the world of organic agriculture - Organic Eprints

15 Organic Farming in Europe
structures over the last few years. The Dutch government is conducting experiments to find out
if state-funded retail discounting can stimulate consumer demand. If successful, the intention is
to increase organic sales by 30 percent each year with funding of 61 million EUR up to 2007 28 .
The government hopes that stimulating demand may help increase the Dutch organic land area to
ten percent of farmland 29 . Currently, Dutch organic trading companies are aiming to expand their
operations abroad, and the Netherlands remains very important for European trade in organic
products. EOSTA, a large organic fruit and vegetable trader plans to increase transparency in
labeling through a scoring evaluation system for products on a range of ecological, social and
nutritional criteria.
The domestic market in Spain is developing slowly. Only a few shops offer a full organic range to
consumers. Most organic processors are concentrated in two regions (Catalonia and Andalusia),
but there is no well-developed network of processors and wholesalers, so the shops face supply
problems. The majority of Spanish organic fruit and vegetables go for export, and it remains
difficult to buy them in Spain. In contrast, imports make up about 75 percent of organic products
sold. It is likely that high prices remain a barrier to increasing organic sales, but there is growing
commitment from a number of companies to develop the domestic market, and specialist retailers
and wholesalers have recently established a marketing network 30 . A 2004 national conference
agreed that organic sector development requires continuous, strong governmental support for
production and processing, promotion of domestic demand, and strengthening of Spanish organic
networks and institutions 31 . Production and processing were seen as especially important because
of their contribution to rural development.
Canary Islands Organic Agriculture Association (Federación Canaria de Agricultura y Ganadería
Ecológica - FECAGE) - a new organization to promote organic farming on the Canary Islands - will
take on the work of the various associations in promoting the cultivation and consumption of
organic products 32 .
In Ireland, the Organic Centre Ireland and the Super Value retail chain are joining forces to educate
consumers about the value of organic food, hoping to improve sales opportunities for local organic
products and to encourage Irish producers to increase their range, especially in the horticultural
sector. They aim to reduce the reliance on the imports that currently make up about 70 percent of
organic sales, most of which are sold through about 130 wholefood and health food shops 33 .
Demonstrating the growing popularity of organic ingredients, the successful Swedish retailer
IKEA plans to replace standard foods with organic varieties. The group is the single largest Swedish
food exporter. The project launched with organic coffee, followed by strawberry/orange jam and
blue cheese, reports Öresund Food Excellence. This winter, IKEA will launch organic schnapps,
28 ZMP Ökomarkt Forum 14:8, p.16
29 Agra Europe Nov 26th 2004, p.N/4.
30 News about Spain at http://www.bio-markt.info
31 Biofach newsletters 1/07/2005 and 3/6/2005
32 Biofach newsletter 20/05/2005.
33 (ZMP 14:24, P.13). Bio-markt.info, Ireland)
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