Organic trend remains unbroken
Positive figures from Bio Suisse: The number of farms and areas farmed according to organic bud increased last year, as did the number of consumers.
Bio Suisse, the umbrella organization of Swiss Knospe farms, reports growing figures for 2015. In 2015, exactly 6031 producers worked according to the organic label, 52 more than in the previous year. And for 2016, the numbers look even better: On the first of January, 227 farms newly registered with Bio Suisse, according to the association, 57 of them from eastern Switzerland.
Bud areas are increasing
With the new farms, 4000 additional hectares of organically farmed agricultural land were added last year (+3%). In total, 12.8% of Swiss agricultural land is now farmed organically.
Double-digit market share for fresh products
The strength of the Swiss franc and shopping tourism were not easy for the food market either. Nevertheless: Organic remains a growth market. Sales rose by 5.2 % to CHF 2.323 billion (2014: CHF 2.207 billion) and, at 7.7 percent, achieved the highest market share to date (2014: 7.1 %).
Business is particularly good in fresh products, the most important segment: this achieved a double-digit market share for the first time with 10%.
Two organic products are doing particularly well: eggs and fresh bread. These have a market share of 24.3% and 20.1 % respectively. Vegetables and salads are also doing well, with market shares of 18.6% and 15.6%.
Meat and fish are not yet doing quite as well - they have only reached market shares of 5%. However, here too growth of 2.1% has been recorded since last year.
