EU Agri-food Chain Observatory meets: Lack of agrifood data 

On 15 October, the EU Agri-food Chain Observatory met for the second time in Brussels and online. Launched this summer, the observatory is in charge of looking at prices, margins and trading practices, a key demand of some farmers’ organisation.  

The second meeting of the observatory looked at the state of play of the EU agri-food chain. The presentation of Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development I emphasized the lack of data when it comes to industry and trade parts of the chain. Representatives of France and Germany also presented their work on data collection on prices and margins.  

The second part of the meeting focused on the organic sector and the trends of the European organic market. The presenters highlighted the need to nuance the comparison of the current state of the market with the period during the COVID-19 crisis which was marked by a strong increase in demand of organic products, not being representative of the long-term trend. The presenters also highlighted the problems with organic data which are less available and often collected at the same time as conventional. The different structures of the German and French organic market were also discussed. Germany experiences a shift to organic food being increasingly moved into discount and food retail, while France experienced an increase in specialized shops. All presenters reminded the need to protect the organic label against competing less-strict labels on the markets.  

Together with our members, we will continue bringing the organic market’s specificities to the Observatory and represent the organic food value chain to the European Commission and the group.  

About the EU Agri-food Chain Observatory 

Established in 2024, the EU Agri-food Chain Observatory is a direct action of the European Commission in reply to the farmers’ protests of 2023 and 2024. These protests key demands were decent incomes and fair prices for farmers. In its non-paper on strengthening the position of farmers in the agri-food chain, the Commission committed to an European Observatory in charge of looking at prices, margins and trading practicesa key demand o. The EU Agri-food Chain Observatory is composed of representatives from Member States, and key stakeholders from the agri-food sector in Brussels (farmers’ organizations, representatives from the industries and other parts of the value chain, consumers’ organizations, etc).  

If you want to contribute to the discussions on the agri-food chain observatory and/or the European organic market, contact silvia.schmidt@organicseurope.bio or laura.sauques@organicseurope.bio.