Switzerland. Organic market increases by 7.8 percent in 2016

The latest figures for the Swiss organic market (from 2016), recently presented by Bio Suisse (www.biosuisse.ch on April 4, 2017), show a clear increase in organic retail sales in Switzerland. Bio Suisse —the umbrella organization representing Swiss organic sector— unites over 90% of Swiss organic farms.

Chart Development of the organic share of the total food market

Development of the organic share of the total food market in Switzerland. Source: Bio Suisse. Graph: FiBL

The Swiss organic market has experienced dynamic growth in previous years as well, but the growth from 2015 to 2016 was 7.8 % (2015: 5.2%).

In 2016, retail sales amounted to CHF 2.505 (2.23 billion in 2015) or 2.3 biliion Euros (2.17 billion in 2015).

According to data from AC Nielsen (excluding organic specialized retailers, direct marketing, and discount stores), the organic market reached a market share of 8.4%, a new record for Switzerland.

The most popular organic foods were eggs (organic revenue share of 25.5%) and vegetables (21.2%).

According to the latest figures, 51% of all Swiss consumers bought organic products several times a week. The per-capita consumption rose to CHF 299 (EUR 275) in 2016.

With a market share of 44.6 %, Coop remained the leader in organic product sales, followed by Migros (32.3%) and the specialized organic retailers (10.9%).

Bio Suisse noted that the number of farms increased in 2016, and that the organic share of total farmland is now at 13.4 %. Consolidated data are exprected to be released by the Federal Office of Agriculture in the near future.

More information

biosuisse.ch:Bio in Zahlen (Market data 2016 (German)