A preview of the ‘Bio in Figures 2023’ Report, edited by ISMEA, SINAB, MASAF and CIHEAM(Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies) in Bari, Italy, was presented on July 5, 2023 at the Abruzzo Regional Council headquarters. The data show a sector that continues to grow both in terms of membership and-though less strongly-in terms of market attention.
The control system in organic farming
Organic is a production technique defined through legislative acts and protected by public authority. Inspections are carried out by Technical Bodies accredited by both standard-setting bodies (Accredia) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry (MASAF).
Audits by Technical Bodies are conducted annually on all operators in the system, with an intensity of 120-130% of the total. Which means that for every 100 operators subjected, an average of 120-130 audits are conducted, of which, at least 10-15% are unannounced.
Organic, an exemplary standard
The system, as a whole is subject to supervision by public institutions, on all Certification Bodies, and on a representative sample of operators. The control model thus organized is one of the reasons for the system’s stability and balanced growth over the past three decades.
As evidence of this, the standard is in fact taken as an example and often borrowed for other recently introduced quality schemes such as SQNPI and SQNBA, National Quality System Integrated Production and National Quality System Animal Welfare, respectively.
The numbers of the survey
The survey shows both elements of growth of definite interest and comfort, and critical issues on which resources and attention need to be focused, both by institutions, but also by other actors: operators and certification bodies.
Both must divest themselves of the attitude of seeking external support but feel that they are protagonists in a system that they have been helping to grow for years to benefit the environment.
On this last point one further consideration before turning to data analysis. The organic production method aims at environmental sustainability, through technical tools represented by agronomic practices aimed at the conservation of natural resources, based on the renunciation of synthetic technical means, soil management and with great attention to animal welfare.
The worry of domestic consumption
The data show an interesting growth in areas that bring us closer to the EU Farm to Fork strategic goals, withItaly second in Europe after Austria with about 26 percent of the area involved.
Conversely, there is an almost despondent look at low consumption growth, almost as a lack of an outcome. Consumption is certainly important, but it expresses consumer awareness and adherence to values through food choice, but it does not identify the goal of the system. Thus important factor, an indicator of consumer understanding to what institutions are promoting for the purpose of a common good. Not to be confused with the real goal sought: to increase areas in order to ensure greater sustainability of current agricultural production.
The growth figure in terms of membership is therefore an important achievement for the system. For the consumption discourse, a new challenge now opens, operators are invited to take it up.
Organic areas in Italy
In 2022, the areas in Italy exceeded 2.3 million hectares, showing a growth of 7.5 percent compared to 2021 and an increase of +111 percent if we take 2010 as a reference point.
We have thus arrived at nearly 19 percent of the total usable agricultural land surveyed by Istat, approaching with heartfelt pride the 25 percent threshold indicated by the Farm to Fork Strategy as the 2030 goal.
Six regions have exceeded this target: Tuscany, Marche, Lazio, Basilicata, Calabria and Sicily. In immediate terms, for every 5 hectares cultivated in Italy, practically one hectare adheres to the organic production method (every 4 in the most virtuous regions).
The role of community aid
However, the development of the standard still appears to be strongly linked to EU aid, which it must always be reiterated compensates for the loss of income due to membership in the system and is not an aid that increases the farmer’s income.
The highest growth results are represented by: Sicily (+22.5), Apulia (+11.9 percent), Autonomous Province of Trento (+43.4 percent), Liguria (+19.9 percent), Sardinia (14.0 percent), and Autonomous Province of Bolzano (+10.1 percent), among the areas with increases to two decimal places.
Organic animal husbandry on the rebound
The livestock sector in 2022 also shows signs of recovery. There are significant increases in most organic farms:
- cattle (+10.5 percent),
- pigs (+12.1%),
- poultry (with broilers and layers, +16.9 percent, exceeding 6 million head),
- goats (+7.3%, reaching 107,000 head),
On the other hand, the number of sheep ( -1.4 percent) appears to be slightly down.
Compared with the entire national livestock sector, the most representative organic categories are cattle (8.2 percent), goats (10.5 percent) and sheep (9.7 percent). In contrast, the contribution of “organic” pigs is smaller: out of 100 pigs raised in Italy, only 0.6 percent come from an organic farm. The incidence of beehives is significant, reaching 22.5 percent.
Certified organic operators grow
Regarding certified operators, the data indicate an increase of more than 7 percent over 2021; in fact, there are 6,655 new entrants to the certification system, bringing the total number of operators to over the 92,000 mark.
