No one buys more organic food than the Danes: report
The Local Denmark - [email protected]
Published: 9 Feb, 2017 CET.
Updated: Thu 9 Feb 2017 14:13 CET
A new international report highlights just how popular organic food has become in Denmark.
According to a study from Switzerland’s Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FIBL), Denmark has the highest organic market share in the world.
Organic products account for 8.4 percent of the total food market in Denmark, a higher percentage than in any of the other 178 countries included in the report. Switzerland and Luxembourg followed Denmark, with 7.7 and 7.5 percent organic market shares respectively.
“This is a global first place position that we can be incredibly proud of. First and foremost it shows that Danes to a high degree want to make responsible food purchases and make a difference for our nature and environment while ensuring a good life for the animals,” Per Kølster, the head of the organic farmers’ association Økologisk Landsforening said in a press release.
“At the same time, our organic first place position is a clear signal to the export markets around the world that Danish organic companies are producing exciting quality food products that are popular with consumers,” he added.
The FIBL report also showed that Danes have the second highest per capita spending on organic products at €191. Switzerland topped that category with €262 in per capita spending. The country with the biggest overall market for organic products was the United States by a wide margin.
Graphic: FIBL
The report was released in conjunction with the Biofach organic food trade fair in Germany, which a record 54 Danish organic food companies will attend.
In 2015, the Danish government announced a new strategy to double organic farming and serve more organic food in the nation's public institutions. The then food minister, Dan Jørgensen, charactarized the organic plan as “the most ambitious in the West”.
The following year, the City of Copenhagen announced that an impressive 88 percent of all food served in the city’s public institutions is organic, which is believed to be the highest percentage of organic food anywhere in the world.
It’s not just within Denmark that the country’s organic revolution can be felt. Økologisk Landsforening reported that exports of Danish organic foods have set a new record in each of the past ten years. In 2015, organic exports accounted for roughly two billion kroner, a 15 percent increase over the previous year.
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According to a study from Switzerland’s Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FIBL), Denmark has the highest organic market share in the world.
Organic products account for 8.4 percent of the total food market in Denmark, a higher percentage than in any of the other 178 countries included in the report. Switzerland and Luxembourg followed Denmark, with 7.7 and 7.5 percent organic market shares respectively.
“This is a global first place position that we can be incredibly proud of. First and foremost it shows that Danes to a high degree want to make responsible food purchases and make a difference for our nature and environment while ensuring a good life for the animals,” Per Kølster, the head of the organic farmers’ association Økologisk Landsforening said in a press release.
“At the same time, our organic first place position is a clear signal to the export markets around the world that Danish organic companies are producing exciting quality food products that are popular with consumers,” he added.
The FIBL report also showed that Danes have the second highest per capita spending on organic products at €191. Switzerland topped that category with €262 in per capita spending. The country with the biggest overall market for organic products was the United States by a wide margin.
Graphic: FIBL
The report was released in conjunction with the Biofach organic food trade fair in Germany, which a record 54 Danish organic food companies will attend.
In 2015, the Danish government announced a new strategy to double organic farming and serve more organic food in the nation's public institutions. The then food minister, Dan Jørgensen, charactarized the organic plan as “the most ambitious in the West”.
The following year, the City of Copenhagen announced that an impressive 88 percent of all food served in the city’s public institutions is organic, which is believed to be the highest percentage of organic food anywhere in the world.
It’s not just within Denmark that the country’s organic revolution can be felt. Økologisk Landsforening reported that exports of Danish organic foods have set a new record in each of the past ten years. In 2015, organic exports accounted for roughly two billion kroner, a 15 percent increase over the previous year.
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