FARMERS ATTENDING the Teagasc National Organic Conference yesterday were told that, despite reports to the contrary, the organic sector was growing at rates higher than those for conventional food and there were very positive signs for the future.
They also heard from three successful businessmen who are involved in processing organic food, one of whom told the meeting that his oatmeal porridge business had grown dramatically since his company, Flahavans in Waterford, entered it in 2005.
John Flahavan of Kilmackthomas, said organic products now accounted for 15 per cent of their business and his main problem was sourcing native Irish organic oats for what is now the last oat-milling plant in Ireland.
“In 2007 we could only get a week’s supply from Ireland and for the 2008 season we had one month’s supply and for this year’s processing, we were able to access two to three months’ supply,” he said.
He told the farmers he paid €142 per tonne for conventional oats last year but his organic suppliers were receiving €400 per tonne.
A similar message on what could be achieved was delivered by Vincent Cleary of Glenisk Dairies in Co Offaly, who said he was paying his organic farmer suppliers twice the price conventional dairies were projecting for farmers, 20 cents a litre.
He said he had difficulty getting dairy farmers interested in supplying organic milk to him 18 months ago when he planned to expand the company, but now there were floods of calls from farmers interested in entering the area as conventional prices plummeted.
He said while liquid sales of organic milk were “flat”, the company had increased its sales of organic yogurt by 25 per cent over the last year and he expected this to grow again this year.
John Brennan of Leitrim Organic Farmers Co-operative, said while there had been a decrease between the premium paid to organic beef farmers and the conventional price, there was an increasing demand for organic beef, for which organic farmers were receiving over €4 per kilo.
The Minister for State at the Department of Agriculture and Food, Trevor Sargent, who officially opened the conference, said the retail market for organic food was still growing despite the difficult economic climate and was now worth €104 million per year.
The market in Europe is worth over €16 billion, with the largest sales in Germany, the UK, France and Italy. Organic produce enjoys a high market share in countries such as Denmark, Austria, Switzerland and Sweden, he said.
Dr Nic Lampkin, director of Organic Research Centre at Elm Farm and senior lecturer at Aberystwyth University, said market growth was expected to continue but at a slower rate.
He pointed out that 80 per cent of sales of organic produce go to regular and committed organic consumers.