This increase is a confirmation of the industry’s vitality and optimism, despite the difficult environment and the resulting critical market conditions.
Organic farms, three times larger than ‘conventional’ ones
Strong increase for the primary stage of so-called ‘exclusive producers,’ farms that produce only organically and bring the environmental benefit of the method more than any other operator, which reached 68,605 (+10.1 percent over 2021).
In 2022, organic farms account for 7.3 percent of total farms but are almost three times the size of the average conventional farm (28.4 hectares instead of 11 for the standard farm).
Also significant was the increase in manufacturers/preparers (+3.6 percent) to 13,998, but this figure still does not give credit to the phenomenon. These are agricultural businesses that process their own or third-party production and account for 16 percent of the primary operators involved and outnumber exclusive preparers (processors) by about 4,400. We are therefore talking about
short supply chains
, the promotion of which is one of the innovative objectives introduced in Reg. (EU) 2018/848, and which seems to be pursued and achieved by the system with a naturalness yet to be understood.
Exclusive preparers, probably due to the difficulties in the industry and the post-Covid explosion rebound effect, lose -0.5 percent, breaking the positive trend that has been going on for several years.
Graphics from Bio in Figures 2023. Source: SINAB calculations on data from Control Bodies
Graphics from Bio in Figures 2023. Source: SINAB calculations on data from Control Bodies
Consumption
As for household food spending, after a major growth in 2020 (+9.5 percent), supported by the domestic confinement caused by the lockdown, followed by the subsequent and expected reduction in 2021 (-4.6 percent), 2022 sees a moderate recovery in consumption.
We are looking at 3.66 bn for the domestic market, an increase of +0.5%. Given an agribusiness growth rate of +6.4 percent, and price inflation in the same sector at +9.1 percent, this results in organic sales as a percentage of total food spending decreasing to 3.6 percent from 3.9 percent in 2021.
The best performance
However, in a context of substantial stagnation, the positive performance of some product categories such as
– fresh eggs (+6.8 percent),
– seafood products (+3.1%),
– fresh and processed meats (+3.7 percent).
In contrast, spending in the sectors where organic is most represented continues to slow, as it did in 2021:
– fruit and vegetables (-2.8 percent),
– cereal derivatives (-3.4 percent).
Another declining sector involves organic wine and sparkling wines compared to 2021 (-3.7 percent), a decline related to the strong recovery in consumption outside the home.
Organic away from home good
Interesting developments, on the other hand, are emerging for non-domestic consumption of organic food, which was the subject of the first qualitative survey conducted last year among a sample of 1,126 Italian bars and 864 restaurants.
The survey provided very encouraging results about the presence of organic food on the menus of public establishments and the degree of awareness among operators. More than half of bars (54.4 percent) and more than two-thirds of restaurants (68.4 percent) said they offered or employed organic food, beverages and raw materials in their culinary preparations during 2022.
Spending on the purchase of organic products made by cafe owners averages 18.9 percent of total spending, and is mainly concentrated in the purchase of milk (25.9 percent), fresh produce, particularly fruit (20.1 percent) and vegetables (11 percent), wine (12.6 percent) and juice (11.9 percent). In addition, 30 percent of cafes that purchase organic products believe that organic offerings positively affect overall sales, and indicate 14.6 percent as being overpriced for consumers compared to non-organic counterparts.
The organic at the restaurant
For restaurants, spending on organic products exceeds 33 percent, with the largest amounts purchased out of the total category being in the following: vegetables (42 percent), oil (34.5 percent), fruit (29.5 percent), eggs (24.1 percent), and milk and dairy products.
Finally, 51.5 percent of restaurants that purchase organic products rate the economic impact of organic in their restaurant’s offerings as positive, while the average stated price differential is 16.6 percent for the dish with organic product compared to its counterpart with non-organic ingredients.
Foreign market still growing
Instead, the foreign market remains crucial. In 2022, sales of Italian organic food products in international markets reached 3.4 billion euros, with a growth factor of +16 percent. Looking at the long term, the trend comforts optimism with +181% compared to 2012.
The export share on the Made in Italy basket now weighs a 6 percent of total Italian agrifood exports in 2022. Data emerging from the latest analysis conducted as part of Ita.Bio (Sana 2022).
Donato Ferrucci, Dario Dongo, Nicolo Passeri
Agronomist, master in food law. He deals with certifications and quality systems in the agri-food chain. He collaborates with institutions and universities and is a member of the editorial board of rivistadiagraria.org.
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
 and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry (MASAF).){kind=link}