A diverse portfolio of export markets for Irish organic produce should be the focus of businesses and Bord Bia, the Irish Organic Association (IOA) has said.
Gillian Westbrook, the CEO of the IOA, said that food businesses involved in that sector, as well as the Irish food board, should “avoid putting all their eggs in one basket”.
Westbrook was speaking from Nuremburg in Germany, where the BIOFACH 2023 trade fair is taking place this week, from today (Tuesday, February 14) to Friday (February 17).
“Increasing EU organic sales in 2021 should send a clear signal to farmers and businesses of the demand for organics among European consumers and further afield.
“While market contraction in some countries can give us pause for thought, it also shows how essential it is that organic enterprises, together with Bord Bia and other stakeholders, focus efforts on having a diverse portfolio of high-end premium markets and avoid putting all our eggs in one basket,” she added.
The market for organic produce more than doubled in size between 2012 and 2021, and continued to grow throughout 2021, the last full year for which information is available.
That’s according to the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture, known by its German initials FiBL.
The most recent edition of its annual publication The World of Organic Agriculture 2023 shows the EU market to be currently valued at around €46.7 billion (€54.5 billion across Europe as a whole), representing a growth rate of about 3.6% annually (3.8% across Europe as whole).
This report also cites Bord Bia’s reporting on the Irish market up to 2020, which estimates the market here to be valued at €235 million.
Following a boost in the market related to the Covid-19 pandemic, both conventional and organic food sales contracted across member states, but overall positive growth trends remain in the organic retail sector, according to research.
Westbrook said: “It’s great to see the positive growth trends across the EU organic retail market in 2021 reflecting the energy and drive of the array of organic companies from Ireland and across the globe that we are seeing at BIOFACH this year.
“Every time the IOA comes to BIOFACH to engage with our European and international partners, we observe more and more demand for high-quality organic produce.
“It is now critical that Ireland puts its shoulder to the wheel and ensures organics is at the centre of our clean and green image,” Westbrook added.