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The Italian organic in great expansion

Organic steadly growing sector in Italy

In view of the classic annual appointment of Sana di Bologna, the main organic exhibition in Italy, the prestigious think-tank of agriculture socio-economic studies Nomisma has anticipated the data that confirm the great moment of growth of Italian organic, both in terms of production than on the national and international market.

The sector reached 1.3 billion in turnover in Italy (30 June 2019), with an increase of 4.6% compared to a year before (while the growth of the food sector as a whole was 1.5% in Italy).

A respectable result, considering that it joins the figure of organic agricultural production which is now steadily at 15% of the entire Italian arable agricultural area.

On a commercial level, the market share of organic products sold in Italy went from 0.65% in 2000 to 3.6% in 2019, with a growth of 600% in less than twenty years.

A senstive point for bio: prices

The question of the price of these products remains obviously open, on average higher than those of the corresponding conventional products, for reasons that we explain in our VIVET course on Organic Farming.

"On average, the difference between organic and conventional is around 20-30% - explains Paolo Carnemolla, president of Federbio, an organization that brings together many organic and business associations in Italy, even though there are products such as pasta that they touch peaks of 40% more, and it must be said that the price increase is not always justified, given the type of wheat processed".

According to other studies, the price differential can reach peaks of 200-300% for other types of products, in particular those for personal care, a sector which, despite this, is experiencing considerable growth.

Nomisma estimates that as many as 20 million Italians would be willing to buy foods, such as organic ones, which guarantee the absence of substances that are harmful to health, even if they cost up to a third more.

Italy number two on organic world markets

It is true that the per capita expenditure for organic products in Italy is 52 euros / year, a little compared to richer countries as in the case of the 288 in Switzerland and 237 in Sweden, but higher than 42 in Spain and 35 in the Great Britain).

n particular, important increases occurred in the coffee sector (+34%), wines of certified origin (+27.5%), and eggs (+11%).

These remarkable results on the domestic market are perhaps even exceeded on international markets where even Italy ranks as the second world exporter, with 2 billion dollars, after the USA (3 billion) but before Holland (1.2 billion) and China (1 bln).