Often "equally expensive": Aldi and Lidl still benefit from the new organic buying behavior

Created: 12/27/2022, 2:01 p.m

By: Ines Baur

For many, organic food is part of the shopping experience - unless it is not too expensive (symbol image).

© Sven Hoppe/dpa

Organic eggs, organic milk, organic vegetables.

Organic products have long been part of the shopping experience for many.

Does this also apply in times of price increases and inflation?

Munich / dpa - Ukraine war, energy crisis and supply chain problems are causing an enormous increase in food prices.

This in turn means that many consumers want to spend less money and buy cheaper.

Or must.

Many are moving away from the supposedly high-priced organic and towards the discounter.

Less organic food, but more discounters

"The German organic market shrank in 2022 for the first time in its history," says a market report by the German Farmers' Association at the turn of the year.

By the end of October, organic sales had fallen by 4.1 percent.

Nevertheless, in 2022 it will still be EUR 2.7 billion above the 2019 level at an expected EUR 15 billion.

Things went downhill, but the organic market was able to maintain the high sales growth from the early days of the corona pandemic in the current crisis.

Organic buyers are increasingly doing their shopping at discounters such as Aldi, Lidl and Co. They have become winners of a “trend towards cheap shopping” not only in general, but also with organic products.

This is what the report says, which is available to the German Press Agency.

According to market research data, organic sales in other supermarkets have remained about the same.

However, it has fallen dramatically in the health food trade and in direct sales.

"Many eco-products are only slightly cheaper or the same price in discounters." However, the price image obviously steers consumer behavior more than real price knowledge, according to the experts.

Organic markets and individual shops are feeling the effects of the changed purchasing behavior.

The organic market chain Basic, for example, has gotten into financial difficulties.

The company has applied for a protective shield procedure at the Munich district court in order to restructure itself.

“Cautious assessment of short-term prospects for organic farming in 2023”

Overall, the short-term prospects for organic farming for 2023 are cautious.

If the economy picks up again or if consumer income improves again, demand can be expected to grow, according to the report.

According to the Federal Organic Food Industry, organic sales rose to almost 16 billion euros in 2021, an increase of almost six percent compared to the record year 2020.

Less organic is also not a solution

The decline in organic food has another aspect besides the financial one.

Every type of land management and food production has an impact on the environment.

Consequential effects of organic farming affect resources far less than conventional farming and are in parts extremely positive, writes the Bund Ökologische Lebensmittelwirtschaft.

"Organic food serves to protect the environment and animals," writes the Federal Environment Agency.

They help to reduce the environmental pollution associated with conventional agriculture.

Cultivation and production of organic food are regulated in the EC Organic Basic Regulation.

The most important features are the renunciation of chemical-synthetic pesticides and easily soluble mineral fertilizers as well as animal husbandry that is as species-appropriate as possible.

If sales of organic food decline and organic farmers have to give up as a result, this is likely to have negative effects on the environment.