Fantastic gathering of retailers, food companies, farm leaders and organizations at Eco-Marketing Days, working to move organic forward together in the German market, politics, food & farming. All of this is happening right now at Kirchberg Castle (Akademie Schloss Kirchberg), Germany.
Yesterday I had the pleasure of joining IFOAM Organics Europe President Jan Plagge legal-eagle Dr. Kim Manuel Künstner in a panel where we discussed legal & market possibilities for fixed guarantee minimum prices for organic farm products.
I also spoke on “Getting Organics on the Offensive: What’s working and new challenges globally” on behalf of IFOAM - Organics International. I shared the universe of organic policies, not least from Denmark, that are driving innovation, farm conversion & market development today, and shared some key points:
✅Global breakthroughs in recognition for organic farming’s contribution to food security, soil regeneration, biodiversity & climate have motivated countries around the world to develop National Strategies for organics & agroecology.
✅Three primary drivers for organic success in Denmark are Policy, Market Partnerships and building Organic Sector capacity to drive change in the market, policy & farming.
✅Retail partnerships with organic sector organizations strengthen retail organic goals, product assortments, visibility and communication of “the why” of organics to consumers. This is the Nr 1 reason that retailers sell more organic food in Denmark than anywhere else.
✅Organic public procurement requires organic goals, policy support, labelling, supply chain collaboration and support for food professionals in the big kitchens.
Among challenges & opportunities, I zoomed in on three:
1️⃣ Adding value to organics & building on key trends and transitions: plant-based organic, circular organic and organic convenience. I shared some success stories.
2️⃣ New strategies for documenting organic value in ESG reporting. Organics delivers on a host of sustainability goals, but this is based on a guarantee on practices. We work to develop harmonized methods and metrics for measurement of key outcomes, as input to farmers, and value for both our planet and our partners in their ESG reporting.
3️⃣ Addressing and building on regenerative momentum. Regenerative principles & practices are at the heart of organic, and serious regen actors are natural allies, but there is a rising tide of regen greenwashing by some of the worlds largest users and producers of (degenerative) pesticides & fossil-fuel based fertilizers.
The risk is that a diffuse regen agenda draws farmers, investments, policy and market actors away from more transformative solutions like organics & agroecology. The opportunity is to partner with serious regen actors to develop organics.
I shared how different brands, aware of reputational risk in messaging around regen claims, are choosing not to use regenerative in consumer facing products, campaigns or packaging.