BIOFACH is one of the most important events for the international organic food and agriculture community and has been held in mid-February in Nuremberg, Germany since 2001. The trade fair is therefore also a seismograph of the state of the industry and the transformation of the agricultural and food sector. With 3,200 exhibitors from 94 countries and at least 51,000 trade visitors attending BIOFACH this year, the trade fair was able to build on the success figures from pre-Covid times. DCZ expert Eva Sternfeld attended the event to speak to company representatives and find out about the latest trends in the organic food industry in Germany and beyond.
Chinese exhibitors were back again on the international stage, with around 50 companies presenting themselves in the China Pavilion and individual booths in other halls. The fair was accompanied by a congress organized by IFOAM and the Federation of Organic Agriculture (BÖLW) with a wide range of panels where speakers discussed political visions, practical problems, and scientific findings on organic agriculture. The key theme of this year’s event was “Food for the Future: Women’s Impact on Sustainable Food Systems”.
In his video message at the opening event, EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Janusz Wojeciechowski pointed out that there are significantly more women in leading positions in the organic sector than in conventional agriculture businesses and that the income gap is smaller. Cem Özdemir, German Minister for Agriculture and Food, referred to this in his opening speech, but he also reminded the audience that, so far, only 11% of all farms in Germany are run by women. So, there is still room for improvement.
Organic agriculture back on track
According to Özdemir, the organic industry as a whole is currently finding its way back to its former strength. This is particularly important with regard to the envisaged climate goals. Greenhouse gas emissions from crop production could be halved by organic farming, the minister said. Despite tight budgets, the federal government has increased investments in the federal organic farming program. An excise tax on meat products, dubbed the “animal welfare cent” (Tierwohlcent), which the agriculture ministry is campaigning for, is intended to incentivize investments needed to provide more space and better living conditions for farm animals. Organic farming methods are also reflected in Germany’s new animal husbandry label for pork products, representing the best living conditions in a five-tier system. Özdemir further announced that the animal husbandry label, which has already been introduced in the retail sector, will also become mandatory for canteens and restaurants.
In her presentation of the “World of Organic Statistics 2024”, Helga Willer from the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) reported that organic agriculture is on the rise worldwide. Willer and her co-authors have been measuring the pulse of global organic agriculture for 25 years and have documented an impressive development. In 2022, organic agriculture was practiced in 188 countries worldwide.
The same year also saw a considerable increase in the area farmed organically, mainly attributed to increases in Australia and India. In 2022, 2 % (94.4 million ha) of the world’s agricultural land was under organic cultivation. With 2.9 million ha, China now has the world’s 4th largest area of organic agricultural land. In 22 countries (among them Germany with 1.86 million ha), 10% and more of agricultural land was under organic cultivation. After the US (58.6 billion EUR) and Germany (15.3. billion EUR), China advanced to the third largest organic market (12.4 billion EUR) in the world.
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New macro trends are reshaping organic markets
In his presentation, Amarjit Sahota (Ecovia Intelligence) showed that the positive development of ecological land management is not generally reflected in the development of the global market. In recent years, the organic market was also affected by geopolitical conflicts and inflation. Nevertheless, the global market for organic products generally increased by 2-3%. While 90% of the sales market is still in the USA and Europe, the largest European markets Germany and France recently declined due to the Ukraine conflict. Inflation and rising food prices are the market’s biggest challenges. But suppliers also had to struggle with overcapacities so that in some cases organic products were marketed as conventional products due to weak demand.
As a macro trend, Sahota noted that the organic segment is no longer a niche market and discounters are increasingly entering the sector. The discounter Aldi-Süd is now Germany’s largest organic retailer. This threatens the industry’s pioneers with becoming victims of their own success. Sahota reported on some up-scale organic producers in the USA who no longer market their products with an emphasis on the organic label but instead focus on other positive aspects of their products (e.g. social or ecological commitment).
More support from science and research needed
At the BIOFACH TP Organics’ Science Day, the initiators invited scientists to a workshop where topics for the Strategic Research & Innovation Agenda for Organics and Agroecology were discussed. In order to achieve the desired goals for the transformation of agriculture, it will also be necessary to provide greater support for research in this area. It was mentioned that to date, only a very small proportion of research funding (only around 1% in the case of the EU Horizon 2020 programs) has been allocated for topics that deal with organic agriculture. TP Organics is a European platform that wants to promote these research topics.
For the past 10 years, a special prize, the BioThesis for the best bachelor’s and master’s, has been offered by Schweisfurth Foundation, Bioland Foundation, and Rentenbank in order to promote young scientists in the field of organic agriculture research. This year’s winners, Paula Henzl (University of Hohenheim) and Silke Oppermann (Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development) were awarded the prize at BIOFACH. In her bachelor’s thesis, Henzel examined the advantages of “cow-based calf rearing”, while Oppermann investigated “greenwashing” through climate neutrality labels in her master’s thesis.
Animal agriculture and organic farming
The topic of animal welfare was also discussed by several panels and presentations. At the event “From Animal Suffering to Animal Welfare”, former IFOAM chairman Bernward Geier argued that animal husbandry is the Achilles heel of organic farming and that there is an urgent need for action. Geyer is the co-editor of the book “„Nutztiere –Mehr als eine Frage der Haltung“ (Farm Animals – More than a Question of Husbandry) published by Westend-Verlag. In the book, renowned authors provide an inventory of current grievances and show alternatives for organic farming. Two authors who contributed to the book were on the podium with Geier. Martin Häusling, organic farmer and delegate for the Green Party in the EU parliament, discussed the massive use of antibiotics, especially so-called reserve drugs, i.e., antibiotics that have already expired in conventional animal husbandry. Ophelia Nick, Parliamentary State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, who also contributed an article about livestock farming at her family’s organic farm Rengoldshausen, discussed current initiatives by her ministry to promote animal welfare. The ministry has already set aside a fund of one billion EUR that farms planning to invest into more animal-friendly and climate-friendly barns can apply for.
Wilhelm Windisch, professor emeritus of animal nutrition at the Technical University of Munich, gave a lecture on the importance of dairy farming for climate protection and the question of whether the cow is a climate saver or a climate killer. Currently, almost a third of the grain grown worldwide is used to feed livestock. In view of population growth and dwindling agricultural land, this competition for food between humans and farm animals must end, Windisch argued. However, as he showed, conventional farming also produces significant amounts of biomass that cannot be consumed by humans but can be converted into high-quality proteins by ruminants. For example, the production of vegan oat milk produces residues that can be further processed into animal feed. So, one glass of oat milk could generate another glass of cow’s milk. According to Windisch, dairy farming should be preserved as a contribution to the agricultural circular economy. From a climate protection perspective and with a view to methane emissions from ruminants, feed efficiency needs to be improved.
With a total of four events, the Sustainable Future Lab presented itself as a new format at BIOFACH. The interactive format coordinated by the Berlin Good Food Collective invited representatives of young start-ups from the food sector to discuss how changing consumption patterns can contribute to the transformation of the food system.
This is just a glimpse into the extensive program of the congress, offering an incredible amount of information and inspiration.
