Organic news 14th April 2011

NEWS ****NEWS****NEWS****

Organic sales in Ireland return to stability:

"According to the latest Kantar data (52 wk ended 20th Feb 2011) the Irish organic market is valued at �97.8m. This represents a marginal decline on the previous year but signals a significant slowdown in the rate of decline from 14% a year earlier." according to Mary Morrissey of Bord Bia, who have access to Kantar's research (slightly wacky super slick site btw!)

Similar news came from the UK and the US recently, whereas the mainland of the EU never saw decline anyway.....more on this in the Examiner soon....

Organic Farming and Climate Change mitigation:

Two talks coming up soon:@ Dublin and Cloughjordan by Gundula Azeez, formerly of the British National Farmers Union, the Soil Association the EU Commission. Part of the FEASTA lecture series on Low External Input Agriculture - the only road to a sustainable food supply ,these talks will encompass farming, climate change, organic and biochar. Full weekend of events listed here

Organic Food Market: latest

Recent UK figures suggest a decline in sales of organic food, though an increase in land area managed organically. See here for more.

What's the story in Ireland? See below.

Volume up, value down. That's the story of organic food sales in Ireland, according to the latest TNS Bord Bia figures.

Volume refers to the amount of food being sold, whereas value refers to the revenue this food brings in.

The research, which covers the period up to December 2009, finds Ireland�s organic sector was valued at �105 million, with the volume increasing by 1.6% to 36,518 tonnes, compared to 2008 figures.

According to Bord Bia �Reflecting general price deflation across the food market during 2009, the value of organic sales declined by 10 percent.�

In value terms, the biggest winners were dairy products, yogurt, hot beverages and dried cereals. The foods that performed least well in value terms were fruits, breakfast cereals, fresh beef, hot beverages and milk.

In particular, the proliferation of new organic milk-based products is helping drive growth in the organic sector.

This is reflected in the stability of what is called penetration, or the range of households purchasing organic food.

To sum up what is going on in the organic market in Ireland right now: while people are spending less and spending less often, a stable number are buying a larger range of products.

This overall picture may not seem especially positive. However, it is a slightly better performance than the export-orientated food sector in general, which has seen both value and volume declines.

Irish food and drink exports experienced an estimated volume decline of 3 percent. The value of these exports declined by 12 percent last year, or by just under �1 billion, to stand at �7.12 billion.

There are of course many justifiable reasons for both markets to be suffering: global recession and deflation being the primary ones.

For Irish organic beef exports, the strength of Sterling is a constant issue: sales are reported to be recovering somewhat by the Leitrim Organic Farmers' Co-op, which has over 160 farmer members, following a tough time in December.

The organic sector has responded to the challenging market situation in a number of ways.

Reaching out to Continental Europe is one strategy. In general, both the German and French organic markets have remained relatively strong of late.

The seafood industry has been especially successful in accessing these Continental markets.

Up until 2007, the main Irish attendees at BioFach, the world's biggest organic food trade show, were from the Irish seafood sector.

All Irish salmon now has either an ecological or the full organic certification. Irish salmon exports to France rose by over 30% in the first half of 2009. Ireland now exports about 3500 tonnes of salmon to France per annum, to the value of �18million.

Along with seven seafood companies, this year's BioFach saw another seven Irish companies participating.

BioFach is widely regarded as the most important trade event in the international organic food and drink calendar.

However numbers attending and exhibiting were down slightly in 2010 from 2009:

In 2009, the event attracted over 46,000 European and International trade visitors from 130 countries, who saw over 2700 exhibitors. 2010 saw 43500 visitors from 120 countries experience just over 2500 exhibitors.

Nonetheless, in a sign perhaps of a culled though more efficient marketplace, a larger number of exhibitors surveyed expected follow up business from BioFach than in previous years.

The German market is especially strongly represented at BioFach, so Irish companies who exhibited at the show have potential access to Europe's biggest organic market, with an estimated annual sales turnover of �5.8 billion.

Specific Irish companies, many of whom exhibited at BioFach this year, have also begun to step up to the mark. Along with many in the seafood sector, The Good Herdsman, Beechlawn Organic, Solaris Botanical Teas, Just Foods and both Mossfield and St. Tola's Cheeses have all been working to both upscale and to develop export markets.

Undoubtedly, there are more challenges than in previous years. However, organic farmers and food businesses are performing well, considering the circumstances.

ORGANIC MARKET 2009-2010

Where will Irish organic food find new markets in 2010 and beyond? It appears that the European market for organic products is surprisingly strong at present.

According to Amarjit Sahota, director of Organic Monitor, the UK based research and consultancy company, estimated overall growth in Europe was between 2 and 6 per cent in 2009. This is a drop from the double-digit growth rates of previous years but it is still unusually strong for a premium priced category.

The picture for organic food sales in 2009 was varied across Europe. Some some countries, such as the UK and Spain, suffered badly, whereas Scandinavian countries fared better.

Both the UK and Spain suffered from the global economic recession badly, and this is reflected in the organic market in each of these countries.

However, according to Sahota, the attitude of retailers played an important part too: expecting a downturn in demand for organic products, many retailers in the UK and Spain discontinued organic lines.

This contributed to a significant reduction in sales figures between August and March, but that since then, the market has stabilised.

There have also been signs of growth more recently in these two countries, which prompted retailers to admit that they were overly hasty in discontinuing organic lines.

For example, a recent survey from market research firm Mintel in the UK shows that nearly 40% of consumers claim they haven�t changed organic product purchasing habits because of the recession and only a mere 3% have stopped buying organic products altogether.

