Pandemic boosts demand for organic food in Switzerland

Fresh vegetables and potatoes were the best-selling items in the organic food category © Keystone / Gaetan Bally

Retail sales of organic foods in Switzerland rose 17% to CHF3.24 billion ($3.54 billion) in 2020, reaching a market share of around 11% as the Covid-19 pandemic boosted demand, according to a government report.

Just over a third of people polled for the “organic barometer” said their shopping habits had changed during the pandemic, with almost 5% buying more organic foods due to Covid-19, the Federal Office for Agriculture said in a statementExternal link on Tuesday.

Fresh vegetables and potatoes were the best-selling items in the organic food category, followed by milk and dairy products as well as cereal and bakery products.

“The market for organic foods is an important growth market, growing dynamically by 9% on average each year between 2016 and 2020,” the authors said, adding that organic baby food outperformed at 20% per year.

Sales of non-organic foods were up only 2.4% a year during that period.

Consumption patterns

The authors of the report said it was uncertain whether consumption patterns adopted during the pandemic were here to stay.

Organic foods should keep growing, but more slowly, they said, noting additional potential if prices for organic foods came down or if more organic options were offered to consumers at out-of-home venues.