Sales of organic products continue to grow, marking a +5 per cent over the past year. Data from the Osservatorio Sana. Sales of organic products continue to grow, marking a +5 per cent over the past year. Data from the Osservatorio Sana.
In Italy, in 2021 overall sales of organic products grew by 5 per cent compared to 2020, reaching a value of 4.6 billion euros. Organic products are purchased above all for home consumption, with almost 3.9 billion euros (+4 per cent compared to the same period in 2020). Out-of-home consumption also performed well, marking a 10 per cent increase thanks to the progressive reopenings, reaching 701 million euros in sales. These are the findings of the Osservatorio Sana, which every year captures a snapshot of the Italian organic market and was presented during the 33rd edition of Sana, the international trade fair for organic and natural products, running until 12 September in Bologna.
On the exports front as well, organic made in Italy recorded a +11 per cent compared to last year, reaching 2.9 billion euros in sales on international markets and claiming second place in the ranking of organic exporters, just behind the United States.
The Osservatorio Sana notes how organic has become fully embedded in the conscious choices of both domestic and international consumers, in a perspective of environmental awareness, of a shift towards sustainable development and consumption models and, also, of alignment with the objectives of the European Union's Green Deal.
The main sales channel is modern retail, within which e-commerce records the most significant increase (+67 per cent compared to the same period of the previous year), followed by the network of specialist shops, which are approaching one billion euros in sales (+8 per cent). Sales are also growing in other channels (neighbourhood shops, pharmacies, parapharmacies, markets, purchasing groups), which record sales of 723 million euros (+5 per cent).
Today almost nine out of ten families (89 per cent) have purchased at least one organic product in the past year, and over the last nine years the number of purchasing households has increased by around ten million. In more than half of Italian families (54 per cent), organic food and drink is consumed at least once a week, and for 50 per cent of those responsible for grocery shopping, organic is always the first choice in the trolley, especially for certain product categories such as fruit, vegetables and eggs. Organic purchases are more frequent in households with above-average monthly income and educational attainment, as well as in families with children under 12. Vegetarian and vegan diets also influence the frequent consumption of organic products.
Overall, among the factors that incentivise organic purchases is provenance: 57 per cent decide to buy an organic product if the ingredients are of Italian origin, and 37 per cent if its provenance is local or zero-kilometre. But what is the driver behind the first organic purchase? Certainly curiosity (for 57 per cent), but even more so the desire to put healthy products on the table (64 per cent), as they are free from pesticides and synthetic chemicals.
Among the factors that continue to attract regular consumers, other values embodied by organic also feature, first and foremost sustainability: respect for biodiversity, for the soil, animal welfare, and also fair pay for the agricultural workers who produce it — all good reasons to buy an organic food product, according to 39 per cent of consumers. Packaging characteristics also matter when making purchasing decisions: the packaging of organic products must be sustainable, which translates, for 52 per cent of consumers, into 100 per cent recyclable packaging or, for 27 per cent, into packaging that is entirely compostable.
Sana runs until 12 September at the Bologna exhibition centre, with 600 brands and 500 new products on display. There are three main exhibition sectors: the Organic food area, offering a broad overview of the agri-food supply chain; Care&beauty, featuring cosmetics, natural and organic body care products, supplements and medicinal herbs; and Green lifestyle, dedicated to consumers looking for products for an ecological, healthy and responsible lifestyle. Tickets to enter the fair can be purchased exclusively online, and to gain access to the event visitors must present their green pass.