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Is there really an equivalent to the French organic market in Germany? The differences are striking: for over a year, the organic market in Germany has been growing, while in France it has remained stagnant. Growth in Germany is mainly driven by dry goods, while in France it is fruit and vegetables that are driving the market. And while organic shops are helping to revitalise the market in France, it is precisely this sector that is lagging behind in Germany. Ecozept takes stock of organic shops across the Rhine.

You can read the complete article here (in French).

It is a debate as old as organic farming itself: should organic products, in addition to meeting their specifications, also comply with social justice requirements as imposed by fair trade? Ecozept takes stock of the situation in Germany.

You can read the complete article here (in French).

Ecozept is represented at Biofach 2025 with five presentations! Our experts will be presenting key topics relating to sustainable food sourcing, organic direct marketing and sustainable food systems.

Our presentations at a glance:

STADTLANDBIO: Municipal Catering Management in Europe | Organic Cities Network - Organic food and the crucial role of public procurement, successful examples from Germany, France and Sweden.

February 13, 2025 at 10:30 am - 12:00 pm, NCC Ost, Saal Kopenhagen

The Organic Cities Network Europe is committed to political initiatives to promote organic farming through public procurement. Success stories from Germany, France and Sweden show how organic and regional value chains can work.

Speakers:

• Carina Andersson (Örebro Municipality Schweden)
• Michael Böhm (ECOZEPT)
• Reiner Erben (Bio-Städte Stadt Augsburg)
• Ted Wendt (EcoMatZentrum Schweden

STADTLANDBIO: Municipal Catering Management in Europe | From procurement to comprehensive catering management. The new guide from the Network of Organic Cities, Towns, Municipalities and Districts.

February 13, 2025 from 1:00 – 2:30 p.m., NCC Ost, Saal Kopenhagen

The organic cities guide “More Organic in Municipalities” was first published in 2017, with all the important information for incorporating organic food into tenders. The guide has now been comprehensively updated, revised and expanded. The focus is now on holistic catering management that, in addition to procurement, also includes costs, regionality, information and educational measures.

Speakers:

• Jan Linck (ECOZEPT)
• Isabell Piroth (BLE)
• Christina Weisser (MLR BW)

In the new boom for the organic market in Germany, conventional and specialist retailers are not coping with the post-crisis situation in the same way. While German discounters are driving growth in the organic market, organic specialist shops are just getting back on their feet. The organic supermarket chain ‘tegut’ has tried to create a middle ground in southern Germany, but is now in serious trouble.

You can read the complete article here (in French).

This report analyses the market potential of plant products for the production of innovative food. To this end, a comprehensive literature review was first conducted to examine the importance and potential of 17 innovative crops in Germany and specifically in Bavaria. Subsequently, 11 crops were examined in more detail.

After three and a half years of intensive research, the EU project CIRCULAR FoodPack has developed new processes to effectively recycle flexible polyethylene food packaging, blazing the trail for a sustainable circular economy in this sector. The project partners have applied and validated a tracer-based sorting technology that can separate food and non-food packaging waste. A combination of novel pre- and post-treatments with mechanical or solvent-based recycling processes is used to remove printing inks, odours and other impurities from the food packaging waste. The resulting post-consumer recyclates fulfil the quality requirements for their further processing in new flexible packaging. They can be integrated in new home and personal care packaging and in future, together with a newly developed barrier concept, post-consumer recyclates may also be feasible in food packaging. The project was coordinated by the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV, based in Freising. A total of 15 companies and research institutes were involved in the project. Funded by the European Union, CIRCULAR FoodPack received around 5.4 million euros from the Horizon 2020 framework programme.

You can download the full press release here.

After the brief organic crisis of 2022 and 2023, the German organic trade is recovering and enjoying a new boom. The two leading organic specialist retail chains in Germany, Alnatura and Denn's, are continuing to expand. An important difference from the current trend in France is that German discounters are also focusing more on organic products.
However, not all concepts are successful. In this issue, Ecozept looks at the winners and losers of this crisis.

Read the full article here (in French).

Emerging from the crisis that shook it in 2022-2023, German organic specialist retailers are regaining their strength and rebuilding. They are (re)inventing strategies that range from expanding their range of ‘local products’, to extending their non-food range, to building consumer loyalty by proposing new forms of cooperatives.

Read the full article here (in French).

We are pleased to inform you that the results of the study on the organic soybean sector and market in the European Union and third countries have been compiled and are available. This work has been carried out for Agence Bio, Intercéréales and Terres Univia.

