Organic Farming in Austria 2002 - Organic Europe

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Austriahttp://www.organic-europe.net/country_reports/austria/2002/TMPf3vu4j4i61.aspPage 10 of 1604.05.200910.2 Marketing via Supermarket Chains10.3 Other Marketing Channels10.1 The MarketAccording to estimates by Allerstorfer (2000), the annual turnover oforganic products at the domestic wholesale level amounts to threebillion ATS (218 million Euro). This in turn corresponds to a marketshare of approximately three per cent of Austria’s total food market.This figure is up to ten per cent greater in certain sectors. More thanseventy per cent of the entire production is distributed via conventionalfood chains, approximately ten per cent is sold directly via regionalmarketing channels (restaurants, hotels, bakeries, schools etc.) andthirteen per cent is sold through organic and health food stores.10.2 Marketing via Supermarket ChainsIn the early 1990s, the explosion in the supply of organic products led tomarketing via supermarket chains. The baby food producer Hipp hadalready begun to produce organic baby food and showed interest inconverting his production completely. The supermarket chain Billa /Merkur launched the organic food brand "Ja! natuerlich" ("Yes!naturally") in 1994. Austria’s biggest supermarket chain now (2000)offers a wide variety of dairy, meat and cereal products, ice cream,various deep frozen products and vegetables, baby foods, juices, andfresh fruit and vegetables under the "Ja! natuerlich" brand name. Morethan fifty per cent of the bread offered by Merkur is organic.top of pageBy now, all major supermarket chains (including discounters) such asAdeg, M-Preis, Maximarkt and Spar ("Natur pur" dairy products) havecome to offer organic products.Ernte has co-operated with bakeries since 1996. "Panda bread" and"Nimm natur" are well-known brand names for organic bread, which issold in bakeries all over Austria. In 1999 Ernte started to co-operatewith dairies and launched the "Bio+" brand for various dairy productsthat are sold in supermarkets (Magnet, Maximarkt, Unimarkt, Nah &Frisch) and organic stores.The intensive marketing of organic brand names by the individual foodchains has caused consumer demand to increase. Farmers, or at leasttheir representatives, and not the wholesalers or packers, negotiate theprices with the buyers. Without these negotiations by Oekoland (Ernte‘smarketing organisation), these buyers would have purchased abroad orfrom non-organised Austrian Codex farms. Since such farms have norepresentation, this would have reduced the price of organic products.The results of the price negotiations have not always met the producers’expectations, which in some cases has led to discontentment amongthe organic farmers.top of pageOrganic products have improved the image of the supermarket chains.As a result, their turnover and their customer base have increased. Itcan be assumed that the customers do not limit their purchases toorganic products, and that their overall turnover has increased as well.Not all organic farming representatives view marketing the products viabig supermarket chains as positive. While recognising the positive PReffect for organic farming as a whole, they fear that when organicfarmers become suppliers to big corporations, they will lose out in theend 12) .In particular, members of the OeIG view developing intermediatemarketing strategies between the two extremes of direct farm sales andthe supermarkets as an important task. Representatives of the Ernte-Verband consider expanding regional distribution channels to be adesirable long-term goal. At present, more than ten people in the
Austriahttp://www.organic-europe.net/country_reports/austria/2002/TMPf3vu4j4i61.aspPage 11 of 1604.05.2009provincial associations are working on developing regional distributionand marketing strategies.top of page10.3 Other Marketing ChannelsOrganic farmers’ co-operatives are another way to market organicproducts. One example of this is "Die Hoflieferanten", a group of organicfarmers in Lower Austria who are members of the association Erde &Saat. They market a wide range of products under one label to organicshops in Upper and Lower Austria and Vienna, as well as to restaurantsin the region. The marketing co-operative also owns two shops, inWaidhofen / Ybbs (Lower Austria) and in Steyr (Upper Austria).The Molkerei Lembach is a different kind of co-operative. Twelveorganic farmers, members of Erde & Saat, bought a small dairy in thenorth of Upper Austria. Various dairy products such as milk, yoghurt,butter, cream and cream cheese are produced in a highly professionalway. The products are marketed to organic stores.Several provinces and associations affiliated with the umbrellaorganisations ARGE Bio-Landbau and OeIG have started co-operativeventures between organic farmers and kitchens in the public and theprivate sectors, e.g. hospitals and nursing homes.Home delivery services and organic shops have been established,especially around big cities. Organic markets can be found in cities andvillages. There is a big organic market in the centre of Vienna every twoweeks, where a wide range of regional products is offered.top of pageFarm shops, the most direct form of marketing, can be found in everyAustrian region. Some farm shops offer a range of Austrian andinternational organic products, such as "fair trade" coffee and chocolate,in addition to their own products.Examples and addresses can be found at: http://www.bioinformation.at.11 Training11.1 Agricultural Schools11.2 Training Programme for Organic Farmers11.3 Magazines With Regular Articles on Organic Farming inAustria11.1 Agricultural Schoolstop of pageVarious agricultural schools (Landwirtschaftliche Fachschulen) andagricultural colleges (Hoehere Bildungslehranstalten fuer Landwirtschaft- HBLA) offer training programmes or individual courses in organicfarming:• Lower Austria: Tullnerbach, Edelhof/Zwettl, Giesshuebl,Gumpoldskirchen, Retz, Hohenlehen• Upper Austria: Aigen/Schlaegl, Katsdorf• Styria: Graz, HBLA Irdning• Salzburg: Ursprung/Elixhausen
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