Demand for organic products increases every year in the Netherlands and Danish companies are looking forward to providing Dutch shops with their organic fruit and vegetables.
A number of Danish companies were represented at the trade fair of the PLMA (Private Label Manufacturers Association) in Amsterdam on 29 and 30 May, to promote the export of organic food with the Økologisk Landsforening. Dutch consumers choose organic food more and more often, providing more export potential to Danish organic growers. “The sales of organic products rose by ten per cent in the Netherlands in 2016, and tripled in the past ten years. The Dutch are working on sustainability, and choose an organic alternative more and more often. Denmark, where the share of organic products is higher than anywhere else in the world, has a good reputation in that field, and Danish companies are much more advanced than the Dutch regarding the development of innovative organic products. Denmark is therefore attractive for the relatively undeveloped organic market in the Netherlands,” says Pernille Bundgård, marketing manager for export for Økologisk Landsforening, which was present at the PLMA trade fair for the seventh time.
In the Netherlands, the market share of organic products is 4.4 per cent. Because of this, the Dutch are in seventh place in the world rankings. Denmark is first. The export of Danish organic fruit and vegetables to the Netherlands has therefore tripled in the past three years. One of the Danish companies exporting organic products is Northern Organic A/S, which exports vegetables in addition to other products. “Our export of organic fruit and vegetables to the Netherlands increases despite the fact we have much competition from good Dutch producers. The Netherlands is a market with great purchasing power, and it’s also very interesting for the export of innovative organic food. Besides the Netherlands, other European countries are also showing an interest in organic Danish products,” says Jørgen Nielsen, CEO of Northern A/S.
Source: www.maskinbladet.dk
