Industry professionals point to the role of inflation, but also a loss of credibility for the label and a lack of political support.
“Right now we don’t have the wind at our backs.” The president of Biocoop, Pierrick de Ronne, euphemistically when asked about the decline marked by the organic market in France. After several years of strong growth (sales had doubled between 2015 and 2020), the sector, which will try to take advantage of the Agricultural Show which opens on Saturday February 25 in Paris, is experiencing a marked slowdown. At the end of October 2022, the drop was nearly 5% over one year, according to the IRI Institute, a specialist in consumer data analysis.
The first cause is none other than inflation, which in France reached 5.2% on average over the whole of 2022. “Eight out of ten French people now watch their spending and are not willing to spend more on food”comments Tarek Louadj, analyst at NielsenIQ. “Organic is very sensitive to purchasing power” and its much higher prices (30 to 50% more expensive than conventional food according to various studies) are not “not adapted to the inflationary context”, he continues. According to him, organic is “deprioritized” and this phenomenon “accelerates”. Philippe Camburet, president of the National Federation of Organic Agriculture (Fnab) believes that “Inflation adds a layer of absolute disorder in the prioritization of household purchases”.
“It is the economic situation that is most responsible for the decline in the consumption of organic products.”
Philippe Camburet, president of the Fnabat franceinfo
Abundant labels
Rising prices, however, do not explain everything. On the shelves, the abundance of more or less green labels can be confusing. “We are bombarded with labels all day. Whatever we buy, there is a label (…) The consumer is in the dark”, notes Tarek Louadj. Organic (i.e. products bearing the European organic logo and those bearing the French AB brand, the mention of which is optional) is now accompanied by numerous macaroons: “High Environmental Value”, “Bleu-Blanc-Cœur”, “without pesticides”, “without nitrites” or even labels promoting local production or an ethical dimension.
These designations, which serve to promote practices presented as more virtuous than those of the conventional sector, tend to relativize the scope of organic, although some respond to less restrictive obligations.
“Seeing all these labels, the consumer can tell himself that, whatever happens, he is going to do a ‘good deed’. Might as well do it for cheap.”
Tarek Louadj, analyst at NielsenIQat franceinfo
But faced with this multiplication in supermarkets, the value of the label has been diluted. According to a study by NielsenIQ, only 27% of people questioned think that organic has a real benefit for the environment, with truly sustainable agriculture.
Laure Verdeau, director of Agence bio, the public interest group responsible for the development, promotion and structuring of organic farming in France, notes a “ignoring” of the general public vis-à-vis organic. As a result, “the citizen can confuse the public label and the marketing claims”. However, the procedure to be certified organic is strict and cumbersome, she insists. The leader mentions in particular the numerous regulations, the conversion which is done in two to three years, or even frequent and regular checks carried out by independent bodies.
Take care of the com
Laure Verdeau reminds us that an organic farmer does without 90% of authorized chemical substances to keep only the most natural. This allows in particular a 30% greater biodiversity on organic plots, preserved soil fertility, less affected groundwater, or even pollutants that are not found in the air or in the lungs of the farmer. “We have to re-literate the consumer on what organic is. It’s a challenge to be a food democracy. We can’t have citizens who don’t know how to tell the difference between organic and ‘faux-green'”she believes.
“Why is organic a little more expensive? Because we compensate the risk of this entrepreneur who decides to produce in a very demanding way. They are agronomy geeks.”
Laure Verdeau, director of the Organic Agencyat franceinfo
The director of the Agence bio considers it essential to relaunch large-scale communication campaigns. She draws attention to the one entitled “For us and for the planet, #BioRéflexe”, conducted between May 2022 and October 2022. A success, she assures. Three impact studies have shown that it “Boosted trust in organic – which is declining – increased understanding and generated between 4-5% more sales where the campaign ran”.
The professionals and specialists in the sector interviewed by franceinfo actually agree on one point: communication is one of the sinews of war for this market. A factor taken into account recently by the executive. The Minister of Agriculture, Marc Fesneau, announced in December additional funds to support the organic sector, including 750,000 euros for the Agence bio dedicated to a new information campaign. A welcome envelope but deemed far too light in view of the resources deployed by large groups. “Leclerc’s organic communication budget is 70 million euros”underlines the president of Biocoop, Pierrick de Ronne.
An “insufficient” support policy
The Court of Auditors made a similar assessment in a report published last June: “The Agence bio, the main operator of the State for the organic sector in France, does not have the means to match its missions, in particular for communication.” But, beyond the com’ aspect, the Court of Auditors judges more generally that “the support policy for organic farming remains insufficient”.
“This policy could have been more of a driving force in the development of organic farming, which it has, at best, accompanied and sometimes slowed down.”
The Court of Auditorsin a report on support for organic farming
If it is necessary to “re-explain with enough vigor and more means” the fundamentals of organic, “it shouldn’t be a diversion”, warns Pierrick de Ronne. Organic is no longer worn politically at the highest level, he says, lamenting “a major shortcoming for many years”. It mentions the abolition of aid for farmers, “the oversized enhancement of the ‘High Environmental Value’ label” and the fact that he is, in the Egalim law, “at the same level” than organic to access the ecological quota in collective catering. He also underlines a difference in treatment with non-organic, evoking for example the emergency plan of 270 million euros launched in January 2022 to support the pork industry.
“We see that there is no safety cushion for organic producers. But these cushions are found in conventional. It is not at all the same impulse.”
Pierrick de Ronne, president of Biocoopat franceinfo
In this compelling context, Philippe Camburet recognizes that a “sinistrosis settles on organic production”. “In some sectors, breeders stop”, told France 3 Hauts-de-France in mid-January Riwal Bourdoulous, a young farmer who settled in 2017 to produce organic pork. For the moment, the rate of “deconversion”, that is to say the transition from organic to conventional, is stable, around 4%, according to the Agence bio. But the Fnab anticipates, for the month of May, particularly bad figures.
“We have a plummeting number of conversions. We will have maybe half as many conversions this year compared to last year.”
Philippe Camburet, president of the Fnabat franceinfo
“Huge room for improvement”
The firm Xerfi, specialist in sectoral studies, foresees, like the Agence bio, an exit from the tunnel for 2024. “It shouldn’t last three years like this”breathes Pierrick de Ronne, even if Biocoop is less affected than the whole of the specialized market.
In the meantime, Laure Verdeau, director of the Agence bio, has identified ways to advance the sector in a structuring way. She recalls that in France there is only 6% organic in canteens, far from the 20% mentioned in the Egalim law. These thresholds would represent an additional 1.4 billion euros for the organic sector in France (in a market of 13 billion euros in 2021).
Laure Verdeau also talks about commercial catering, “a blind spot”where organic represents less than 2% of the supply. “If restaurateurs bought 10% organic, that would create an additional market of 1.5 billion euros”she slips. “The room for improvement is enormous.” The current slowdown is only temporary, want to believe the professionals of the sector, claiming however ambitious and rapid plans to raise the bar durably. “Organic is the meaning of history”they repeat in unison.