French organic market worth €12 billion in 2019
These results can be explained by strong consumer demand, thus stimulating production and sector structuring.The organic market continues to explode. The "Agence Bio » (French agency for the development & promotion of organizing products) has just published the impressive results for 2019: a turnover of 11.93 billion euros, up by 13.5%, or + €1.4 billion compared to 2018, with €11.3 billion from retail and direct purchases and € 640 million for the HORECA segment. Today, organic products represent 6.1% of food purchases, a figure that has doubled in five years.
A strong demand has had a direct impact on the development of the offer. This year, there was strong growth of processed organic products, with a sales growth of 31% for frozen foods, 24% for beers and 16% for grocery products.
If organic wine, eggs, and dairy products are mainly from France, fruit, grocery products, soft drinks and smoked-products are still largely imported from the European Union or third countries.
STRONG GROWTH IN HYPER/SUPERMARKETS
In terms of distribution channels, supermarkets accounted for 55% of market share (+6 points compared with 2018) with a sales revenue of € 6.2 billion (+18%); specialist networks represent 28% of market share for a sales revenue of 3.2 billion euros (+7%); direct sales 11% (€1.2 billion euros, +8%) and direct producers/ retailers 6% (€ 672 million, +11%).
In almost all categories, consumers are more likely to go to supermarkets to buy organic products, with the exception of fruit and vegetables, where specialist networks are more popular.
