French organic market is down 4.6% in 2022

On June 1st, Agence Bio revealed the 2002 figures regarding the French organic market. The home consumption of organic products, which is essential for the sector (92% of outlets) has decreased by 4.6%. The market therefore loses 600 million euros [642 million USD] to 12,076 billion euros [12,916 billion…

Rain and heat delayed Ontario spinach

Harvest is underway of overwintered organic spinach in Ontario. “We had a fairly mild winter which helped the spinach survive really well. However, it was then subjected to impacts of the inconsistent weather we had this spring,” says Markus Pfenning of Pfenning’s Organic Vegetables Inc., noting that…

“WeSpeakBananas comes from serving industry as producer and exporter for many years”

The importance of a proper sealant around the crown of bananas needs more attention, with tens of millions of boxes of this popular fruit exported around the world, says Luis Monge, Director of Transastra. S.A. based in Peru. They are a manufacturer and supplier of ParaSeal® the paraffin film that is…

"Spain has organic lemons all year round; something that no other organic fruit sector achieves"

Already close to 12,000 hectares are devoted to organic lemon cultivation in Spain, making the country the largest producer and global supplier of organic lemons. "In the lemon sector, we are very pleased to have achieved such a level of sustainability. We are number 1 in the world both in terms of…

Belgian organic grower expands cautiously: "There was only slightly more, but it was hard to sell”

"There's always more demand for organic cucumbers than we can supply," organic grower Koen van Hauteghem of Vitaetom stated last fall. During a visit - at the invitation of VLAM, Flanders' Agricultural and FIsheries Marketing Board - to his family farm in Belgium last Friday morning, he referred back to…

"Due to the high water and floods in Italy, some organic crops were lost"

Organic eggplants can be found year-round at the Karl Eschenbach GmbH company, managing director Mariano Thanner tells us. He sources the product from Germany and Spain, although at present he offers mainly goods from Italy. "Prices are much higher than last year. This is mainly due to the drought and…

"A great opportunity to showcase organic produce"

This is a unique event. At least that's how Westmoreland Sales - Topline Farms feels about the Organic Produce Summit. The Ontario-based grower is pleased to announce its participation as an exhibitor at the Monterey Conference Center. Dino DiLaudo says organic produce is a segment that has been showing…

"This year we sold three tons of tomatoes we produced ourselves"

Organic farmer Michael Boyer produces organic vegetables at three locations in and around Göttingen, most of which he markets in his own specialty store in Göttingen's…

Editorial Special Organic Produce Summit

From June 1 until June 30, FreshPlaza will run an Editorial Special on the upcoming Organic Produce Summit. The show will be held at the Monterey Conference Center in Monterey, California on July 12 and 13. The event will feature retailer and buyer field tours, an opening reception, educational sessions,…

"We have never had to commit so many organic pears so early for next season"

Whereas Belgian organic apples are still having a tough time toward the end of the season, organic pears are already in particularly high demand. "We have never had to commit so much volume so early for next season," says Gunther De Vadder of the Belgian Fruit Auction (BFV). "Severe climatic problems seem…

After 20 years, the EU reopens its market to Argentine organic citrus fruits

Argentina's Ministry of Agriculture has reported that, after 20 years, the European Union has reopened its market to the country's organic citrus; thanks in part to the…

Is the organic sector finally recovering?

Last year was particularly complicated for organic strawberries, but it seems that all the parameters are now in place for a successful campaign. “We started the season on March 20th and we still have three weeks left to harvest. The weather has been on our side this year, with no heatwave that would…

New unheated French greenhouse tomato launched

Générose, the new tomato developed by ProNatura in collaboration with the MédiTerraBio growers' group, is a variety that “combines all the characteristics of heirloom tomatoes, with its generous flesh, melting texture, juiciness and sweet flavor.” It is grown exclusively in the southeast of France in…

Jiahe Food

"Through our network of suppliers in Spain, Portugal and Israel, we are able to deliver year-round"

Organic sweet potatoes are now nearing the end of the season. "High-quality sweet potatoes from Portugal are still being loaded, so we will not finish this year's marketing season until the end of the month. After that, we will seamlessly continue with goods from Israel, which we expect to offer in June…

US: Organic food sales break through $60 billion in 2022

Organic food sales in the United States in 2022 broke through $60 billion for the first time, hitting another high-level mark for the resilient organic sector. Total organic sales – including organic non-food products – were a record $67.6 billion*, according to the 2023 Organic Industry Survey released…

