Organic food in the European Union: a marketing analysis

This article discusses the European organic agricultural sector from a socio-economical point of view and from an EU perspective. The organic food and beverage market has been a niche market in Europe for many decades. But since the 1990s the number of organic farms has increased significantly in some European countries. In the last decade “organic” has become a growth, and in some European countries, a mature food and beverage market due to ongoing governmental support, active marketing of national and international retail chains and constantly growing consumer demand. If organic food was originally the result of an ideological choice, anchored in an alternative culture, today it has become a more mainstream phenomenon. Organic now belongs to a specific lifestyle and to a finally acknowledged cultural model, which attracts human and financial resources on its own, producing profits and satisfying a steadily increasing market. This article beginning with a description of the global organic food market analyses organic food and beverage marketing in Europe in respect to consumer segments and to the four marketing Ps (product, price, place and promotion).