Less organic products in Norway than in Denmark
While the consumers in Denmark and Sweden find all basic milk products in an organic variant, consumers in Norway, Finland and Iceland must look a bit harder to find organic versions of milk and other organic goods. That is the result of a recent published report from Norwegian Bioforsk.
In the report “Økologisk mat i de nordiske landene” the Nordic market for organic products is investigated. Differences between Denmark, Finland, Norway, Iceland and Sweeden are illustrated by comparing factors such as political goals, follow-up of these, national production of organic products and strategies for sales promotion and consumer preferences.
In a broad sense, the organic market is experiencing success in the northern countries. However, there is still a big difference in the consumer’s access to organic products.
Denmark and Sweden are called pioneer countries in the organic arena. Norway and Finland can show the same percentage-wise progress in the number of sold organic products as Denmark and Sweden, however, the four countries came from very different starting points, which explains the difference in the organic selection.
The report underlines three factors as crucial for an increase in the sale of organic products:
- Public catering centres’ use of organic products
- Focus on organic products in supermarkets
- An increase in sale is self-perpetuating and will again increase sale and the general interest for organic products.