As stated by Mercabarna general director Josep Tejedo, "we commissioned this study after observing the tremendous growth in domestic consumption and exports of organic food in recent years in Catalonia, despite the economic crisis. We have done it to present new business opportunities to fresh produce processors and distributors at Mercabarna, given the growth prospects of organic products in Europe."
The study, presented by Ricard Madurell, of Marked Aad, states that organic farming is emerging as a productive model, defined and regulated by an active European legislation, and as a solid foundation for the EC's competitive development in the agro-food sector. The development and sustained growth of the sector over the last decade in Europe ensures for good prospects in the short and medium term (2015-2020). Currently, the turnover at European level stands at 22,000 million Euro per year.
Signs of stagnation in Spain
According to the study, Spain is one of the better positioned countries in the international organic sector. It has the world's fifth largest acreage devoted to this crop; 6.5% of its total agricultural area (the EU average is 6.1%). Moreover, it is the second EU country in terms of the number of farms, over 30,000, only behind Italy, which has 45,000.
Between 2003 and 2013, the volume of business has quadrupled (currently EUR 1,000 million per year). Since 2013, however, signs of stagnation have been detected in the Spanish organic production structure (agricultural area, number of operators, with only a slight growth of the processing sector), mainly due to a lack of processors and distributors.
Great growth in Catalonia in recent years
Despite the signs of stagnation at national level, the growth dynamics in Catalonia have continued in recent years.
The remarkable presence of organic operators (both producers and, mainly, processors and distributors) has made it possible to concentrate more than a fifth of Spain's entire volume (210 million Euro in 2013, 38% more than in 2012). Moreover, domestic consumption has doubled over the past three years (from 40 to 80 million Euro) and in 1 year (2012-2013) exports to the EU have increased from 20 to 40 million Euro.
Between 2012 and 2014, the Catalan sector has also increased its agricultural area and the number of operators by 20% and 30%, respectively. Catalonia is the sixth autonomous region in terms of the number of growers, but the largest when it comes to processors (780), accounting for more than 27% of the country's total. It also has the greatest number of wholesalers (239, 44% of the country's total).
Informed and willing consumers
The study concludes that Spanish and Catalan consumers are becoming better informed about the added value of organic products. Spain's organic production structure, however, is not showing a proportional development of processors and distributors, making it difficult to stimulate demand.
Therefore, to ensure the positive development of the sector, it will be necessary to increase the number of processors and distributors and also take advantage of the diversity of existing marketing channels. As has happened in other European countries, if you facilitate the supply of organic products in regular stores, demand for them increases, given the previous knowledge and willingness on the part of consumers to buy these foods.
This latent predisposition of consumers towards organic products is confirmed by the increasing use of e-commerce to cover this unmet demand.