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The Federal Office for Agriculture has scrutinized the purchases of the Swiss. Organic is constantly progressing there, but some areas stand out.
Consumers would like more organic in canteens and restaurants, according to the Confederation survey.
20 minutes/Michael Scherrer
We want the best for our children: this is one of the conclusions that emerges from the file published Tuesday by the Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG), which analyzed the expenditure of Swiss consumers for organic products. Because the field that largely stands out is that of baby food. In this sector, 50% of turnover relates to organic products.
This is much more than the next sector, namely that of eggs, where 27.9% of sales are organic. From a global point of view, the figures for 2020 indicate that 10.6% of the products purchased are organic. Fruits (17.3%) and vegetables (23.8%) are also finding more and more audiences, while meat and fish do not take off.
Wealthy but elderly city dwellers
“Over the past ten years, the organic market has grown from a niche segment to a significant market in terms of turnover and trends. Today, around 95% of households consume organic products at least once a year, and nearly 50% several times a week,” notes the FOAG.
As for the cliché which consists in saying that organic is above all a matter of young well-to-do urban sores, the FOAG notes that it is almost completely true. The only difference: the office has found that older generations actually consume organic more often than younger people. Another relative surprise: organic is very slightly more convincing in French-speaking Switzerland than among our German-speaking compatriots, even if, according to the OFAG, the differences are “not significant”. On the other hand, the frequency of organic consumption increases the higher the income, the higher the level of education and finds more followers among city dwellers.
Among the obstacles most cited by consumers to justify not buying organic products, the price comes second, the products being often considered too expensive. On the other hand, at the top of the ranking, we find the limited availability of organic products outside the home. “According to the results of the survey, the scarcity of organic food in canteens, restaurants and take-away sales is the main obstacle to the purchase of these foodstuffs”, notes the FOAG. Finally, issues related to packaging deemed excessive are often cited by the Swiss as an element capable of slowing down the act of purchase.
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