Obstbau Simon

"With our organic apricot, we are at world championship levels"

Brothers Michael and Christoph Simon are currently establishing an organic orchard in Mollram with 10,000 fruit trees, 5,000 of which are apricot trees. "Of course, we looked at similar projects in Germany and South Tyrol and everyone said we were crazy. Because the cultivation of the apricot alone is…

"Scandinavian organic greenhouse vegetable growers are switching back to conventional"

In Europe, high energy prices delayed the start of this year's organic greenhouse vegetable season. "Also, organic greenhouse vegetable acreage is as much as 20 to 30% lower,"…

Terra i Xufa partners with IMG to promote the sale of organic products

Terra i Xufa, a producer of quality organic food, and IMG, a marketer of agri-food at the European level, have signed an association agreement to join forces to promote the sale of organic products while expanding their network of customers, optimizing processes, and increasing the profitability of the…

Ögema GmbH

"We are now increasingly importing our organic apricots from Spain instead of Italy"

The massive rainfall in Italy is not only affecting the Emilia-Romagna region, but also other growing areas in the country. "The Italian fruit and vegetable sector is in a very bad position at the moment. In Emilia Romagna, the main damage is to pears, apples, stone fruit, kiwis, vineyards and cereals. We…

bioFrische GmbH

"In terms of calculation, we are at the limit with organic mushrooms"

The cultivated mushroom sector is looking back on an eventful year due to inflation and cost increases since the start of the Ukraine war. "The harvest volume of organic mushrooms from our exclusive supplier Bio Pilzhof Leipzigerland has been stable and is still around 14 tons a week, but the cost…

USDA launches organic INTEGRITY database trade partner module

On May 17, the USDA National Organic Program (NOP) expanded functionality for the USDA Organic INTEGRITY Database by launching a new Trade Partner Module. This new module is…

“Thanks to our loyal clients, we never have a bad asparagus season”

Located in Brittany, the Bigoud Génération farm currently grows asparagus on 19 hectares. “Originally, my father, who is Dutch, arrived in Brittany in the 1980s to grow flower bulbs,” explains Karel Kaptein, manager of the Bigoud Génération farm. “When I settled down, the activity had already lost its…

It is better to grow organic tomatoes to keep up with the times

Located just a few km from Scoglitti (RG), Amelia Gangarossa's company produces organic tomatoes for the fresh produce market. The soil and weather conditions of this area, favored by the proximity to the sea, are excellent for greenhouse cultivation. Amelia Gangarossa In an interview with the Sicilian…

Organic production in crisis despite consumption shifting towards green products

"Right now, the organic farming industry is experiencing a crisis despite the fact that consumption is moving toward health and environmentally-friendly products. We have always focused on the quality of our raw materials and processing and as a matter of fact, we have never changed the recipe of our…

"The sales figures in the organic food trade are almost comparable to 2019 again"

During the pandemic, organic products, not least organic apples, experienced a great deal of hype, but this came to an abrupt halt with the war in Ukraine. "Consumers are definitely buying more organic goods again, but increasingly at discounters. However, the sales figures in the natural food trade are…

Retail focused educational session announced

As inflation and rising costs have impacted organic sales over the past year, producers and retailers seek new ways to grow sales. The Shifting Organic Assortment at Retail is the subject of the fifth-announced educational session at Organic Produce Summit 2023, featuring an analysis of organic fresh…

Hnos. Fernández Lopez signs a commercial partnership with Cal Modest to strengthen its organic line

After several years of mutual commercial collaboration, Hnos. Fernández López SAU will start working on organic production with the Agroturisme Cal Modest SL company, located in Tornabous, Lleida, where it manages more than 110 hectares of organic fruit trees, including stone fruit and pome fruit.…

Organic grower adds seed production to its portfolio

Wholesum, Fair Trade Certified growers and shippers of organic farm-fresh vegetables, is building in-house capabilities to produce organic seeds. “We envision a future where organic seeds and the resources to produce them are more widely available. We support investments in organic plant breeding and…

The market is no longer rewarding organic products as it used to

“We are currently focused on the tomato campaign in Puglia which - temperatures and weather permitting - is looking positive for a series of reasons: transplant operations started in early April, we paid producers 20 eurocents/kg already two months ago for the traditional Birba F1 and Angos F1…

Ijansempoi | Dreamstime.com

Canada moves forward without mandatory disclosure of gene edited seeds

The Honourable Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau announced a decision to allow new genetically engineered (GE) seeds to be released in Canada without health or safety assessments and only voluntary disclosure. This puts the organic sector, which prohibits all forms of genetic engineering, at significant risk.…

