According to a recent study by Pro Luomu, an organisation that promotes the organic value chain in Finland, organic food is seeing tremendous growth in popularity among Finns. Last year, organic products were sold to the tune of EUR 202 million – an increase of 24 per cent from the year before.
The most popular organic product in Finland is milk. Liquid dairy products make up nearly one fifth of all organic purchases. Fruits and vegetables account for a similar share, roughly 19 per cent, and fresh bakery products for almost 10 per cent. Organic food is particularly popular in the Helsinki area.
Sales of organic products outperformed the foodstuff markets overall, as the average annual growth seen by grocery stores last year was well over 5 per cent. With this growth, the market share of organic products increased to 1.6 per cent.
— Consumers are going organic for reasons of purity, animal and environmental well-being and transparency in the production chain. The growth in sales is also affected by the product offering and its development, says Marja-Riitta Kottila, the Manager of Pro Luomu.
— At this rate, we will reach the industry growth target, meaning an increase in organic sales to 330 million euros by 2015, she adds.
More organic meat products, sweets and frozen foods
Kottila says that the lack of selection decreases the market share of organic products in the total foodstuff market.
— The selection of organic products is small or even non-existent in large product groups, such as meat and meat products, sweets and frozen foods, she points out.
Compared to the year 2000, the global organic markets have grown 3.5-fold. The most substantial market areas for organic products are North America and Europe, which together account for roughly 96 per cent of all organic markets. Denmark has the largest share of the organic market in Europe, with organic sales accounting for more than 7 per cent of all food and drink sales in the country.
The figure is based on data obtained from retailer groups on last year’s sales.
www.proluomu.fi (in Finnish)
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