THE CHANGES ON THE ORGANIC FOOD MARKET

Abstract

The paper presents the state of and changes to the organic food market in Poland between 2004 and 2014. The study covered production, processing, distribution chains, price levels and consu mption of organic food. The analyses were carried out based on data obtained from reports on organic farming elaborated by the AFQI, and the author’s own survey on organic and conventional food prices. It was found that the dynamically growing number of organic farms is not refl ected in high growth dynamics in the organic food supply. Processing is also a weak element of the organic food market, showing low growth dynamics. Organic food processing is characterised by a spatial mismatch: in particular regions with considerable concentrations of organic farms, there are fewer processing plants than in regions with fewer farms. This spatial mismatch between production and processing of organic food means that some producers of organic raw materials are forced to sell their products as conventional food, which results in obtaining lower prices and lower profi tability of production. The main change in organic food distribution chains is an increase in the share of specialist shops and growing availability of this kind of product in conventional stores. The study showed that average prices of organic food in Poland are high. Therefore, consumers regularly purchasing organic food make up a small share of the market.