Coconut season slows down in Côte d'Ivoire, return to normalcy expected in July

Climatic conditions in Côte d'Ivoire, considering the beginning of the long-awaited rainy season, are leading to a slowdown in coconut production, according to Delcambre Wawa, general manager of the exporting producer Wawa. Wawa explains: "At our company level, we currently export an average monthly…

New kid on Europe's organic fruit importing block

Seasoned overseas fruit import and sales representatives and former colleagues Roelant Komen, José Cubero, Erik Rustenburg, and Yesy Lalupú have started a new company: BeeFair Organic. Last week this new business, based in the Netherlands, obtained its organic and fair trade certification. The first…

Japan: Retailer to adopt cross-category GGN label on select vegetables

AEON rolled out the first products with the cross-category GGN label today in AEON, AEON Style, and Daiei supermarkets in the Kantō and Kinki regions of Japan. Products that…

Martinique opens the way to organic bananas

“We are currently in a trial period. Perhaps other farms will convert to an organic production in the coming years,” explains Ralph Renciot, manager of the Bioban farm of the Lareinty group, which holds 10% of the banana production of Martinique. Pioneer of organic farming on the island through its…

"We want to offer an honest organic-vegan product, which is why we do not use animal manure"

The Bioland Kräutergut Dworschak-Fleischmann offers some 240 different organic-vegan herb varieties. "I am not a vegan myself, but I want to offer an honest organic-vegan product, which is why we do not use animal fertilizers," Managing Director Tanja Dworschak tells us. Only certain herbs, such as rosemary,…

Inflation continues to take a bite out of organic fresh produce sales

Ongoing inflation continued impacting organic fresh produce sales in the first quarter of 2023 as overall dollar sales grew by slightly less than one percent and volume declined by 3.4 percent from the same per year-over-year period, according to the Q1 2023 Organic Produce Performance Report released by…

Organic Produce Summit 2023 looks at what lies ahead in grocery marketing

Leaders from three progressive grocery operations will discuss the future of supermarket retailing and the role of fresh produce during the Retailer Roundtable keynote presentation at Organic Produce Summit 2023 this July in Monterey, California.  “What Lies Ahead for Fresh Produce and Grocery Marketing" will…

Increased costs continue to pressure organic banana growers and shippers

Following a tricky winter, the supply of organic bananas is good and where it was expected to be. For Organics Unlimited, its current supply of organic bananas comes from both Mexico and Ecuador. In addition to these two countries, other areas also producing right now include Costa Rica, Colombia,…

The Sicilian organic stone fruit season has started

The stone fruit campaign has started in Sicily, in the area between Ragusa and Catania. The fruit in greenhouses is practically ready to be harvested, and operations started on week 15 with nectarines.  FreshPlaza has talked about it with Franco D'Angelo from OP Agrologica, which produces and commercializes…

"Easter sales were not too significant compared to past years"

Easter sales of organic cresses were generally mixed this year, Christian Gimperlein of Bio-Maintalkresse said in response to an inquiry. "The volume offtake by food retailers was quite satisfactory, while demand in the wholesale market and catering sectors was rather restrained. At the end of the week,…

"We must understand that we cannot only seek macro-yields of varieties that do not work in the domestic market"

The Murcia-based cooperative Frutas y Cítricos de Mula, Frucimu, expects the organic apricot campaign to start in a couple of weeks. "The harvest will start with a delay of about 10 days compared to last year, around week 17/18, because this year has been warmer and the cold has been more seasonal." "We…

USDA

Organic fruit acreage enrolled in the Federal Crop Insurance Program grew between 2011 and 2021

The acreage of organic fruits protected by Federal crop insurance has increased notably from 2011 to 2021. For instance, the acreage of insured organic apples more than doubled from about 12,000 acres to more than 27,000 acres in that period, and organic grapes went from 9,500 acres to more than 15,000…

Fewer organic carrots sold, bananas remain top seller in organic segment

In February, 827 t of organic carrots were sold in the Swiss retail trade. After exceeding 900 t in each of the last three years, February sales thus fell to a level similar…

Nagaland ships first consignment of organic ginger to Odisha

The first consignment of organic ginger from Nagaland to Odisha was sent off today from Dimapur by  Advisor of Agriculture, Mhathung Yanthan. A total of 5-10 tons will be delivered…

