Organic products have great potential for consumption
2024-09-30
To promote the sustainable and healthy development of China's organic industry, on the one hand, we need to guide consumers to have a correct understanding of organic products, improve their awareness and trust; On the other hand, efforts should be made to adjust the structure of organic products to meet the diverse needs of consumers. With the increasing awareness of health and safety among the public, more and more organic foods are appearing on the dining tables. The "China Organic Product Certification and Organic Industry Development (2024)" recently released by the State Administration for Market Regulation shows that China's organic industry continues to maintain a strong growth momentum. In 2023, China's organic product sales exceeded 100 billion yuan for the first time, reaching 101.6 billion yuan, making it the third largest organic product consumer market in the world. Strong growth momentum, organic fruits such as cabbage, organic Shanghai green, organic potatoes, organic soy sauce, organic pure milk... Walking into Qixian Supermarket located near the South Third Ring Road in Beijing, the dazzling array of organic products is overwhelming. In the organic vegetable display cabinet, Liu Li, who lives in Majiabao Street, Fengtai District, Beijing, is carefully selecting for her son. Organic carrots, organic milk cabbage, organic tomatoes, etc. are the types of organic vegetables that I usually purchase more frequently, "Liu Li told reporters. Because she has a baby at home, considering the issue of pesticide residues, after the child can eat complementary foods, she has become an organic product enthusiast. Nowadays, many of the foods we feed our babies are organic products, but of course, the most consumed is still organic fresh milk, "said Liu Li. Baoma Liu Li is just one of the increasingly large enthusiasts of organic products. With the improvement of living standards and the gradual deepening of the concept of healthy living, organic products have become the choice of more and more consumers in recent years. The development of organic agriculture in our country began in 1990, and since 2003, with the successive promulgation of relevant laws and regulations, the development of organic agriculture has gradually entered the right track and entered a stage of rapid development. Especially after 2010, the global organic industry has flourished, and the development of China's organic industry and market trade has achieved both production and sales, reaching new highs, "said Wang Wen, Secretary of the Party Committee of the School of Resources and Environment at China Agricultural University. According to the "China Organic Product Certification and Organic Industry Development (2024)", in the current context of "emphasizing ecology and strong environmental protection", the organic industry has gradually developed into a sunrise industry, ushering in vigorous development: from 2018 to 2023, the average annual growth rate of organic product sales in China was 9.3%, and by 2023, it has become the third largest organic product consumer market in the world; The area of organic farmland has continued to grow from 1.16 million hectares in 2013 to over 4 million hectares in 2023, currently ranking fourth in the world; From January to July this year, the issuance of organic product certification marks reached 3 billion pieces; As of now, more than 18000 enterprises across the country have obtained over 30000 organic product certification certificates. In general, the number of organic product labels issued in China is increasing year by year. In 2023, the number of organic product labels issued in China will be 4.99 billion, of which the number of organic product labels issued for sterilized milk is the largest, 3.75 billion, followed by 130 million pasteurized milk, and 70 million Baijiu. From the perspective of export situation, the Netherlands is the country with the largest export trade volume of organic products in China, with a trade volume of 150 million US dollars, accounting for 26.27% of China's organic product export trade volume. In the past five years, the overall sales of organic products in China have shown an upward trend, with sales of organic products produced and processed domestically reaching 96.9 billion yuan in 2023. The production, processing, and overall market of organic products in China are showing a steady development trend Wang Wen said. Compared with developed countries, China's organic industry, especially organic agriculture, still has a lot of room for development in terms of market space. From a production perspective, there are 21 countries or regions with organic farmland accounting for more than 10% of the global total in 2022. The European Commission's "Action Plan for the Development of Organic Agriculture in the European Union" released in 2021 proposed the goal of achieving 25% organic farmland by 2030, while in China, this figure is only about 0.5%. From the consumer side, the statistics of FiBL (the world's top organic agriculture research center) in 2022 show that in 2022, the global per capita consumption of organic food will be 17 euros, Switzerland will be the first with 437 euros, and China's per capita consumption will be only 9 euros, lower than the global average; From the perspective of organic food market share, Denmark has the highest organic food market share (12%), while China's organic food market share is less than 2%. Production ends with sales. In the past four years, the sales revenue of organic products in China