes organic companies more than 100 million euros in follow-up costs. The industry would have to spend around 23 million euros on the residue analysis alone.
Source: Stern
