Sales are growing in the Germany, France and Italy due to the specialised organic trade. Spain is, with 1.5 million ha organic surface, the leader in Europe. Countries with economic difficulties like Great Britain, have to cope with a decrease in sales.<br>Organic products worth 59 billion US dollars landed in the shopping baskets of customers around the globe in 2010, according to Amarjit Sahota, Managing Director of London-based corporate consultant Organic Monitor. North America is still the biggest single market ahead of Europe. The organic sector in the USA enjoyed 8 % growth in 2010 compared with 1 % in the conventional food market (OTA, Organic Industry Survey 2011, USA).<br>“In Europe as a continent, the organic area grew strongly again in 2010 and is approaching 10 million ha: 9.7 million ha were farmed organically in 2010. This corresponds to 2 % of the whole farming area,” says Helga Willer from the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), Switzerland. <br>Compared with the previous year, the estimated total sales of organic products in Germany in 2010 remained steady at 5.9 billion euro and thus just under 6 billion euro again (GfK, Nielsen, Biovista).<br>France occupies second place in the European ranking of strong-selling organic markets and has considerable growth rates to show. Organic sales in 2010 were 3.4 billion euro and the market share of the whole French food market was 2 %. <br>Belgium recorded 7,300 ha more in 2010 to reach a total of 48,700 ha of organic farming land. The organic market there grew by a spectacular 20 % to 421 million euro in the same year, according to information from the Belgian organic association Bioforum. <br>In the Netherlands the organic sales in supermarkets in the first half of 2011 were up 29 % over the comparable period of the previous year, with sales at 195 million euros, reports the organic federation Bionext. The market in the Netherlands grew by 13% in 2010, while sales rose to € 752 million (Bionext). The share of organic food on the total food market was 1.7 %. <br><br>No other country in Europe has more organic companies than Italy. There were 47,663 farmers, processors and traders in 2010. The organic area is currently 1.1 million ha (SINAB-Sistema d’Informazione Nazionale sull’Agricoltura Biologica, Italy). The Italian market for organic food is traditionally determined by the independent organic food retail trade, which grew from 700 to 800 million euros (+14 %) in 2010. Organic products in the conventional trade also grew from 450 to 500 million euro(+11 %). Whereas organic products worth 1.8 billion euros were sold on the domestic market, exports achieved another billion euro. The Italian organic sector thus increased by altogether 300 million euros (12 %) in 2010.<br>Organic sector sales in Sweden were up 13 % from the equivalent of 793 million Euro to 897 million euros in 2010. The organic share of the total food market was 3.1 % (Ekoweb, Sweden). <br><br>Finland achieved an organic market share of 2 % in 2010 with sales of 80 million euros (Nielsen, Finland). <br><br>After high double-digit growth from 2006–2008, the growth rate in Denmark in 2009 and 2010 was 6 % and 4 % respectively, reports the Danish association Organic Denmark. The retail trade enjoyed organic sales of 684 million euros in 2010. <br>Great Britain recorded organic sales of two billion EUR in 2010, which is 5.9 % down on the previous year (Organic Market Report of the British Soil Association). Organic sales in Great Britain are traditionally heavily dependent on the conventional trade, where 72 % of organic products are sold. The area farmed organically in Great Britain decreased by 0.6 % to just under 740,000 ha at the end of 2010, which corresponds to as much as 4.2 % of the agricultural area. <br><br><br>“Organic – Market.info”, 2 november 2011, <a href="http://www.organic-market.info/">http://www.organic-market.info/</a><br…;
Menu
Menu