has only accounted for 30% to 40% of the output value, indicating that there is still great potential for organic product consumption in China Wang Wen said. Why are high-quality organic products that are ecological, environmentally friendly, and healthy so popular but not so popular? High prices discourage many consumers. Open a certain fresh food app, and the discounted prices for a certain brand of organic fresh milk (250ml) are 11.9 yuan, organic tomatoes (400g) 13.2 yuan, organic Hangzhou cabbage (300g) 9.9 yuan, and organic zucchini (300g) 13.3 yuan... For ordinary consumers, these prices are obviously high. In addition to price factors, consumers' lack of awareness and distrust of organic products are also important reasons affecting the sales of organic products in China. He Xin, who lives in Haidian District, Beijing, is a mother of two children. A few years ago, she upgraded to a mother and often buys organic food for her son. However, after the birth of her second child, she no longer specifically chooses organic food. Speaking of reasons, He Xin candidly stated that firstly, it is expensive, and secondly, it is difficult to distinguish between genuine and fake products. "After all, whether it is an organic product or not cannot be seen from its appearance alone, and the taste is similar. I don't know if it is a gimmick of the merchant, so I just won't buy it. The confusion of He Xin has expressed the feelings of many consumers. According to a survey, 79% and 35% of respondents in China believe that "low consumer awareness of organic products" and "consumer distrust of organic products" are the main reasons affecting the sales of organic products. At the same time, it should be noted that the current development of China's organic industry still faces many challenges, such as the need to optimize the structure of organic products, poor sales channels, high production costs, low adoption rate of organic product production adaptation technologies, and lack of policy support for implementation. Further solutions urgently need to be formulated. For example, in China, the proportion of organic certificates for planting and processing organic products is nearly 90%. In other words, primary agricultural products are still the main products, and the proportion of livestock and poultry, aquatic products, wild harvesting, and business products is relatively small, "said Wang Wen. How to achieve the healthy development of the organic industry in the future by strengthening organic certification? Organic product certification is an important guarantee. Pu Chun, Deputy Director of the State Administration for Market Regulation and Director of the State Administration for Market Regulation, stated that while the organic industry continuously meets consumers' demand for high-quality products, it can significantly increase the added value of agricultural products, enhance product brand value, and expand sales channels. To do a good job in organic product certification, firstly, we need to improve the system, strengthen supervision, and continuously enhance the credibility of certification; Secondly, we need to strengthen policy guidance, publicity and promotion, and continuously enhance the influence of certification; We need to enhance our capabilities, optimize our services, continuously improve the effectiveness of certification, and provide reliable support for the people's consumption. The organic industry needs to make efforts from both the production and market sides in order to better promote the healthy development of the industry Wang Wen believes that trust and consumption are the final and crucial aspects of industrial development. To promote the sustainable and healthy development of China's organic industry, on the one hand, we need to guide consumers to have a correct understanding of organic products, improve their awareness of organic products, strengthen supervision, and enhance their trust; On the other hand, efforts should be made to adjust the structure of organic products, meet diverse consumer needs, extend the organic industry chain, and vigorously explore the organic product sales market through a combination of online and offline methods. The reporter learned that in order to promote the development of the organic industry, while strengthening the supervision of certification agencies and production enterprises, some places and enterprises have also made beneficial explorations in recent years. Through digital orders and supply chain optimization, Hema has reduced its organic vegetable market prices by 30% to 40%. In 2022, its organic vegetable sales exceeded 300 million yuan, with a year-on-year growth rate of over 30%. To sell tea products well, improving quality is essential Zhang Lujun, Secretary of the Party Branch of Hongyan Village, Yanhe Township, Chengkou County, Chongqing, told reporters that Yanhe Township is an important production area for selenium rich tea. In order to achieve the transformation of organic tea from "extensive processing" to "standard processing", they not only invited relevant experts to provide technical support, but also built one standardized organic green tea production line and one tea packaging line in 2023, continuously extending the organic tea industry chain. Multiple measures should be taken simultaneously. After expert tasting, it has been reported that our organic selenium rich tea has a stronger taste and stronger tea aroma, "said Zhang Lujun. (New Society)
Edit：HAN ZHUOLING Responsible editor：CAICAI
Source：people.com
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