In Austria the sale of organic products decreased slightly last year. More and more exotics appear on the market. The organic market in Austria grew fast over the last few years, a double-figure growth even. In 2011 for the first time growth took a breather. The retail sales decreased by 0.6 percent to 304,4 million Euro. The volume bought decreased according to Agrarmarkt Austria (AMA) by 5.4 percent to 109,800 tons.
The EHEC-crisis and the Italian organic fraud case caused negative headlines in the papers last year. AMA-chairman Stephan Mikinovic also includes the economic crisis
as a reason for the fluctuations. Austrian consumers spend on average 118 Euro for organic products annually. With this the country is still in the top.
The EHEC-crisis and the Italian organic fraud case caused negative headlines in the papers last year. AMA-chairman Stephan Mikinovic also includes the economic crisis
as a reason for the fluctuations. Austrian consumers spend on average 118 Euro for organic products annually. With this the country is still in the top.
"In 2009 and 2010 the Austrian organic market grew by 15 percent. With a share of area of 19,5 percent Austria is still part of the leading group, only Lichtenstein with 27,3 percent has a higher organic share" agricultural expert Lukas Kilcher reacts.
Austrian producers will now try to enter new export markets. "Up to now quality has always found a place in the market" Rudi Vierbauch (chairman Bio-Austria) says with confidence. With companies such as Sonnentor (achieving 50 percent of the turnover in Germany) and the initiative "Gutes vom Berg' (good products from the mountain) the Austrian products especially are very successful in Germany.