Germany

Country

Germany

Continent

Western Europe

Market Performance

Valued at EUR 8.7B, Germany is the largest organic market in Europe and grew by 11 % in 2017. According to AMI, in 2015 organic represented 5.1% of the entire food market in Germany.

The number of farms in 2015 grew  2,9 %. Most of the new organic farms are dairy and pig farms  due to price challenges facing the  conventional milk sector. Agricultural land in 2015 has not grown at pace with sales, at approx. 1% growth.

In 2016 , supermarkets accounted for the largest channel , growing by 14.6% to EUR 5.45B. Indies grew 5% to Eur 2.85B.

Consumer Preferences & Channels

In 2017 German per-capita spend on organic reached EUR 97  compared with an European average of just EUR 47 per person.

Data from 2014 retail channels were split, 53% supermarkets, 33% natural food stores, 14% specialist shops.Largest retailers of organic are Denns (114 stores national exclusively organic), Altnatura (80 stores) and supermarkets such as Aldi, Netto and Rewe. The certifier Naturland has started to work together with DM in 2015. With 1744 stores DM is the biggest drugstore chain in Germany.

In 2014, largest growth was in poultry, followed by eggs, milk, cheese and flourTop-selling products are Vegetables, including potatoes (approx. EUR 561.7 million, 8.2 % of the total market); bread and bakery products (approx. EUR 459.3 million, 5.9 % of the total market);and fruit (approx. EUR 389.2, 6.5 % of the total market)

The key reasons for consumer interest in organic are the ongoing media attention to animal welfare and the ongoing boom in vegan and vegetarian food

Legislative Considerations

Come under the control of EU regulation. Any food product sold as 'organic' falls under the EU regulations 834/2007 and 889/2008. This means that the product must have been produced to these regulations and inspected and certified by a registered EU certification body. Currently non-foods (e.g textiles and health & beauty products) are not covered by the scope of this regulation.

The Organic Farming Act (OLG) pools specific executive functions in German organic farming, and has stricter requirements than EU legislation on organic farming.

Germany has its own organic logo, the Biosiegel.

Events

Biofach, February 14-17, 2018 - Nuremburg, Germany. With 2535 exhibitors (71% international) and 51,453 visitors, Biofach is the world’s largest and most important international trade fair for organic food. Department for International Trade (DIT) grants are available to reduce exhibitor costs. Find out more.

Sources & Links to Further Info

Key certifier - http://www.agencebio.org/

National Union of organic enterprises – http://www.synabio.com/

Retailers:
http://www.biocoop.fr/
http://www.lavieclaire.com/
http://www.naturalia.fr/

National Federation of Farming:
www.fnab.org

Organic market info source:
https://www.ami-informiert.de/ami-english/ami-about-us/about-us.html

http://orgprints.org/31200/7/schaack-2017-organic-market-germany-biofach2017.pdf

Research Institute of Organic Agriculture:
http://www.fibl.org

Organic Association:
http://www.n-bnn.de/

National organic certification:
https://www.oekolandbau.de/bio-siegel

Association for organic farming:
http://www.bioland.de/
http://www.naturland.de/