AMA Marketing presented the current organic numbers from RollAMA
Nuremberg (OTS) – Every February, Nuremberg becomes Europe’s organic hotspot when the entire organic community makes a pilgrimage to the leading trade fair Biofach. AMA Marketing has a stand in Hall 1 and traditionally presents the latest organic key figures from the food retail sector, which are obtained from the RollAMA household panel. These show, among other things, that organic food can still count on loyal buyers despite general price increases.
Organic food continues to enjoy great popularity even in times of inflation and price increases. As the latest RollAMA figures for the full year 2023 show, organic fresh products were able to increase their sales in food retail by 5.3 percent to around 873.6 million euros. In the long term, sales in the organic sector have grown by more than 50 percent since 2019 (Chart 1).
In view of inflation, as in many other areas, sales development for organic products declined slightly last year (-2.8%). In addition, after years of restrictions caused by Covid-19, more people were consuming away from home again and therefore buying less for their own household. The quantities of organic food purchased in food retail have been increasing constantly for years. Between 2019 and 2023 growth was 27.2 percent (Chart 1).
Organic can maintain buyer reach and frequency
The fact that organic continues to be popular is proven by the development of buyer reach, which at 98.1 percent not only remains very high, but above all remains stable. Organic can therefore maintain both the number of buyers and the purchasing frequency, which has recently even increased slightly to 45.8. The amount of products purchased has fallen slightly from just under 55 kilograms (2022) to 53 kilograms (2023) per household (Chart 2).
Price differences between organic and conventional are sometimes very different
In 2023, the price differences between organic and conventional products varied depending on the product groups and ranged from just under 10 percent for fresh milk to up to 85 percent for meat and poultry. On average, organic eggs were 62 percent more expensive than their conventional counterparts. For cheese and butter, the price difference was 28.4 and 23.2 percent, respectively (Chart 3).
Organic development by product group
The highest proportion of organic food in food retail can still be found in the Mopro area. At 28.3 percent, fresh and ESL milk have the highest organic share of all RollAMA product groups, followed by yoghurt at almost 25 percent. The organic shares of fresh fruit and vegetables achieved a positive development: here, the organic shares continued to grow last year. Fresh vegetables have now become the product group with the third-highest organic share in terms of value (22.7 percent). Fortunately, the organic shares of meat and poultry remained stable at around 7 percent despite the high price difference between organic and conventional (Chart 4).
Meat and poultry in LEH
The market development for organic meat and poultry is satisfactory in view of the price increases: sales grew by 3.5 percent to 67.3 million euros, while sales fell by 5.3 percent to 3,900 tons. On average, customers paid 17.28 euros for a kilogram of organic meat. In 2019 it was 13.62 euros per kilogram (Chart 5). Minced meat has the highest organic proportions among meat purchases in food retailers at 11.3 percent, followed by beef and veal at 9.5 percent. The lowest organic content can be found in pork, where only just under 3 percent is organic (Chart 6).
Market shares by distribution channel
Supermarkets and hypermarkets as well as discounters are increasingly relying on organic food and now offer a wide variety across all product groups. However, at around 70 percent, supermarkets have a higher share of the organic market than their competitors in the discount sector (30%). In recent years, the entire food retail sector has relied heavily on organic products and invested in own-brand items from organic farming (Chart 7).
Who buys the most organic products?
The AMA Marketing also addressed the question of what role educational status plays in the decision to purchase organic products. To do this, household spending on fresh food overall and organic fresh produce in particular was compared with the highest level of schooling completed by the household head. The results show that people with university or college degrees spend more money on organic products than people with lower levels of education. At 333 euros, households with higher education spend 124 euros more per year on organic fresh produce. The fact that the higher educated class spends comparatively less money on food is explained, among other things, by the fact that out-of-home consumption is not taken into account in the RollAMA (Chart 8).
Organic increases the value of food
“The decision as to whether organic or conventional depends very much on what benefits and values you assign to organic,” says Barbara Töpfer-Schulz, organic marketing manager at AMA Marketing. “For 41 percent of consumers surveyed as part of the RollAMA motive analysis at the end of 2023, organic products come first when it comes to the value or special characteristics of food. In second place are regional foods with 37 percent,” explains Töpfer-Schulz (Chart 9).
According to the RollAMA motive analysis, organic has a particular impact in the protection of groundwater and water bodies as well as in the circular economy and animal welfare (Chart 10). Due to the organic regulation, organic is a protected term that may not be used without certification. Almost 60 percent of those surveyed agree that the AMA organic seal increases the value of food (Chart 11). This once again confirms the relevance of the AMA organic seal from the perspective of consumers when making purchasing decisions.
30 years of AMA organic seal
The AMA organic seal is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. In 1994, the foundation stone for today’s AMA organic seal was laid with the introduction of the AMA organic recognition mark. To mark the big anniversary, AMA Marketing is organizing the first AMA Organic Forum on November 7th in Vienna. In Austria there has so far been a lack of a comprehensive organic industry meeting in this area. As a pacesetter, AMA Marketing wants to offer the appropriate platform for discussing future-relevant organic topics together with representatives from the entire value chain.
About the RollAMA of AMA Marketing
The RollAMA (rolling agricultural market analysis) is carried out by AMA-Marketing in collaboration with Consumer Panel Austria and KeyQUEST market research. It is a household panel in which 2,800 Austrian households keep records of their food purchases. Meat and poultry, sausage, milk and dairy products, cheese, fruit, vegetables, eggs, potatoes, frozen products, ready meals as well as bread and pastries are recorded. The purchasing quantities and expenditures of these representatively selected households are extrapolated to the total number of Austrian private households and various key figures are calculated from this. The data therefore provides information about the purchases made for the household. Individual purchases and out-of-home consumption are not included.
Images and RollAMA charts:
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Questions & Contact:
Christian Lastra
Corporate communications
Mobil: +43 664 837 64 20
E-Mail: presse@amainfo.at
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