Stephanie Moe, Food and Beverage Department, Bord Bia – Irish Food Board

The Swedish market for Organic food is going from strength to strength in recent years. Swedes are generally very sensitive to health, environmental concerns and animal welfare issues making it no surprise that they are ranked third in Europe for organic consumption which accounts for 4.3% of total Swedish food and drink consumption, (Denmark and Austria are in first and second place with 8 and 6 per cent respectively). 16.6% of Swedish soil is now dedicated to organic production.

Swedes have a high disposable income with the annual Swedish person spending €106 annually on organic food. 80% of Swedish consumers say they regularly buy organic food. The organic sector is very much integrated into the mainstream in Sweden with very few specialist organic stores, and an overwhelming majority of organic food and drink (97% value of organic beverages retail sales for example) sold through multiple retail channels. The retail sector accounts for 57% of the overall organic market. Leading retailers ICA Sverige, Coop Sverige and Axfood all have strong organic private label offerings.

2012 was a challenging year for the organic sector in Sweden but this bounced back strongly in 2013, in part due to aggressive marketing, product and range development by industry and the retail sector. The horsemeat scandal at the beginning of 2013 was another influencing factor, driving many consumers to pay more attention to food provenance and products they felt they could trust (with local food a key driver also). Performance of the organic sector has been very strong since 2012, up 13% in 2013 and a record growth of 38% achieved in 2014. The latest figures from Ekoweb estimate 2015 sales for the sector to show a further increase of 39%, reaching 21.5 billion Swedish Kroner (SEK), an increase of 6 billion SEK on 2014 sales of Organic food and drink.

The organic sector is very well established in Sweden with the Organic Association set up in 1940 and the main labelling and marketing body KRAV established in 1985. There are 4 established certification bodies in the country with 80% of the organic food sold in Sweden labelled with KRAV logo and the remainder featuring the European Organic leaf logo.

The growing interest in natural and organic foods has contributed to the growth of NPD and trade development with increasing interest in trade events such as Nordic Organic Food Fair, combined in recent years with the Natural Products Show. These are both scheduled to take place on 16th-17th November 2016.

For more information please contact Stephanie.moe@bordbia.ie