Like many sectors, the food industry is particularly weakened by the current context. Crises are occurring one after another and overlapping, impacting our production, our supplies, and our consumption habits.
The transition, the flag of which we have been waving for the past ten years, is now becoming urgent in the face of environmental challenges.
The organic sector is not spared from market chaos or supply problems... and yet organic farming is part of the solution.
Faced with the findings… hope
The situation is alarming, regardless of the sector. Rising production costs at all levels, linked to the energy crisis, container delays and a lack of raw materials, shortages of packaging and machine components, the spectre of poor harvests to come... No player can claim to have any visibility over the coming months. All the warning lights are red, and food, like other basic resources, will become precious.
The levers of transition developed and supported by an increasing number of stakeholders are taking on their full meaning, even more so today. Relocation, solutions to combat waste, packaging-free products, social and environmental commitment... are glimmers of hope.
Natexpo has reflected this for over 60 years, organic players have been committed to more sustainable food and consumption.
The practices advocated by organic farming, which initiated the shift in the agricultural and food transition 50 years ago, today address the challenges of protecting the environment in the face of the climate emergency. It is the only alternative path governed by strict regulations that provide quality guarantees for consumers' health and the planet.
Beyond the fundamental principles, the commitment of the actors is getting stronger and stronger on all fronts.
Relocation for all territories
Of course, "reshoring" is on everyone's lips. In recent years, several original sectors have emerged in France, such as quinoa or chia (see the sector ofAgrofün or that partner of Worlée France), such as goji berries or sea buckthorn… Trials are being conducted for tea or vanilla. Processing is also being relocated, like the redeployment of organic beet sugar production in the north of France, or the local freezing plant for organic vegetables from FRDP.
Of course, in the light of the war in Ukraine, there is now talk of relocating large-scale crops as much as possible, particularly sunflowers and rapeseed.
But this national, even European, relocation will quickly have its limits in terms of cultivable areas and lack of farmers.
Beyond our territories, relocation is also being practiced meaningfully. There are many examples of processing sites being set up near harvesting areas, which allow maximum value to be preserved locally. Examples include: cashew nut industries in Burkina Faso, oil mills in Ethiopia, such as that of Tradin Organic or tropical fruits in the Amazon (cf. RDV Products' investment for the Agrifrut cooperative. The fairtrade jewelry is of course a powerful tool to support your projects.
Integrating CSR and biodiversity
This also often accompanies projects related to the improvement or preservation of the environment. It is closely linked, for example, to projects ofagroforestry in which organic chocolatiers are investing, such as kaoka.
It is also encouraging to see that stakeholders are using CSR tools to constantly challenge and improve their practices – tools which themselves are becoming increasingly demanding. BioED CSR label, developed by Synabio, is now accompanied, for example, by a Guide to Good Practices for the biodiversity, whether for our local or imported sectors.
The most advanced companies are already integrating these practices on their sites and/or in their agricultural sectors, for example:Adatris, which is also behind, with others, a BiodiScore indicator. Today we measure the impact of organic farming on biodiversity.
Valorize all waste
Finally, there are countless initiatives to combat waste and recovery of co-products[1], which take on two challenges: the identification and recovery of co-product pools and sorting discrepancies, and the search for high value-added outlets for these. The ingredients sector was already well structured for the recovery of its co-products, it is now extending its expertise to farmers and cooperatives, which often bring together staggering volumes of loss. Cogs for example, initiated a partnership a few months ago with a Corsican cooperative in order to use the by-products of citrus juice production for the development of its range of intense flavoring infusions.
Resilient bio through quality
Through our profession at the interface between production and processing, we appreciate the 360° commitment of organic players and their perpetual search for solutions to go ever further in offering healthy and sustainable ingredients for all, by exploring all the levers that are fair trade, biodiversity, anti-waste, animal welfare, forest preservation, etc. Despite the difficulties and the fact that organic does not resist all ills, one word nevertheless unanimously emerges from the discussions: quality.
We must all be aware that the coming years will be filled with challenges. Organic farming already meets the challenge of preserving the quality of our products, our health, our environment, our interactions, and our lives.
Author: Gaëlle FREMONT, Founder ofIngrébio
[1] Co-products, an innovative solution to meet nutritional and ecological challenges, Natexbio, 24/03/2022