Is organic running out of steam? The organic market has experienced an unprecedented slowdown since last year, after experiencing double-digit growth in recent years. And this can be seen in the consumer’s basket. At the market, franceinfo meets Grazziella, doing her calculations: “I hesitated for the green beans, but given the very high prices, I took organic for the little one and for us we will take something else!” Organic, therefore, that we put aside when the budget becomes a little tight.
The drop does not seem impressive: minus 1%, in 2021, compared to 2020. But this is a first. And the first to realize it are the producers: in his farm in Sarthe, in Chantenay-Villedieu, Florent Rouillard, organic market gardener, no longer recognizes his customers on the market. “I saw the average basket decrease, he observes. People came to buy me three carrots and two potatoes. We wonder what they will do with that: it will not go far… In fact, people are eating pasta and they have stopped eating vegetables!
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Small baskets are certainly one thing, but what mainly affects Florent’s finances is that until then he made 60% of his turnover with specialized brands such as Biocoop, Naturalia, etc., which have sharply reduced their orders, in the face of sluggish demand. The Sarthois market gardener had to adapt.
“I have to go to three markets a week instead of one, to make promotions and to sell part of my production at conventional prices. Selling off production is not the goal, but I have not the choice otherwise I throw!”
Florent, organic market gardenerat franceinfo
The period is tough and Florent hangs on: it’s been eight years since he launched his organic farm, but he has already considered stopping everything. “I have already made the announcement to sell my farm, he confides. What is certain is that I will not wait to be on the straw to stop everything…” Also, for organic producers like Florent, the moment is decisive.
How can this slowdown in consumption be explained? It is not linked to inflation: the French began to buy less organic before the generalized price increase that we are now experiencing. Moreover, organic is rather less affected by inflation, because it uses less fertilizer, and less of what are called “inputs”, imported and expensive in energy. In reality, we also consume less organic, because we consume less of everything: the French have reduced the overall food budget. And the organic label, materialized by a small green AB logo, has lost some consumer confidence.
“I am convinced that the agro-industry and the large distribution have had their role in this, says Pierrick de Ronne, the president of Biocoop. That is to say that they took the specifications without the values and surfed on the confidence that there was in the label and today, consumers note that there is organic coming from the other side of the world or who is nutri-score E or F [c’est-à-dire les produits qui ont une moins bonne qualité nutritionnelle car ils contiennent des nutriments à limiter]and it’s confusing!”
Supermarkets and specialized stores are the places where organic sales are falling the most. The Biocoop group, the sector leader, thus opened fewer stores in 2022 than in previous years. And closed fifteen at the same time. Conversely, short circuits are doing well, and direct sales, from producers or artisans, are even up by 8%. The organic sector therefore has a few reasons to be hopeful all the same if consumers continue to buy organic locally.
And then there are other outlets: school canteens, for example. Florent, our market gardener from Sarthe, has just contacted those near him. The Egalim law is an incentive in this respect: it provides for 20% organic in school canteens. However, today, we are only at 6.5%. Restaurants can also be another outlet, with a paradox, pointed out by the director of Agence Bio, the national structure responsible for promoting organic farming, Laure Verdeau: “There are 176,000 restaurants in France and only 2% are organic!” Restaurants must therefore play the game.
Ten percent of French agricultural land is devoted to organic: that’s good, but it’s still very far from the national target set at 18% within five years. To reach it, the market would already have to restart.