A Case study of Trends in the Chinese Organic Food Market

Abstract

Since the mid-1990s organic food and beverages have grown from being an insignificant niche market to almost part of the mainstream. Organic products now account for an average of two per cent of food sales in Europe (though with countries like Austria, Switzerland and Denmark it reaches between five and seven per cent of retail value) and 2.5 per cent in the US. Developed markets currently lead the way with North America and Western Europe collectively making up 90 per cent of global organic sales in 2010. Within these regions, the US and Germany dominate organic sales, accounting for nearly 60 per cent of the total sales (Euromonitor 2011a). Organic products in emerging markets have remained limited, driven, in the main, by well-known staple products. According to "the world of organic agriculture: statistics and emerging trends 2012", global sales of organic food and beverages reached US$59.1 billion in 2010. Figure 8.1 shows that the global market has expanded almost three-fold between 2000 and 2010 and although growth slowed with the 2008 financial crisis, Willer and Kilcher (2012) have found that sales have continually increased at a relatively healthy pace.