Organic has been booming for years and has long since become part of the consumer’s everyday routine. The Corona pandemic is contributing towards the further growth of the organic segment. According to the Association for Consumer Research (GfK), the demand for organically cultivated food rose significantly more strongly during the first three months of the Corona crisis than the turnover of the food trade as a whole. But also regardless of the Corona pandemic, the organic market continues to grow. According to the Research Institute for Organic Farming (FiBL) and the Agricultural Market Information Association (AMI), the expenditure of private households on organic products has more than doubled since 2010. In 2018, organic foodstuffs to the value of 40.7 billion Euros were sold throughout Europe, 37.4 billion Euros of which in the European Union.
Particularly the organic snacks segment is experiencing enormous growth, because the consumers are attempting to reconcile their work-intensive lives with staying healthy. Snacks play a decisive role here, because snacks can provide useful nutrients, when there is no time for a proper meal. According to a report from the Global Organic Snacks Market, which was published by KBV Research, the global organic snack market is expected to turn over Dollar 23.7 billion by 2025, which corresponds to a market growth of 14.09% CAGR during the forecast period.
These market developments will also be reflected at ISM, the world’s largest trade fair for sweets and snacks. Whereas in 2017 only 282 exhibitors with organic products were represented at the global trade fair for sweets and snacks, with 362 exhibitors the share of organic exhibitors in 2018 was already around 25 percent. At the 50th edition of ISM in 2020, ISM set a new record with 425 companies that presented numerous organic products. This corresponds to a growth of around 34 percent for the period between 2017 and 2020. 175 exhibitors, who will be presenting their organic products at the trade fair, have already registered for ISM 2021. Based on previous experiences, this figure will more than double over the coming months. The following companies are among the international first-time exhibitors in the organic segment: Bäckerei Evertzberg (Germany), BSCG (the Netherlands), Gusania (Lithuania), Incom d.o.o. – LEONE Chocolate (Slovenia), LNS Trade (France), Mipama (Poland), Moulins de Kleinbettingen (Luxemburg), Nut Vinograd (Russia) and Thai B.B. Fruit (Thailand).
The offer of organic products at ISM is thus larger than ever and the organic segment once again holds a variety of products in store for the coming event in 2021. This ranges from organic chocolate and sweet organic sandwich spreads such as nut nougat creams or jam, to cakes and biscuits, ice cream through to organic snack items such as vegetable chips, energy bars or dried fruit. In addition to companies with many years of expertise in the organic segment, many young companies are exhibiting at ISM as well as companies that have expanded their line-ups to include organic items.
New products are also awaited in the Trend and Natural Snacks section in Hall 5.2. Furthermore, also in Hall 5.2 the new Ingredients segment of ProSweets Cologne that is being staged parallel “ProSweeets Ingredients – inspiring products” will also deliver interesting new approaches and product solutions. With a view to the implementation of sustainable raw materials and innovative ingredients for the production of sweets and snacks, this section will without doubt not only be of interest for the organic exhibitors of ISM.
