The boom of organic food continues, +11% sales in 2020. Mass retail and direct sales surpass the boutiques of organic food. The consumption shift is confirmed by Bio Bank, the database that has collected organic data since 1993. (1)
boom of organic food, mass retail and direct sales
Over the course of 10 years, between 2011 and 2020, the distribution of organic products in Italy shifted from specialized stores to supermarkets. Mass retail's share rose from 27 to 47%, that of specialists with prices from boutiques has conversely collapsed (from 45 to 21%). Direct sales maintain position (from 28 to 31%, according to report data), with good chances of growth thanks to better profitability for farmers and immediate payment which encourage theorganization of home deliveries.
Sales of organic products, considered in mass retail, amount to 2 billion euros. After years of double-digit growth and consolidation in 2019 (+2%), growth resumes at a good pace (+5% in 2020). Organic private label references (MDD, or private label) have in turn increased, from 4,300 in 2018 to 4,700 in 2019 (+8%).
Coop Italia, Esselunga, PAM Panorama. The queens of organic private label
Coop remains the leader undisputed in organic food and cosmetics under its own brand (private label), with 750 references. To which, among other things, they could be added, in a holistic vision of spending green, Ecocert certified household products. The Italian mass retail brand historically most committed to issues of social sustainability and environmental, animal welfare (without antibiotics) and health (without palm oil) was the first in Italy – in 1992 – to offer organic fruit and vegetables in its stores.
Follows Esselunga, with 485 organic SKUs under MDD (Private Label). Esselunga was the first to launch a line of organic products private label, in 1999. An adventure worth recalling in thecaptivating narration by one of its protagonists, Giuseppe Caprotti.
To the Pam Panorama group goes the bronze medal, with 366 organic product SKUs. The procurement policies introduced at the time by Daniele Saggion thus confirm their solidity and foresight.
Specialized stores under pressure
On shelves of supermarkets and sites ecommerce organic SKUs continue to grow, as already highlighted in thelatest report of the ‘Immagino’ Observatory (GS1-Italy, Nielsen). The branded industry, from SMEs to large industries, is beginning to understand what consumers increasingly demand. Truly natural foods, without dangerous pesticide residues.
Organic has become part of mass consumption and thus reduces the space for ‘jewelry stores’ with astronomical margins and logistic shortages in fresh produce. Specialized stores are therefore forced to revise their strategies. Bio Bank records a high turnover – exceeding 200 stores, favoring areas >150 sq m – and anticipates relatively modest sales, around 924 million euros in 2020.
Network of organic stores
The stores specialized organic stores in Italy number 1,339. Of these, 42% (563) belong to a network, 35% (579) are independent but affiliated with one of the two distributor promotional programs (Ki Ama Bio and Come Voglio Bio). To face the advance of large-scale retail trade, 77% thus resort to aggregation. The organic store networks in Italy, by size:
1) NaturaSì dominates the sector, with 297 stores. It was born in 1993 in Verona, almost three decades after the pioneer Il punto macrobiotico (1980). In 2019 it acquired the chains Biobottega and Piacere Terra,
2) Organic Heart (173 stores), in turn belongs to leader EcorNaturaSì. Several stores have changed their signs, switching to NaturaSì,
3) Naturplus (24 stores) and MelaVerdeBio (15), from the Apulian company Natplus,
4) Bio c’ Bon, third organic brand in France, opened in Italy in 2014. Today it has 16 minimarkets. In November 2020 it was acquired by the Carrefour group,
5) Biosapori, Venetian chain born in 2003, counts 10 supermarkets, 9 of which with a dining area,
6) The Macrobiotic Point, pioneer of organic food, drops to 28 stores, of which 23 have a restaurant.
The organic boom sidelines small shops
Caught between supermarkets and organic networks, the small shops that first, since the 1970s, spread organic culture and consumption in the country instead risk extinction.
The extra gear of this segment is the original vocation. That is to say the commitment to communicate the values of organic farming, the direct relationship with producers, the knowledge of the product. But the tools, suggests Bio Bank, deserve to be updated.
Comments by AssoBio
'Organic consumption are actually growing significantly worldwide. And also in Italy, in the last 12 months, they have grown by 7% reaching 4.3 billion.
The large-scale retail trade represents the most important channel but in recent months, probably also due to the particular situation we are living through. There has nonetheless been growth in the specialized world as well with values decidedly higher than the national average. The location of the points of sale, the presence of many local products and relational skills have certainly helped these performances.
Very good also exports which in 2020 are set to exceed 2.6 billion euros, that is more than 6% of all Italian agri-food exports. It is therefore important to properly remunerate farmers and promote the increase of organic land! (Roberto Zanoni, AssoBio, president)
Marta Strinati and Dario Dongo
Cover image taken from www.agirpourlenvironment.org
Notes
Bio Bank Focus 2020 Supermarkets and Specialists https://issuu.com/biobank/docs/focus_bio_bank_supermercati_2020
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
Professional journalist since January 1995, she has worked for newspapers (Il Messaggero, Paese Sera, La Stampa) and magazines (NumeroUno, Il Salvagente). Author of journalistic investigations on food, she published the book 'Reading labels to know what we eat'.
