After flourishing years, the consumption of organic products is beginning to decline, leading to overproduction of eggs, milk and pork and jeopardizing the sustainability of farms.
At the head of two organic chicken coops for three years in the Côtes-d’Armor, Frédéric Chartier is bitter. Today, “the consumer does not follow. The gap between words and deeds hurts a lot”. Its eggs are now sold under the “free range” label. A lesser evil for the forties. It should not be organic again in 2022.
If they were to multiply, these exits from organic farming would compromise the national objective of reaching 18% of agricultural land in organic in 2027 (compared to 9.5% at the end of 2020). According to the Agence bio, the rate of “deconversions” is almost stable, at around 4%, or “just over 2,200 operators who have left the ranks of the 53,000 bios”.
The trend has reversed
The consumption of organic products, which exclude synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, has so far experienced double-digit growth in supermarkets, up to +23% in 2018.
But “we witnessed something new in 2021, the curve turned around”, recalls Emily Mayer, expert in consumer products at the IRI institute. Compared to 2020, sales fell by 3.1% in value. The drop is spectacular for flour (-18%), butter (-12%), milk (-7%) or eggs (-6%).
Organic fresh fruits and vegetables are also in “real stall”, with purchase volumes down 11% over one year, according to the Interfel interprofession.
2020 was atypical, with confinements during which “people ate what was left on the shelves”, artificially boosting organic, but with 5.1% market share in 2021, “organic is stagnating” notes Emily Mayer which evokes an “undeniable price barrier” for these products “on average 50% more expensive than conventional”.
Too much milk and organic chickens
This growth crisis comes at a time when many farmers are arriving on the organic market, after having been encouraged by industrialists… Who are now activating the emergency brake.
The dairy giant Lactalis had to sell “more than 30% of the collection of organic milk […] at the price of conventional milk” in 2021. The group, which claims to have “carried” the cost of this downgrading, asks breeders to “moderate volumes” and freezes new conversion projects.
In a letter to the Minister of Agriculture, producer organizations in the west of France and industrialists estimate that there are 1.15 million organic hens “in excess of current market needs”, i.e. ” 14% of the total number in organic hens”.
In pork, only 1% of the national herd is organic. However, “we are in the midst of an overproduction crisis”, notes Laurent Guglielmi, at the head of a company processing 300 organic pigs per week, sold in specialized stores.
Due to the tensions on purchasing power, “we can see that customers are no longer at Biocoop, they are at Lidl”. Also a breeder, he started his organic activity in 2018, when the French market lacked local supplies. “We believed in it. From now on, “everyone is disappointed”.