�Heavy users of natural and organic food and drink are most likely to indicate they�ve traded down to less expensive organic options,� notes David Browne, senior analyst at Mintel.

�However, less-frequent consumers of organic products have shown that they haven�t shifted their behavior. This is good news for the organic food and drink market, as this group may begin to buy more once recession-related fears begin to fade.�

Outside of the UK and Spain, many markets held firm for 2009: Italy, Germany and France all posted positive growth in 2009.

And in Sweden and Denmark, Organic Monitor said double-digit growth occurred in 2009 thanks to greater economic resistance to the recession and a more steadfast attitude from retailers.

Organic food sales from supermarkets and department stories in Denmark rose to �671m in 2008, marking a 29 per cent vertical rise on the year before, according to the Danish business daily Borsen.

According to Organic Monitor, growth rates for organic are strong in Scandinavian countries because of a combination of consolidation, culture and the economic backdrop.

�Their economies have not been as affected by the financial downturn as the UK, Germany, Spain and other European countries,� according to Sahota.

In addition, Scandinavians � and the Nordic culture � in general appear to be more conscious about environmental issues, he continued.

"Despite the very high cost of living, they don't seem to mind paying more for good quality products," says Sahota of the Scandinavian consumers. This culture contrasts with the 'discounting phenomena' in Germany and the UK in particular.

Consolidation has also been a factor. Between 2006 and 2007, many product ranges were re-vamped.

"After a period of slow growth and consolidation, growth kicks in and investment follows," explained Sahota, suggesting that Scandinavia is currently at the top of the cycle, an 'upturn' that contributed to the high double-digit growth witnessed in 2008.

The agri-food sector in Ireland is heavily export focused, so it is important for the sector to be aware of the trends across Europe. Traditionally, the UK has been a strong market for Irish organic products.

However, there are signs that the market's focus has begun to change towards mainland Europe. It is likely that another strong Irish delegation will travel to the world's biggest organic food trade fair, BioFach, which runs from 17-20th February in Germany . Last year's event led to significant new markets being accessed by Irish organic companies.

For more, see: BioFach

Fire walking through it all: organic farming's cool wet grass

Sometimes it must seem as if organic farming is blessed. It is almost as if organic farming is fire walking, thinking all the time of cool wet grass while bounding across the burning agri-food embers.

All around, casualties nurse their smoldering, singed, smoky feet. And yet, in its own small but significant way, organic continues to thrive.

Economists, commentators and other apparent experts have euligised the new fashion for frugality in food: the consumer now only wants cheap cheap cheap, and the consumer is getting it.

In this new world, organic supposedly doesn't stand a chance. How and why would anyone spend, wait for it, more than they have to, on something so basic as food? Its like taxing yourself on top of all the imposed cuts and taxes.

The same commentators then morn for farmers' falling income, as though cheap food and falling farmer incomes are not connected.

All the while, organic farming calmly and collectively presents itself as a viable and sustainable alternative.

Despite its image as expensive, organic continues to defy expectations. Despite all the presumptions, predictions and hype, organic sales figures are still growing in Ireland.

The most recent TNS figures for organic food sales put the figure at E124 million. Organic broke the 100 million mark in July 2008, and has been on the rise ever since. 73% have purchased an organic product in the last month.

Indeed the growth rate is actually hastening. Perhaps the consumer is sharpening her focus on value: the balance between price and quality.

It seems as if a new breed of quality organic products are emerging. There once was a place for uber convenience, for what now seems to be gimmicky value added products, or for ever smaller portions designed for ever more convenience again.

The new breed is an altogether leaner, cleaner, greener, machine. Consider the winners at this year's Bord Bia national organic awards.

Happy Heart organic rapeseed oil from Drumeen farm is grown, pressed and bottled on the Colchesters' farm in Kilkenny. It tastes great and is good value too, clocking in at under E6 for a half litre.

St Tola's organic goats cheese 1 kg log, which wins awards across many competitions at home and abroad, is now an export product.

The non-homogenised Moon Shine 2 litre organic milk, overall winner from the Kelly's in Westmeath, is another great taste great value product.

All three were category winners, decent sized portions, and all are produced on a farm.

Looking at the winners and highly commended's from these awards, its clear that simple, good quality foods are emerging as the foodie's choice.

This years organic award winners were meats, bread, milk, oil, cheese, porridge and yogurt: Simple honest foods.

The Good Herdsman's organic steakhouse beef, a highly commended product in the awards, proves that organic is able to compete with any retail product. The Good Herdsman recently achieved a E500,000 contract on the continent with their Organic Steakhouse, which is produced, processed and packaged in Ireland.

That the driving forces of the company, John Purcell and Josef Finkle can speak fluently in French and German no doubt helped with achieving contracts at this year's Biofach organic trade show in Germany.

Fellow judge Darren Grant from the Organic Supermarket in Blackrock, Dublin was very impressed by the fact that this new organic product has an extra 10 days shelflife.

St Tola's, Drumeen and Moonshine products, all farm produced, surely suggest to farmers that there are realistic options out there, both in organic and in on farm processing.

And for those very farmers, the dates and locations for the new Teagasc Organic Farming Courses have been announced.

These FETAC accredited courses start the week of the 20th October, and run for 25 hours in total one day per week for five weeks. The cost is �200 per participant.

Accredited courses are now compulsory to qualify for the new organic farming scheme, which reopens on the 1st January 2010.

And while the grass is greener on the organic side, in flaming world of farming, it's cooler and wetter too.

(photo by chaosinjune )