The expenditure of Walloon households on food products from organic farming reached 366 million euros in 2019, an increase of 87% compared to 2015. The consumption of this type of product has enabled the development of a full market, according to figures published Monday by Wallonia (State of the Walloon environment). The consumption of organic products is however still far from being accessible to all.
Household spending on food products from organic farming represented, in 2019, a market share of 4.9% of total food spending by Walloon households, according to several surveys by the market research institute and d GfK marketing audit, cited by the State of the Walloon environment. The market shares of meat substitutes, eggs and fresh vegetables reached 32%, 23.9% and 13.5% respectively in the past year. Fresh fruit increased significantly, reaching 11.2% of market share in 2019. The market share of ‘organic’ specialty stores grew by 82%, mainly at the expense of generalist supermarkets, including the market share for the purchase of this type of product decreased by 29%.
Taken by rather high income households
No less than 81% of household spending seems to have been made by the 20% of Walloon households who consume the most products from organic farming. While the latter devote 15.6% of their annual food budget to organic food, half of the households consuming the least amount of such products spent only 0.7% of their annual budget on it. Analysis of the consumer profile also indicates that the ‘organic’ market is driven by households with above-average incomes, medium-sized households (two to three people) and those whose reference person ( the one who records all acts of purchase) is over 50 years old.
The persistent price differences between organic food and equivalent conventional products can be explained by the nature of the production process specific to organic farming, can we still read in the report published on the State of the Walloon environment. “For certain food categories, such as eggs, milk and potatoes, the price differences have narrowed significantly since 2010, while the opposite trend is observed for hard and semi-hard meats and cheeses. .“
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The competition between organic stores, in our January 26 news
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