“It really is very hard”: the organic crisis is invited to the Agricultural Fair

“To be honest, it’s very complicated.” After years of double-digit growth, organic farming is struggling with inflation. A blow to the thousands of French farmers who have abandoned conventional farming, caught between sluggish demand and sky-high production costs. In the corridors of the Agricultural Show, which takes place until Sunday in Paris, the organic crisis is invited as one of the essential topics of discussion. As he recalls the banner “Bio despised. Bio buried” displayed at the Agence bio stand.

Food prices rise 45%

The limousine breeder, who took one of her animals to compete in the pig ring, is concerned about the sharp increase in the price of feed for her animals, which has risen by almost 45% in a few months – food represents 80 % of charges for a pig. “We had to close some projects or put others on hold because we are very concerned about it,” explains Pascale Vuylsteke, who recently converted to organic farming after several years of training.

An equation that is all the more complicated to solve since, at the same time, consumers are moving away from organic products. According to the latest figures from the panelist NielsenIQ, sales of organic products fell more than 7% in supermarkets last year, and the fall is even more severe in the specialized network, where they fell 12%. Inflation has come to hit the growth of the sector: although they are less inflationary than conventional products, organic products are the most affected by arbitrations in the food budget, afflicted by their image of high cost.

consumer disaffection

Some of his beef production was previously sold at a producer’s store next door to the farm. But “we’ve seen consumer disaffection,” he says, referring to a 20% drop in billing. “It made us review our position: we stopped the meat in the store,” continues Étienne Gangneron, also vice president of the FNSEA.

The consumer has also been lost amidst all the labels that have grown out of organic. Labels such as “no pesticide residue”, “high environmental value” or even “committed growers” have fragmented the market. And these labels, which are less expensive than organic because they are less restrictive for growers, have reduced their market share. “People are moving towards new denominations, which are certainly great but do not correspond at all to our specifications, which are demanding and require more and more restrictions on our part,” emphasizes Pascale Vuylsteke.

“A niche sector”

Distributors, feeling the twist of the wind, reduce the aerodynamic profile: on the shelves, organic products are much less numerous than before. To sell his ice cream, Ludovic Poupart has chosen to avoid supermarkets by turning to professional retailers. “The crisis does not affect us at all” because “we are not referenced in large distribution”, confirms the breeder-glacier from Charente, who offers his products to visitors in Hall 7. “It is a niche sector, throughout the beaches, where the consumer not only looks at the word ‘organic’ but also the quality or appearance of the product,” he points out.

He has been turning part of the milk from his sixty cows into ice for thirteen years, but only in 2019 did he go organic. A way to “stand out” and “develop new market shares”, says Ludovic Poupart, who launched ice cream production to counter the dairy crisis of the 2000s. And the ice cream man sees the future with serenity.

An unusual tranquility in the organic sector that, for the most part, asks for public help to stay afloat.

But despite the turmoil, these farmers are holding the helm as they wait for better days. “Today there are some slowdowns that are reexamined, but the choice, if it had to be redone, I would do it again”, estimates Étienne Gangneron, a pioneer of organic since 1997. Any hope of a return of consumers, when we will have gone through inflationary times .

In any case, “it won’t make me change the line”, assures the pig farmer. “We just kept going and moving forward.”