Since the market has evolved quickly and more products have been added to the offer, organic fresh fruits and vegetables are no longer a niche category in Europe. As such, providers have opportunities throughout the whole year.
According to distributors in Latin America, European retailers are focusing on their organic product offer.
"Many organic products have gone mainstream," said Peter Abma, commercial director of Fairtrasa Holland. "Currently, it's hard to think about a supermarket in Europe that doesn't have organic apples and pears. The demand for avocados, limes and ginger is also increasing," he said.
Organic apples, pears, oranges, peppers, and tomatoes are currently the best sellers at Eosta, another major European distributor of fresh organic produce. According to Volkert Engelsman, the company's CEO, there has been an increase in the variety of products that are demanded. "A few years ago the passion fruit and the papaya were seen as exotic tropical delicacies, but nowadays we are selling mamey sapote, turmeric and organic vanilla, which are very unusual products for many of our clients," he said.
Markets to watch
According to Abma (who supplies Germany, Scandinavia, the UK, Switzerland, Austria, Greece, Italy, Spain, France and Portugal), Germany is the largest market for organic products as it has 83 million inhabitants.
"Consumption is also fantastic in Denmark and our turnover is incredible considering that only 5.7 million people live there," he said.
Abma just returned from a trip to Sweden, where organic products account for an impressive 12% of the general fruit and vegetable departments of the two supermarket chains with which Fairtrasa Holland is working.
"It may be a bit exaggerated, but Swedish journalists are ensuring that conventional fruits, especially bananas and table grapes are dangerous to eat because of the pesticides used on them. Thus, we're seeing a huge increase in the volume of organic bananas destined for Sweden, "he said.
Abma said he was also seeing that more and more consumers in the Netherlands were choosing organic products over conventional ones, although currently only 5% of organic production distributed by Fairtrasa Holland remains in the domestic market.
Even the UK is showing growth following a decline in demand during the prolonged recession. "Over the past seven years, organic products have proved they are recession proof because people who choose these products don't do it for economic reasons, but because they feel it is the right healthy choice for themselves and their families, "said Engelsman.
Demand has evolved
According to Engelsman, a sensitive elite that has the intellectual capacity to understand the importance of protecting their health and the planet has always driven the demand for organic products. "In the past, the main reason for choosing organic products was the fact that they were free of chemicals, but there is much more going on today," he suggested.
Engelsman also said that consumers nowadays, especially the youth, were making more informed shopping decisions. "Consumers want to know where their food comes from and what is involved in getting the product from the farm to the store," he said.
He also emphasizes that the food scandals have led to a growing distrust of the food industry in general, while organic products enjoy a positive and healthy image that is not connected to the major multinational or investor groups.
Engelsman also believes that the health trend in Europe, or rather the focus on proactive health care, is also driving demand for natural and healthy products such as organic produce.
Potential suppliers
Even though Europe remains a major organic producer, the need for supplies throughout the year is an opportunity for other suppliers to fill that gap.
"European consumers are willing to buy as locally as possible but they want to eat organic products throughout the whole year and there are always some periods where there is a lack of supply," said Abma. "That's why we're working with Kenya on organic avocados because the Mexican and Peruvian harvest are just a few weeks apart," he added.
According to Abma, Peru also has an opportunity thanks to the growing demand for avocados as a whole, and particularly, because of the organic avocados' quality and higher oil content.
"Colombia's potential is also huge as the government is encouraging investment in production in areas that used to be too dangerous. There is plenty of unspoiled land between the cities and the areas controlled by the FARC, which have never been used. It's a very interesting perspective because the Colombian weather is perfect and Cartagena is only a couple of days by boat from the Netherlands," he added.
A few months ago, Fairtrasa Holland began importing organic fruit from Colombia and Abma sees potential for papayas, passion fruit and organic pineapple. However, the European Commission's proposal of applying stricter regulations on the domestic and imported fresh organic products could affect the supply in the near future as the industry adapts.
Engelsman, however, is confident that the future of organic products remains very bright. "We don't expect the proposals to have a significant impact on the demand for organic fresh fruits and vegetables," he said. "However, we are worried that the new rules will be more strict, which will make it harder for producers who want to change to organic products to do so."
Source: Fresh Fruit Portal