S21 - Session O1 - Keynote: The state and evolution of organic fruit and vegetables: production and market at world scale

Authors: Helga Willer *

The latest available data on organic agriculture worldwide show that in 2019, 72.3 million hectares of agricultural land (1.5% of the total farmland) were under organic management. The global organic market reached 106 billion euros, and in 2020, due to the pandemic, the market showed unprecedented growth rates, which were double-digit in many countries. Globally, almost 1.1 million hectares of organic fruit and vegetables were grown in 2019, constituting 0.9% of the total areas for these crops. Two-thirds of these areas were used to grow vegetables (0.43 million hectares), followed by temperate fruit (0.31 million hectares), tropical fruit (0.26 million hectares) and citrus fruit (0.10 million hectares). While the global area share might seem small, it should be noted that for some countries, they are considerably higher. For instance, 30% of the vegetable area is organic in Denmark. Fruit and vegetables are among the most popular commodities on the organic market, reflected in high organic market shares. For example, in Switzerland, 20.3 % of the value of all vegetables and fruit sold is organic. In addition, data for the European Union show that tropical fruit (in particular bananas) constitute more than a quarter of all EU organic imports (800’000 metric tons). Considering the continued growth of the organic market, and the popularity of fruit and vegetables among organic consumers, it is expected that the organic area and market will continue to grow for these products.