Key findings:

1. Between 2017 and 2022, organic soybean acreage in the EU increased by an impressive 158%, rising from 60,000 hectares to 155,000 hectares.
2. Over the same five-year period, organic soybean production in the EU climbed from  144,000 tons in 2017 to over 280,000 tons in 2022—taking into account a significant reduction in yield in 2022 due to drought.
3. Consumption patterns: Animal feed accounted of 81% of the increase of the use, with crushing representing 86% of feed use. Human food use accounted for 15% total use in 2022 and increase by 62% compared to 2017.
4. Global market outlook: The future development of production and the domestic market remains uncertain and subject to several factors. The consolidation of the various production and use assumptions for the 25 EU countries up to 2027 suggests contrasting scenarios:

The organic market in Germany has emerged from the crisis and all distribution channels are once again reporting growth in sales. Is all well that ends well? A number of organic retailers have lost their feathers in the turbulence of 2022 and 2023. Ecozept takes stock.

You can download the article here (in French).

Hello,

have you ever wondered about cultivated biodiversity found on your plate?

By cultivated biodiversity, we mean the diversity of plants and varieties grown, processed, marketed, and consumed. As part of the BIOVALUE public research project, we are looking to study and develop this biodiversity.

The opinion of European consumers is essential in fostering this diversity. Hence, we are reaching out to you with a brief questionnaire: it's anonymous, takes only a few minutes, and your responses will greatly assist us!

You can find the link here : https://ecozept.limequery.com/148287?lang=en

This survey is being conducted within the framework of BIOVALUE, a research project commissioned by the European Commission. The aim of BIOVALUE is to analyze and enhance cultivated biodiversity within agricultural and food value chains in Europe.

At the end of the questionnaire, you’ll receive a booklet of recipes made of uncommon crops and varieties (in English).

At the start of 2023, the organic market in Germany was still experiencing sales losses, against a backdrop of high inflation rates. In the end, the market grew by 5 % in 2023. How has organic farming developed in Germany? Did consumer spending on organic food increase last year? And how are specialist organic retailers managing to differentiate themselves from conventional supermarkets? Ecozept takes a look – you can download the article published in the French trade journal “Biolinéaires“ here (in French).

If you were unable to attend Biofach last week, you can download the slides from our presentation "Organic in out-of-home catering: Dream solution or pipe dream?" here.

Topics include, for example: What are the success factors for strengthening regional organic food in institutional catering? What distinguishes the French organic out-of-home catering market from the German market?

What lessons can be learnt from the crises that the organic sector has experienced internationally? How have other countries responded to these drops in consumption in order to reduce the bar? Burkhard Schaer, Managing Director of Ecozept France, answers these questions on Biolinéaires TV.

What are the success factors for strengthening regional organic food in institutional catering? What distinguishes the French organic out-of-home catering market from the German market and how can market players be successfully supported along the supply chain? What are the prerequisites for successful tendering procedures? These are the key topics that Ecozept will be discussing at Biofach 2024 on Tuesday, 13 February at 4pm. Meeting point HoReCa, Gastroforum Hall 3A (presentation in German).

What are the characteristics of the out-of-home catering distribution channel? How can supplying Munich's catering establishments with regional organic products be a success?

At the online seminars "Fit for organic catering", experienced kitchen managers and organic suppliers will reveal important key points and will be available to answer questions. Participants will also have the opportunity to get in touch with regional wholesalers specialized in organic products. The events in January 2024 are intended for farms and processing companies as well as the food trade from the greater Munich area - already operating organically or in the process of conversion - who are interested in the (further) development of a regional organic range suitable for commercial kitchens and/or would like to enter into marketing partnerships.

The project “FOODCoST” aims to develop tools, business models and strategies for measuring and evaluating external costs of food. Ecozept is leading a case study that deals with the external costs in school catering that have not yet been factored in. To this end, six canteens in France, Austria and Germany and a total of 16 standard meals were selected. Their environmental and social costs are currently being calculated by the Technical University of Nuremberg (THN).

The cities of Millau and Levignac-sur-Save in France have proposed "Spaghetti Bolognese" and "Chilli sin Carne" for calculation. Together with "rice pudding with raspberries", "Spaghetti Bolognese" is also the standard dish in the canteens in Tulln and Buchkirchen (Austria). In Nuremberg and Munich, the "actual" costs of "turkey gyros with tzatziki" and "beef goulash with wholemeal noodles" are calculated.

The processing of milk into cheese is proving to be the most economically promising marketing route for farms in saxony! With lower risks, a long shelf life and promising sales opportunities, this is considered economically viable not only for hard cheeses, but also for a certain proportion of semi-hard cheeses.

This finding comes from a market study conducted by Ecozept in cooperation with the Agrarmarkt Informations-Gesellschaft (AMI) and the Verband für handwerkliche Milchverarbeitung e. V. (VHM). Our aim was to demonstrate the current status and market potential of alternative milk marketing channels in order to secure the economic competitiveness of Saxon milk producers.

