We know that organic food, the short circuit also experienced a real craze during the health crisis. Two years of strong growth for the sale of these products, but today the market is experiencing a serious setback; mFewer organic products sold in recent months, smaller shopping carts, declining turnover for a sector accustomed to growth up to now.
This slowdown is all the more marked as it is a first and as the years 2020 and 2021 had been quite exceptional. But the decline in the organic sector began to be felt as soon as the confinements ended and has been accentuated in recent months.
“This is most certainly due to galloping inflation.believes Alexis Descamps, CEO of the Biofarm chain of stores, and the pressure on purchasing power and household budgets which makes people allocate their budget to what they can, to cope at the same time with the rising energy prices, etc.”
A pre-pandemic level
The figures thus return to a level lower than that of the pre-pandemic period, that from 2018-2019.
Et it seems the same in supermarkets: people pay more attention to what they buy. But the trend is much more marked for organic products, confirms Karima Ghozzi, spokesperson for Delhaize: “In any case, we see an impact in relation to the higher price of organic. Because to give a super concrete example, we have for example a treatment of organic wine which does not know a real difference in price with conventional wine. And there, for example, we observe an upward trend, so we still see a direct link with the price“.
The problem is therefore the price of organic, or more exactly the reputation of always charging higher prices.
According to several interviewees, the foundations of the organic market are not in question. The decrease would rather be related to the current economic situation. The consumer would continue to attribute importance to the environmental, health or ethical values generally associated with organic products, but are turning away from them out of budgetary prudence in favor of conventional products.