"Hard discount achieves most growth in organic industry"

Every year, the organic industry organizes a BioWeek in early June to help promote bio products. We talked to BioForum’s Marijke Van Ranst.

Meat replacement

What are the organic industry’s current evolutions?

“Organic food is increasingly present in organic stores and (organic) supermarkets and this availability also spurs people to buy more organic food. In 2016, Belgian organic consumption grew 12 % to 586 million euro. If we consider how many people buy at least one organic product in a year, that grew to more than 90 % last year, which is the highest percentage ever. Organic food had a 3 % market share in fresh food, up 0.3 %. Natural meat replacements are the largest industry, because one in four meat replacements is organic in nature. The largest growth in 2016 comes from organic potatoes and eggs however. (Source: a Vlam-issued GfK report)

What is a supermarket’s share compared to specialized distribution channels?

“With a 41.5 % market share, it is clear that a classic supermarket is a organic product’s largest market. It does appear to be a rather small market share when one looks at the overall food sales, but that is because the specialized natural stores have a varied product range, with easily over 20,000 items. Over the past few years, the hard discount industry, which is still a relatively small organic food market player, has surged from 5.5 to 9.4 %, displaying strong growth.”

Private labels

Are there differences between both, regarding pricing, promotion and marketing?

“The largest difference is both channels’ approach: specialized stores have a varied product range, with several products in every product category. Customers can choose something to their liking, whether it is expensive or cheap. Supermarkets carry a more limited organic product range, alongside the traditional products. Often, they do not have several products in every category and only promote it when organic food is a hot topic.”

Are there private organic labels in development and how is their product range?

“A major part of a supermarket’s organic product range is focused on a private label, but several natural food brands have gained widespread familiarity and can easily be found in supermarkets. Private labels are still the dominant force and are in continuous development, just like the regular product range.”

Do you agree with the criticism towards the organic agriculture industry (like profitability)?

“Absolutely not. Many theorists falsely suppose that we need to increase our manufacturing capabilities to feed the world. This is a train of thought to merely justify a non-sustainability agricultural approach or to dismiss organic production as naïve or unproductive or to force GMO’s onto the organic industry. The traditional food industry has failed to eradicate world hunger, despite higher production levels, in the past few decades. We do see more overfed people than starving people nowadays.”

“The world’s food issues are complex and require transitions in a lot of fields. A production increase alone will not fix the problem. Besides, increased research and investments in organic agriculture could probably help increase its production levels. This type of agriculture also has more resilience and performs better in extreme droughts, which may be rather important when dealing with the climate challenges we face.”

Actual guarantees

Has the traditional agricultural industry increase its efforts to be “clean”?

“An agricultural system based on production and specialization is facing pressure. Damaging products and hazardous practices, for both the environment and our health, are also coming to the forefront. The traditional agricultural industry is making strides, but there is still a long way to go before we can call it ecological production.”

“The increasingly popular “Voedsel Anders” (Food differently) movement wants food production to follow agricultural and ecological principles. It not only wants ecological gains, but also fair wages and taking local manufacturers and consumers’ choices into account. The international organic food industry also strives towards fair trade and respect for people, pushing further than what the regulations state. Organic is more than not using certain materials.”

Can you be ecological and still not be “organic”? 

“Definitely! The difference is that the organic agriculture is the only, independently-verified production method that can give actual guarantees. Before a product is labeled “organic”, it has to adhere to the European organic legislation and the company needs to be checked. Only if it has been checked and certified, it can call its product organic. Companies get checked at least once a year, which means that if it carried a European organic label, it definitely meets every legal organic criterium. These are also a lot stricter than the criteria for non-organic production.”