You can download the final report with further results and recommendations here and at this link (in German).

On September 4th, the contest “gut.gekocht.gewinnt“ was launched by the Competence Center for Nutrition (KErn) on behalf of the Bavarian State Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Forestry to promote more sustainability in community catering facilities in Bavaria. The aim is to reward exceptional ideas and concepts in out-of-home catering in terms of sustainability. The participants are evaluated by an independent jury of experts, of which Ecozept is also a member.

The competition is open to all Bavarian communal catering facilities that serve at least one hot lunch per day. Applications may be sent in until November 3rd, 2023. Any further information is available here.

Organic sales are rising again in Germany, especially in supermarkets and discounters. One of the main contributing factors is that associations of organic producers are incresingly opening up to discounters, such as Aldi Süd with taking their private label “Nur nur Natur“ to trade, which is certified by “Naturland“. Where is the German organic market situated across Europe? What does “Bio+“ actually mean? Ecocept provides information in an article published in the French trade journal “Biolinéaires“, which can be downloaded here (in French).

Just like at the first "speed dating" in March 2023, 23 supply companies and 18 kitchen facilities participated again in “Kitchen meets region” on April 19, 2023, almost bursting the hall at the Nockherberg. It also resulted in an enriching exchange due to the fact that some kitchens and supply companies were already participating for the second time and were thus able to deepen the contacts they had made at the first event. Initial trial deliveries of bio-regional products have already been established. On October 12 and November 16, 2023, Ecozept and its partners will organize two more events of their successful "contact exchange in a speed dating format”. Registration is now possible here.

The crises of the last years have left their traces, the organic market in Germany decreased about 4 %. The discount supermarket chains however could increase their sales of organic products and want to increase them further. And the organic food shops? You can read more in the article of Ecozept in the French trade magazine “Bio Linéaires” which you can download here (in French).

With the completion of the EU research project "LIFT", the central instrument for knowledge transfer has now been put online: the MOOC - "Massive Open Online Course" - is a freely accessible platform which contains modules, case studies, webinars, games and forums around the topic "Introduction of sustainable agricultural production methods". The target group includes students and teachers as well as consultants and other stakeholders.

Those who would like to view the results of the four-year Horizon 2020 project in the form of a video will find what they are looking for at MOOC.

Nous recherchons un nouveau collaborateur expérimenté (H/F) pour renforcer l’équipe « filières et marchés » basée à Montpellier.  Vous trouverez ici l'offre d'emploi détaillée.

Nous cherchons un(e) chargé(e) d'études stagiaire "Marchés, filières et territoires". Vous trouverez ici l'offre de stage détaillée.

The water association of Oldenburg-Ostfriesland (OOWV) wants to advance organic agriculture in its area, which is characterized by intensive land use.

Ecozept has worked out an expert’s report in cooperation with FiBl Projekte GmBH, AMI and the competence center for organic agriculture Niedersachen (KÖN). They are pursuing a holistic approach which encompasses the support of agricultural companies as well as the sector of food processing.

The desire for more organic and regional products in the awarding of public catering services in Saxony (Germany) is continuously growing since many years. But how can those products be taken into account and being promoted by the public catering institutions?

To answer those questions, Ecozept, FiBL Projekte GmbH, and Prof. Dr. Christopher Zeiss conducted a study together.

The local Landcare Association Freising (Landschaftspflegeverband) wants to promote the marketing and thus the use and preservation of orchard meadows in the administrative district of Freising.

With sales growth of 12% in the first half of the year, the German organic market continues to grow very strongly in 2021, although the Corona year 2020 was already characterised by exceptionally strong growth.

From Wednesday the 13th of October 2021 until Friday the 15th of October, the 10th meeting of the Bundesverband der Regionalbewegungen (national federation of regional movements) took place in Nauen (Brandenburg - Germany). During the forum “canteen is looking for region”, Ecozept presented legal aspects of public tenders for catering services.

In order to develop and maintain grazing activities in the “Lech”- river areas near Augsburg (Bavaria), the Landschaftspflegeverband Stadt Augsburg e.V. (local landcare association) supports local shepherds.

In collaboration with AND International, we conducted a study on organic field crops in the world on behalf of the Agence Bio at the international level.

We have thus identified the volumes of production, uses by primary processing operators and trade as well as the prices of 11 species of cereals, oilseeds and protein crops between 2016 and 2020 in 18 countries (12 Member States and 6 third countries). We have also proposed several production projections to 2025.
 

Finding optimized and sustainable food packaging solutions is one of the daily challenges of the food sector. The GLOPACK project (www.glopack2020.eu) develops several packaging innovations: biobased and home-compostable packaging from agricultural and food waste, active packaging, intelligent packaging and a software for decision-making in packaging.

