Graph: Price differences between organic and conventional potatoes, based on an average monthly shop of a Swiss family with two children.
High prices for organic potatoes in 2016
The main reasons for the price difference are the high production costs of organic products as well as an increased risk of failed harvests or losses during storage. These risks are higher due to the lack of plant protection chemicals and products that prevent germination. During the second half of the year, the low amounts available of the 2015 harvest combined with the losses due to the wet weather, early in the summer of 2016, led to a significant increase in prices in the smaller organic potato trade compared to the conventional potato trade. As a result the prices increased in supermarkets too.
Price of conventional potatoes has a crucial influence on the price difference
During the period from 2005 to 2016 the price of conventional potatoes dropped. For example, the average price of conventional potatoes was 3.57 Swiss Francs per kilo between 2011 and 2016, which is about 11% lower compared to the period 2005-2010 (3.99 Swiss Francs per kilo). The price of similar organic products barely changed (-0.6%) in the same period. In 2014, at the time conventional potatoes went for the lowest price, there was the largest difference in organic prices. This shows that the price difference is determined by the price development of the conventional potatoes.
For more information:
Swiss Federal Office for Agriculture FOAG
Bundesamt für Landwirtschaft BLW