12.6.2019
In the Italian retail stores there is a growing number of ”bio” products. In Italian biologico means organic and in the product jargon it has been simplified into ”bio”. Italian consumption of organic food products has reached 3,5 billion € in 2017 according to Nomisma. It is one of the few segments that continue to grow with an annual rate of 8% in 2018. Especially organic private label is growing with double digit numbers. If we look at the geographical distribution, the consumption is highly concentrated in the Northern part of Italy with 60% of the total. HoReCa sector in Italy consumes around 380 million € of organic products.
In international trade so far there are no global standards for organic products. Instead the European Union has defined EU standard through EU Regulation 834/07 on organic production and labelling of organic products. In practice when exporting to other EU an organic products a organic label is needed form a certification body.
