Industry Insights
Germany organic food market was estimated to account for a value of USD 11.4 billion in 2017 and is expected to exhibit a significant growth over the forecast period owing to the increasing demand from the consumers having high spending power. For instance,in 2015, Germany’s per capita average annual income was USD 31,925. The changing lifestyle of consumers and healthy food preferences are expected to influence the growth of the organic foods market in Germany. The increasing health consiousness and governmnet initiatives to promote natural food products is expected to drive the growth of German organic food market over the forecast period.
Germany organic food market size split, by type, 2017 (% share)
The German organic food market is the second largest in the world. For instance, Germany accounts for one third of the total European organic food market. The sales for German organic food has evolved significantly since 2000. Furthermore, the domestic production is falling short of the demand ,which is driving Germany imports a large quantity of organic food. Thus, the imported organic products hold a major market share and is leading to high prices of conventional products. This scenariois expected to influence the rising demand for Germany organic food industry over the forecast period.
The retail food channels in Germany are expected to influence the growth of the sales of organic food products over the past few years. There are two channels mainly traditional food grocery retail stores and speciality organic food stores. The traditional retail sector holds half of the organic sales and the other half is distributed among the specialty stores such as fruits & vegetable vendors, open air market, , bakeries and direct sales of farm produce. More than 2,400 organic retail shops are present in Germany with Denn’s being the leading player among the organic food retail.. Thus, the increasing number of speciality organic food stores is expected to drive the growth of the German organic food industry over the forecast period.
Moreover, the German consumers are more concerned about health and perceive natural food as the best possible way to reduce health risks. This is attributed to the ban in chemical usage on organic food such as pesticides which have adverse efects on human health. Various studies showed that the organic food had 30% lower risk of pesticide contamination as compared to convetional food product. Thus, the increasing awareness among consumers about the health benefits of natural food produce is expected to drive the German organic food market over the forecast period.
The consumers today are more concerned about the taste and appearance of the organic food. The natural food is percieved to have good taste as compared to the conventional food. This belief is expected to help grow the sales of natural products in future. The consumer are increasingly conscious about the products they are buying and the origin of the produce specially exotic fruits, vegetables, the carbon footprint of the product. Moreover, the green label products with fair trade practices and healthy working conditions is expected to attract the customers to buy natural food products and is expected to result in increased demand for the Germany organic food market in future.
Furthermore, the increasing demand for organic produce from the top end restaurants, company canteen and government canteens is expected to drive the growth of Germany organic food market. As a part of social welfare and responsibility the companies and government organisations have shifted their preference from conventional to organic food over the past few years. The school canteens and kindergardens are today opting for the natural products for the childern so as to fullfill their nutritional intake. Thus, the increasing demand for natural food is expected to drive the growth of German organic food market over the forecast period.
Segmentation by type
• Fruits & Vegetables
• Prepared food
• Dairy
• Bread & grains
• Meat, fish & poultry
• Beverage
Meat is the mostly consumed food product among the German consumers. This is attributed to the increasing meat consumption in Germany. For instance, the average annual per capita poultry meat consumption in Germany is approximately 21 kilograms. Thus, the increasing demand for clean meat intended for human as well as pet consumption from consumers is expected to drive the meat, fish and poultry sector in Germany which is expected to result in the growth of Germany organic food market over the forecast period.
Competitive Landscape
The Germany has presence of numreous local seand regional players in the organic food market. Thus, the organic food market is fragmented in germany and have high price competition. The leading player in organic retail chain is Denn. The list of other players are HiPP GmbH & Co. Vertrieb KG, Alnatura Produktions- und Handels GmbH, Rewe Markt GmbH, ALDI Einkauf GmbH & Co. oHG, Netto Marken-Discount AG & Co. KG and others.
