An organic opportunity for growth
As sales of organics increase each year, what was once a niche is now on the rise
Whether you love it a lot, like it a little, or think it’s all a bunch of hocus-pocus, organic food is a no longer a niche in Ontario. Far from it — at more than $1 billion a year in sales in 2015, organic is poised to take a serious bite out of the conventional agriculture market.
Advocates say organic is the way to go for myriad reasons ranging from climate change mitigation and environmental stewardship to taste and nutrition.
But as with anything, there are “cons” to the “pros” — and a healthy debate over which is the better choice.
Detractors point out lower yields than conventional farming, which they say makes organic practices unsustainable for feeding an evergrowing population. Higher costs at the checkout counter are another pain point.
But a growing body of research debunks some of these criticisms. The Canadian Organic Trade Commission cites some U.S. data that shows organically grown crops can provide similar, and in some cases larger, yields than conventional farming.
This productivity level can take many years to achieve, as the soils and biosphere come back into balance after being weaned off fertilizers, pesticides and other additives.
For now, consumers tend not to see organic versus conventional farming as an “us against them” standoff.
“Organics are important to me from both from an overall well-being perspective — especially as a parent trying to teach healthy food choices,” says Melina Arsenault, a Toronto schoolteacher. “And also as a community member in terms of supporting local farmers and being concerned about the long term environmental impact of conventional farming.”
She says organics account for about 30 to 40 per cent of her food purchases.
This perspective echoes the research conducted this year by the Organic Council of Ontario, which finds that many consumers will choose organic when it’s easy and the price is right.
“We know that the demand for organics has been outpacing the supply for a while now,” says Carolyn Young, a consultant with the 150-member Organic Council of Ontario (OCO). “In Ontario, organics account for about $1.4 billion in sales a year. And only 2 per cent of acreage in Ontario is organic.”
Imported products fill the gap, which Young notes pretty much defeats the purpose of choosing organics from an environmental stewardship and carbon footprint point of view.
“And all the benefits are then received elsewhere,” Young says. “So we’re supporting and encouraging local Ontario farmers and businesses to capture that opportunity.”
A study of the organic market released by the OCO in February pegs millennials as major drivers of the organic movement.
The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Farming and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) puts the number of conventional and organic food and beverage processors at more than 3,800 companies and 96,600 jobs.
The OCO counts 770 certified organic producers in Ontario and 375 certified processors. Until these numbers grow, the extra cost for consumers to buy organic is largely a case of supply and demand.
The Canadian Organic Trade Association put organic retail sales in Canada at $4.7 billion a year in 2017. That reflects 13.6-per-cent growth each year since 2007. But with organic production moving at a much slower pace, Canada imported at least $652 million worth of organic products in 2015, a 37-per-cent increase from 2012.
The report Dollars & Sense (2015) suggests that increasing Ontario organic production by 10 per cent over the next 15 years could go a long way to eliminating the reliance on imports — and add significant new jobs to Ontario.
With Ontario’s greater agri-food sector supporting more than 790,000 jobs and contributing more than $36.4 billion to the province’s GDP, there’s nowhere to go but up for organics. But one of the most significant barriers for a farmer who chooses to switch is the three-year transitional period during which they put organic practices into place but without the ability to label their products as organic.
Young says governments could do more to support organic agriculture, as they do in the United States, where 4.5 per cent of agriculture acreage is organic (more than twice the Ontario statistic).
Quebec is the only province to provide an assistance program to encourage the transition to organic farming. There, organic acreage totals 3.5 per cent.
Some prescient companies encourage farmers to switch. The U.S.-based Cliff Bar company sources about three-quarters of its ingredients from organic suppliers — many Canadian — and will commit to buying a farm’s transitional crops while it moves to organic. Southbrook Win- ery in Niagara — Canada’s first organic and biodynamic winery — does the same with its suppliers, bottling non-organic grapes under a secondary label called Seriously Cool.
“I pay a 30- to 40-per-cent premium for every organic grape I purchase,” says winery owner Bill Redelmeier, whose family has farmed other crops in Ontario for generations. “We originally committed to purchasing 50 per cent of the organic grapes offered to us, but we now buy all of them.”
Now in its sixth year, Yorkshire Valley Farms was founded by two Ontario farming families who rallied a network of organic poultry farmers to create a brand now carried in major grocery stores. The company counts 11 chicken, two turkey and 14 egg growers in its network.
Even though its eggs can cost $4 more a dozen than large-scale conventional brands, consumers are willing to pay to support the company’s ethical and humanitarian practices. Last year, CBC-TV’s Marketplace concluded that organic and sustainably farmed eggs can have significant health and flavour benefit in some cases.
This year, for the second year in a row, Yorkshire will market eggs labelled as “pasture raised,” which denotes eggs laid by hens from May to October, when they can spend significant time outside foraging for in- sects and other tasty edibles.
Pasture-raised is not an officially defined criteria, says Yorkshire’s director of marketing Krysten Cooper, but one the company feels reflects an emphasis on humane practices and stewardship principles.
“Organic is not for everyone, and it’s not our job to push it,” says Cooper. “We consider it a choice. But we do want to show people what you are getting when you pay for organic. And if that appeals to you, we want to make it available.”
Since organic chickens require organic feed and organic processing, a Yorkshire organic chicken might cost about 30 per cent more than a regular chicken. For now, that is. If feed costs eventually come down, that could change. Which should be good for everyone.
“We like all farmers,” says Burkhard Mausberg, CEO of the Greenbelt Fund and the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation, which provides grants to support innovative agricultural practices in Ontario. The Fund helped Yorkshire develop its pasture-raised program.
“We’re not only pushing the organic sector, but we do like that organic is challenging the status quo,” says Mausberg “Related to that, a consumer shouldn’t be pushed into organic because of guilt — it should be because that’s the kind of food they want to buy and can afford.”