A Taste of Wellness for Savoury and Snacks
Givaudan
Swedish consumers pay less than consumers in the rest of the EU for organically grown food, according to a report by the EU Organic Marketing Initiatives and Rural Development.
A study in the report compared prices of 28 organically grown food products. In the majority of cases, Sweden had the lowest consumer prices and even when not the lowest, Sweden's prices were well below the EU average.
Examples of Sweden's lowest organic food prices were ground beef, at €6.61 per kg, and milk at €0.79 per litre, compared with the EU average of € 9.7/kg and €1.04/litre respectively. Organically grown potatoes and onions are about 20 per cent cheaper in Sweden than the EU average.
It would appear that Swedish organic farmers receive lower prices than other EU farmers. The retail mark-up of organic foods, ardently criticised by consumer organisations across Europe, is less in Sweden than in the EU average. One reason for lower prices of organic meat products is that Swedish dairy farms produce a larger quantity of organic milk, which in turn means a larger amount of organic beef.
If the results of the survey are anything to go by, the target recently set by the Swedish Parliament that 20 per cent of farmland be used for organic food production by year 2005, looks to be right on course.