Growing French demand for yoghurt coincides with Irish plans to expand
By Joe Dermody
Saturday, February 11, 2012
French consumer demand for organic yoghurt is increasing, according to the French National Organic Agriculture Federation.
Following a 21% increase in 2009, a further rise was recorded in 2010 to leave the market valued at €3.38bn. In 2010, organic dairy products made up 15% of all organic food purchases while 72% of organic food consumers purchase organic dairy products, the French agency said.
Given Food Harvest 2020’s target of a 50% increase in dairy exports, news of a growing demand for organic yoghurt in France will be welcome news for Irish dairy producers. In-store research by Bord Bia also notes an openness to imported dairy products among French shoppers.
Bord Bia’s Paris-based representative, Laura Brody, noted that French consumers are frequent purchasers of import organic dairy products from Germany, Italy and Spain.
Ms Brody stated: "These countries have a much larger surface area of organic land than France. For example, Spain has 1.6m hectares of organic land compared to 0.6m hectares in France.
"Because of the increasing demand for organic dairy products in France there are opportunities for Irish producers to access this thriving market."
In particular, fresh dairy products are growing rapidly, with a 19% increase in turnover in 2010, and up to 6.19 metres of shelf space allocated in French retail outlets.
According to the global organic farming statistics service Organic World, a certain amount of organic products in France are produced domestically, but as production cannot keep up with demand, importation is necessary.
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Saturday, February 11, 2012