Sustainability compliance topic of newest OPS 2023 ed session

As more retail organizations request sustainability information from their suppliers, opportunities exist to bring buyers and producers together using survey data to improve their respective operations. The Value of Sustainability Compliance, an educational session at Organic Produce Summit 2023, will…

A weather-related trend for Italian organic asparagus

The weather is seriously affecting asparagus cultivation in the province of Foggia, Apulia. The tail end of a winter that is still harsh on Italy - as the weather is expected to worsen next weekend after a few days of good weather - is affecting the harvest of green, conventional and organic asparagus…

One quarter for vegetables and potatoes, one fifth for fruits

7,900 farms produced goods in line with the organic standards in Switzerland and Liechtenstein in 2022. Sales in the organic food market amounted to CHF 3.873 billion. The…

"Possibilities arising in developing countries for organic avocados"

When, in 2014, Proganic began cultivating organic avocados in Tanzania, the Dutch company committed to a long-term relationship. That is now bearing fruit. Since then, not only sales but production and acreage, too, has grown. They cultivate those avocados in different areas in Tanzania. Since last year,…

A. & K. Engemann GbR

"We will be able to market regional chicory into June"

Despite inflation and cost increases, the company said it had a strong sales season overall for organic chicory. "In January as well as February, marketing was a bit slow, which is probably also partly due to inflation and consumer reluctance to buy. In line with the lower demand, we then pushed roots…

Organic Produce Network brings on new VP of events

Organic Produce Network (OPN) has added Rachelle Schulken to its team in the newly created position of vice president of events. Schulken brings extensive event planning and…

"Without a doubt, the most marketed Demeter products in Europe are vegetables"

Biodynamic agriculture has experienced a significant growth in the last decade in Spain, where there are already more than 400 agricultural producers and ranchers certified by Demeter-Spain, out of which more than 75% are fruit and vegetable producers like Antonio Rodríguez Ocaña, and half of them are…

Research center aims to grow and create awareness for organic production

Back in the 1960s, brothers Rob and Bob Grimm opened a roadside produce stand. Their company Grimmway Farms grew into a massive agribusiness operation and became one of the largest carrot growers in the world and with the acquisition of Cal Organic one of the largest producers of organic vegetables in…

“We have found a way to make organic products accessible to all”

On the 6th of April, Desmettre Bio will officially launch the new brand Mochébio on the Rungis market. The wholesaler’s initiative comes from a double observation. “First, we realized that more and more clients were turning away from organic products for financial reasons. But we refuse to see people…

Educational session looks at how athletes eat

Powered by Plants: How World-Class Athletes Are Changing the Way We Eat is a two-hour educational session at Organic Produce Summit 2023 that will explore how athletes have switched to plant-based diets and the positive benefits they have seen as a result. Moderated by American cyclist and Olympic…

New Zealand will play bigger role in US organic apple imports this season

The first organic Williams Bartlett pears from Argentina arrived in the US market mid-February and the season is in full swing for most other varieties. “In addition to Williams Bartlett, we have received Red Bartlett, Abate Fetel, Durondeau, Alexander Lucas, d’Anjou and Autumn Bartlett while Bosc are on…

France: Good demand for 100% organic colored chard

Biogaronne, a group of producers specialized in the sale of organic products, has been marketing colored chard for about 2 weeks. “This is the second year that we sell organic colored chards. Last year, the quantities were not significant because we first wanted to test the market. Since the tests were…

"This year, too, ecologically questionable imports can be avoided"

The first early potatoes in the Palatinate, Bavaria and the Lower Rhine have been planted. Until the new harvest, the farms of the Bio-Kartoffel-Erzeuger e.V., an interest…

Organic apples: Italy and France work together to face the “delicate economic situation"

“The organic apple sector in Europe is faced with a particularly delicate economic situation, which has led the Italian and French economic organizations to reflect together on the future. With 193,000 and 227,000 tons respectively, Italy and France are the two largest producers of organic apples in the European…

“We have launched our packaging activity for organic traditional shallots”

Announced a few months ago, the packaging activity of Pouliquen's organic traditional shallots was officially launched at the beginning of March.   The facilities were extended by 500 m² to accommodate this new activity at the company's headquarters in Brittany. The building is now equipped with the necessary machines…

Rathgeb BioLog AG

"Further strengthen and develop organic vegetable production in Switzerland"

The family businesses Rathgeb Bio and Kellermann Gemüsekulturen have decided to shape their future together from April 2023. The two sustainability pioneers Christian Rathgeb and Martin Kellermann share common values and traditions. All previous fields of activity and locations of both company groups…