Demand for organic vegetables saw a sizeable increase in Germany in 2016, according to surveys by the German agricultural information service, AMI.
Between January and November, consumers purchased 8 per cent more organic vegetables than the previous year, with value sales rising by 10 per cent, Organic-Market.com reported.
Based on the GfK household panel, the AMI analysis showed especially high demand for seeded organic vegetables like cucumbers, peppers and courgettes.
Organically produced vegetables reportedly accounted for 6.7 per cent of the total German vegetable market from January to November.
Organic courgettes and peppers increased to 9 per cent and 8 per cent respectively of total German vegetable sales in these categories. Meanwhile, organic carrots already command a market share of over 20 per cent of total carrot sales.
The outlets benefiting most from rising demand for organic vegetables are the discounters, which have seen sales rise by 27 per cent, and the big food retailers like Edeka and Rewe, which have recorded an increase of 15 per cent.
In the past, discounters lacked a continuous supply of organic fruiting vegetables like cucumbers and peppers, but this has reportedly changed. In 2016, the volume of organic fruiting vegetables sold by these outlets rose by around 27 per cent, with the majority imported from Spain.
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