In Italy, a resilient organic sector emerges from the Focus Bio Bank – Supermarkets & Specialty Retail 2024 report, available for free at issuu.com/biobank. It stands firm and resists even in times of crisis, in a scenario dominated by uncertainty. In fact, the Italian market for organic products, including retail, foodservice and exports, has reached €9.1 billion in 2023 (+8.7% compared to 2022). That of large-scale retail alone amounted to €4.2 billion in 2023 (+6.7%). But while sales in the large retail sector reached €2.4 billion (+7.9%), continuously growing since 2007, sales in organic shops amounted to €957 million (+4.5%), but remained below the 2012 level, with a fluctuating trend. This is shown in the Bio Bank report based on Nomisma data for Osservatorio Sana.
The private label, stronger in organic
Increasingly, retail is driving sales. In ten years, the retail share of organic sales has grown by almost half (from 40% to 58%), while the share of organic shops has fallen by more than a third (from 36% to 23%), similar to Germany and France. The supply of private label organic products in the 24 chains surveyed by Bio Bank in 2023 is already well established. Between supermarkets and discounters, plus one drugstore chain, these references are around 6,000 (as in 2022), equivalent to 29% of the estimated 21,000 total between private label and IDM. This figure rises to 12 chains with fair trade products in their own brands, with more than 130 references, and 15 chains with certified natural or organic cosmetics, with more than 1,000 references.
Four key facts, among those presented by Circana and The European House – Ambrosetti in Marca, suffice to frame the weight of organic products in large-scale retail and the driving role of small-scale retail for organic products in Italy:
80% of food sales are in large-scale retail, while for organic products the share of large-scale retail is 58%,
31.5% of sales in the large-scale retail trade are made up of products from the small-scale retail trade, while for organic products the share of sales with the small-scale retail trade is 46.7%.
As a result, 27.2% of the total organic sales are accounted for by the large-scale retailer’s RVM.
Organic shops: organic identity and values
The new map of organic shops in Italy is now redefined, after six years of consecutive decline in the number of activities and the progressive reduction in the number of specialised chains. More than 400 shops have been lost since 2017 (-28.8%). According to the Bio Bank census in 2023, the number of shops is in fact down to 1,022 (-7.8% on 2022), returning to 2003 levels. Almost unchanged at 41%, on the other hand, is the share of network outlets. The pressure on the specialised channel remains very high due to competition from discount stores in the first place, but also from supermarkets and online trade. What role then for organic shops? They remain unbeatable in the assortment, unmatched in fresh food, irreplaceable in representing the identity and values of organic food.
The central role of organic food
Everything is changing and the big challenge for organic food is to enter into the change while maintaining its value drive and identity positioning. And also the capacity for innovation, a source of inspiration for the entire agri-food industry. Retailers are reaping the fruits of a tree they did not plant. The task of the organic movement is to keep this tree alive and to continue to live off its fruits. Long live the specialised trade, an elective but not exclusive channel, because organic food now travels through all channels, around the world. More and more companies are producing for the retailer’s brand: not only those that have diversified into organic, but also the pioneers and the historical realities. However, the approach to organic farming can only be strategic, never ideological. Tactical or opportunistic choices have no breath, no vision and no future. And this applies to both retail and business. We need common planning towards a green transition, in which organic food plays a central role.
Read the full report here
The article Italy: Focus Bio Bank 2024 – resilient organic, 27% of retail sales in private labels appeared first on Bio Eco Actual.
