The domestic organic food industry has had two difficult years: The increased cost of living increased customers increasingly to conventionally produced products or cheaper entry-level products. Now there are positive signals: “We perceive clear growth signals, the producers signal a increased demand from the processors, such as mills and dairies,” said Franz Waldenberger, President of the Upper Austria Chamber of Agriculture. The products are currently easy to deduce, said Waldenberger, who, together with Magdalena Barth, the chairwoman of Bio Austria in Upper Austria, gave an insight into the opportunities and challenges of the organic industry on Thursday.
Because despite the positive signals on the part of the market, the conditions are difficult. The prices for conventional goods are currently relatively high, those surcharges with which organic farmers receive the higher effort or the lower yield would be stagnated. Therefore, there is no adequate compensation, the organic surcharges would have to be adjusted, said Barth. This and structural change are one of the reasons why around 1,000 organic farms have stopped in Austria since 2022. Despite improvements, there would be too little incentives for newcomers. In addition, entry into the ÖPUPPUL agricultural program associated with funding is not possible continuously. This must change.
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Image: LKOÖ
Source: Nachrichten
