Who are the organics buyers in the EU
A report by the US Global Agricultural Information Network He says that the focus should be on light buyers, older people, without children in the house and looking for new trends. Chile must be aware, however, of the growing interest in consuming local production.
Although the US is the largest organic market on the planet, the European Union is growing by leaps and bounds. The positive thing is that this opens up new possibilities for global producers, especially those that, like Chile, have an approval agreement. According to a study prepared by Leif Rader and specialists for Europe from the Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN), in 2016, the organic food market represented US$43 billion, while the EU involved US$35 thousand million, which was 15% higher than in 2015. “In the last 10 years the European market has more than doubled“he adds.
Behind this growth would be not only the search for a more ecological diet, but also the inclusion of organic products on the shelves of traditional supermarkets. “This has meant a great availability of organics for a larger audience", says the document. Added to this is the fact that specialized stores have become more and more professional, adding more spaces and expanding the offer.
Although Germany and France are the first and second organic markets in Europe, and account for nearly half of the total in Europe, the largest expenditure per person, per year, is made in Denmark - with an annual average of US $ 250- , followed by Sweden, Luxembourg and Austria.
The document states that European consumers can be divided into two groups.
"The first, called the regular buyers, corresponds to a small group that has been buying organic for decades and includes environmentalists, nature lovers and conscious people. While it is a small group, they are responsible for about half of organic purchases in the EU“he points out.
He adds that they would resort to specialized stores or to organic markets, and do not consider price as a key factor in their purchase decision. The second group, known as light buyers, is larger than the previous one and is made up of older people -from between 50 and 75 years-, usually without children at home and with higher incomes than usual buyers, and who, moreover, They are characterized by looking for new trends.
Among their reasons for acquiring organic is the search for healthy lifestyles, concern for safety and animal welfare, among others, according to the document. They usually buy in traditional supermarkets and specialized stores.
"Due to its diversity and size, this is the group that will focus on the growth of the organic industry in the coming years“, he raises.
The precaution that Chile must have
Chile has an advantage to take advantage of, in terms of organics: an approval agreement that allows it to reach that country more easily. In fact, a similar agreement that the EU signed with the US in 2012 has boosted organic trade between the two. "Since 2012 this association has stimulated trade between the two largest organic producers in the world, and has given producers and entrepreneurs access to a growing combined market of about US$ 80 billion," says Leif Erik Rehder, coordinator of FAS in Berlin.
Although the agreement is recognized as positive, some consider that one must be cautious and understand how the European consumer is.
"Europeans are operating the term "buy local" with great force and especially for organic products, in which the consumer is more informed and handles the concept of energy very well and what it means to travel 12 thousand kilometers, which for an organic product does not fit the principles. That is an important difference with the organic consumer in the United States, who does not care much where the product comes from as long as it is of quality and meets the requirements“, says Carlos Klein, producer and former director of the Association of Organic Producers of Chile. For this reason, he points out that the natural market, especially for Chilean berries, will continue to be Canada and the United States.
Klein explains that the awareness for ecology that Europeans have developed is still very immature. “Much more missing. There is a credibility issue in some countries, which believe their own organic production - such as the Danish or the Germans - and are very sensitive about organic production in countries further south", He says.
Source: Revista del Campo
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