Ecozept is conducting an expert survey about future food packaging solutions in the scope of the GLOPACK project.

The topics of the interview include the presentation of the GLOPACK innovations, experts’ assessment of its market potential and success factors for introducing innovations in food packaging.

The Saxon Ministry of Agriculture (SMEKUL) is inviting participants to three workshops on 14, 15 and 16 July in Dresden, Chemnitz and Leipzig to demonstrate practical options for increasing the use of regional and organic-regional products in communal catering and to provide contracting authorities with legally sound recommendations for the preparation and implementation of the award procedure. Ecozept organises these workshops in cooperation with FiBL Projekte GmbH and Prof. Dr. Christopher Zeiss.

he EU-horizon 2020 project “Strength2Food” analyses Food Quality Schemes (FQS: organic and geographical indication products). Ecozept is part of the consortium and co-author of the following paper which explores the social sustainability advantage of FQS through the lens of supply chains’ bargaining power (BP) distribution. .
 

Protect orchards with every glass of organic apple juice!

As a part of the pilot project for the preservation and planting of orchard meadows in the Archdiocese of Munich / Freising, Ecozept has developed an information leaflet on the sustainable use of orchard meadows in cooperation with the landscape planning office Ruhland and the Local Landcare Association Freising.

After another project year, valuable results on organic farm types have been collected through several international workshops and surveys with farmers in 12 European countries. The main results are summarized in the 3rd LIFT newsletter, which is available in our download section.

What are alternatives for Saxony farmers on the existing conventional production and marketing of milk? What marketing channels are available beyond the large dairy factories and what product qualities are in demand? From August 2020 till January 2021, AMI Ltd and Ecozept Deutschland GbR were investigating these questions on behalf of the Saxony State Office for Environment, Agriculture and Geology (Landesamt für Umwelt, Landwirtschaft und Geologie, LfULG). In connection to the ongoing structural change in the Saxony dairy industry, the study showed ways to secure the performance and competitiveness of the Saxony dairy farms. The research revealed around 300 market actors with alternative forms of marketing of milk in Saxony. In addition to the data analysis, a two-stage survey among production, processing, trade and association representatives was conducted in autumn 2020.

In cooperation with FiBL Projekte GmbH and Prof. Christopher Zeiss, Ecozept creates a good practice guidance for the consideration of more organic and regional products in the awarding of public catering services in Saxony from April 2021.

What can we expect from alternatives to plastics made from fossil-based raw materials?

In the trade journal BioPress we present various solutions for the prevention of plastic waste. Based on a survey of experts for the EU project GLOPACK, the existing challenges of marketable bioplastics are highlighted.

The topic of packaging is increasingly getting into the focus of companies, especially due to the increased awareness of consumers as well as European and national circular economy strategies and the European Green Deal. The panel gives an overview of the topic from protective function of packaging to future solutions. The speakers will participate in the discussion on where benchmarks are and how the organic sector is positioning its activities.

In recent years, numerous federal states in Germany and EU member states have set a concrete growth target for the organic food sector. Organic action plans are an important instrument for strengthening the sector. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the action plans in Germany and the EU? And are the efforts made so far sufficient to achieve the growth targets? Do they fit with current and potential trends for supply and demand?

The Corona crisis has raised public awareness of the importance of short supply routes. Consumers are placing additional expectations on marketing. Concrete practical examples will be used to show which approaches to communication and price transparency are promising.

What can the organic food trade learn from this? What kind of cooperations are possible? You can expect current figures on the importance of direct marketing of organic products as well as field reports from representatives of "Regiothek", "Marktschwärmer", "Du bist hier der Chef!" and Foodhub München e.V.

In the current issue of the trade journal BioPress, we report on political desires and market economy realities in increasing the share of organic products in French out-of-home catering.

In cooperation with the French trade magazine Biolinéaires and the sector associations Natexbio and Synadis, Ecozept conducted a survey in the French organic food trade on the effects and reactions of the Corona crisis. More than 900 shops participated in the online survey at the end of March!

Ecozept and its partners "Bio en Grand Est" and "Envilys" have presented a feasibility study for agricultural value chains that promote water conservation in the Bouzonvillois Trois Frontières region. The area is located in the east of France directly on the border with Luxembourg and Germany. The action plan proposed in the feasibility study was designed together with regional stakeholders and economic actors.

The study on innovative forms of direct marketing carried out by Ecozept and mareg (markt & regio) is now freely available under Organic Eprints: https://orgprints.org/37311/ : "New and innovative direct selling concepts for agricultural products – state of the art, best-practice examples and analysis of consumer expectations and recommendations for stakeholders".