"Bio is no longer a niche area, it is increasingly influential in the spheres of production, processing, trade, consumption and society," said Daniel Bärtschi, Managing Director of Bio Suisse at the delegates' autumn meeting. "With ‘Avanti 2025’, we have therefore set ourselves clear, ambitious goals for the development phase up to 2025." Avanti 2025 replaces the association's policy dating back to 2008 and will serve the members of the association in the next few years as a guardrail for their activities.
15 percent organic market share
The strategy up to 2025 entails the following: more than 25 percent of Swiss farms will be bio-certified (in 2016: 13.2 percent). More than 95 percent of these will operate according to the Bio Suisse guidelines. At least a thousand licensees or brand users will work with the ‘Knospe’ brand. (2016: 885). The market share of organic products in the Swiss food market will be at least 15 percent (2016: 8.4 percent). The Knospe farms will be striving towards even more sustainability. Consumers will appreciate, buy and enjoy Knospe foodstuffs. The Bio Suisse association with its 32 member organizations will have a guiding position in the field of organic products - from the field to the plate.
In addition, delegates voted in favor of an auditing agency (URS) independent of strategic and operational management. In future, this URS will examine appeals by individual members or licensees against enforcement decisions based on guidelines and regulations.
In addition to this, the delegates approved the annual plan and budget for 2018. At the close of the meeting, Thomas Anken of Agroscope highlighted what smart farming could do for organic farming in the future.
Source: Bio-Suisse